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Psalm 104:10-13
He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains.
They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit
of his work.
Ecology is about INTERACTIONS
Ecology: [oikos = home; logos = study] the study of how organisms interact
with
each other and their environment
Six levels of ECOLOGY (Fig. 52.2)
1. Organismal ecology: interactions of an individual organism with its
environment
2. Population ecology: group of individuals of the same species
3. Community ecology: assemblages of populations of different species
4. Ecosystem ecology: includes all abiotic factors as well
5. Landscape ecology: factors controlling different types of patches
6. Global ecology: regional exchange of energy and materials across the
biosphere
Ecologists vs. environmentalists
e.g., Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962 based on data from her
work as a government scientist
As Fig. 52.17 shows, the semi-aquatic wood turtle is only found in a narrow
latitudinal range in Eastern North America
More inland: Ponderosa pine forest dry grassland desert (e.g., Osoyoos
area)
Pacific Regional Society of Soil Science field trip to the BC Interior, Sept.
2009
Subalpine forest Manning Park
Ponderosa pine forest BC interior
Canadas pocket desert southern Okanagan valley
On a map biomes are drawn with distinct boundaries, but in nature biomes
grade into one another
Many biomes no longer exist in their original forms, e.g., temperate forests in
eastern North America, temperate perennial grasslands
Aquatic Biomes
Occupy the largest part of the biosphere (oceans = 75% of earths surface)
Marine Biomes
Most productive zones = intertidal zones and coral reefs (vs. the desert of the
oceanic pelagic biome)
2
Intertidal zone off B.C. and Washington coast one of the highest areas of
species diversity in the world