What is Ecology?

I want to use this blog as a way for the students and teachers of the Student Ecology Research program to access information and ask questions. Students and teachers often have trouble relating the basic information on the pre- and post-tests to what our students are actually doing in the field. To me this indicates, first, that we need to make sure we are addressing fundamental ecological principles in our research projects and, second, that there is a need for more information on how those connections could be made. That is the purpose I hope to serve here. I will address some of those basic principles of ecology and you all should ask questions both in response to what I write here and regarding things you're seeing in the field. Please also share insights and discoveries. This is a great way for us all to interact as researchers.

Now, for the question of the day: What is Ecology?

Here is an official definition, paraphrased from several sources: Ecology is the study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how these factors are affected by and influence their environment including both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) elements that are further interacting with each other resulting in a complex system. Quite simple, isn't it?

Well, maybe we need to break it all down a little more by learning some vocabulary.

distribution -- the patterns of organism occurrence from micro- (are snails only under rocks or are they also under leaves and sticks) to global scales (why does Ashmunella carlsbadensis only live in the Guadalupe Mountains and nowhere else on earth).

abundance -- the number of individuals within a sample or area.

living organisms -- according to Sesame Street, a living thing is one that "breathes and eats and grows and that is how we know that it's alive." What does all that mean? For instance, is fire alive? It uses oxygen, eats fuel, and can grow in size. Is a virus alive? Before it highjacks a cell it neither respires nor grows. "What does it mean to be alive?" would be a good subject to explore in your journals.

biotic elements -- that's all those living organisms plus all the things that used to be alive. Remember that you and all humans are among the living organisms interacting with your ecosystem.

abiotic elements -- elements of the system that were never alive like water, climate, weather, rocks, minerals, and biogeochemical cycles. When we take temperature readings, identify our watershed or test for nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, carbon, hardness, and phosphates we are examining the abiotic elements of our environment.

ecosystem -- the classic definition is: "a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro organisms in an area functioning together with all the non living physical factors of the environment." Think about what this means. Where do you draw the boundaries of the ecosystems you are studying? How do you tell when you've moved from one ecosystem to another? Are these boundaries real?

Maybe now you have more questions than answers. If that is the case then welcome to science! In many ways science is the eternal quest for more questions. Of course the thrill of discovery is important, too.

I think this is quite enough to start with. Let's mull these definitions over in relation to what we've all been doing in class.