Chapter Objectives: Chapter 50 Introduction to Ecology
1. Explain why the field of ecology is a multidixciplinary science
2. Distinguish among physiology, ecology, community ecology, and ecosystem
ecoloty
3. Describe the relationship between ecology and evolution
4. Explain the importance of temperature, water, light, soil, and wind to living
organisms
5. Explain the principle of allocation
6. Describe how environmental changes may produce behavioral, physiological,
morphological, or adaptive responses in organisms
7. Explain the concept of environmental grain and under what situation(s) a
single environment may be both coarse-grained and fine=grained
8. Describe the characteristics of the majore biones
a. tropical forest
b. savanna
c. desert
d. chaparral
e. temperate grassland
f. temperate forest
g. taiga
h. tundra
9. Compare and contrats the types of freshwater communities
10. Using a diagram identify the various zones found int he marine environment
Chapter Terms:
ecology
aphotic zone
neritic zone
abiotic components
thermocline
oceanic zone
biotic components
benthic zone
pelagic zone
organismal biology
benthos
benthic zone
population
detritus
coral reef
community
littoral zone
oceanic pelagic biome
ecosystem
limnetic zone
abyssal zone
biosphere
profuncal zone
canopy
climate
oligotrphic
permafrost
biome
eutrophic
regulator
tropics
mesotrophic
conformer
turnover
wetlands
principle of allocation
photic zone
estuary
acclimation
intertidal zone
Chapter Outline Framework
A. The Scope of Ecology
1. Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms
and their environment
2. Ecological research ranges from the adaptations of organisms to the
dynamics of ecosystems
3. Ecology provides a scientific context for evaluating environmental
issues
B. Abiotic factors of the Biosphere
1. Climate and other abiotic factors are important determinants of the
biosphere's distribution of organisms
C. Aquatic and Terrestrial Biomes
1. Aquatic biomes occupy the largest part of the biosphere
2. The geographical distribution of terrestrial biomes is based mainly
on regional variations in climate
D. Concepts of Organismal Ecology
1. The costs and benefits of homeostasis affect an organism's
responses to environmental variation
2. An organism's short-term responses to environmental variations
operate within a long-term evolutionary framework