BIO326 : Ecosystem

The ecological system is made up of various components interacting with one another and influenced by the environment. While the goal of studying ecosystems is to understand populations and communities, emphasis is placed on various "currencies" which are critical to life. For instance, focus is on energy contained in prey rather than on the number of prey individuals, or on the nitrogen in leaves rather than on the number of trees. Moreover, assessing inorganic forms of these currencies is also necessary, e.g. energy in sunlight and inorganic nutrients in the soil.

The primary objective of studying ecosystems is to understand their function. Therefore, rates of flow of energy and rates of movement of nutrients are measured. Ecosystem ecologists study turnover of resources as well as conditions for steady-state and transient changes. Graphical and mathematical models representing natural systems are built to describe natural communities, to summarize their characteristics, and to predict their changes under changing environmental conditions.

In this section we will learn how energy flow and nutrient cycling can provide insight into ecological systems and provide tools to manage our world.

• Energy
• Nutrients
• Ecosystem Patterns

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Define an ecosystem and describe its characteristics
• Summarize energy flows through an ecosystem and calculate energy efficiencies
• Identify the most important nutrients in ecosystems and describe their cycling
• Calculate turnover times and turnover rates
• Use simple ecosystem models to interpret interactions within natural systems
• Discuss the major components affecting the balance of nature in ecosystems

To complete this module, you should:

• Read the indicated pages of the textbook, The Economy of Nature by Robert E. Ricklefs.
• Open and read the hyper-text lessons for each topic in the unit, including the links in the body of each lesson.
• Submit assignments by the dates indicated on their respective pages.