Instant Notes Ecology

Contents

• Section A INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY - What is ecology?
• Ten rules in ecology
• Section B ADAPTATION TO THE ENVIRONMENT - Adaptation
• Coping with environmental variation
• The niche
• Section C CLIMATE - Solar radiation and climate
• Microclimate
• Section D WATER - The properties of water
• Plants and water
• Animals and water
• Section E TEMPERATURE - Temperature and metabolism
• Responses to temperature
• Temperature and species distribution
• Section F RADIATION - Solar radiation and plants
• Section G NUTRIENTS - Sources and cycles
• Plants and consumers
• Soil formation, properties and classification
• Section H POPULATION ECOLOGY - Populations and population structure
• Natality, morality and population growth
• Density and density dependence
• Population dynamics - fluctuations, cycles and chaos
• Section I COMPETITION - The nature of competition
• Intraspecific competition
• Resource partitioning
• Section J PREDATION - The nature of predation
• Predator behavior and prey response
• Section K PARASITISM - The nature of parasitism
• The dynamics of parasitism
• Section L MUTUALISM - Mutualism
• Section M LIFE HISTORY PATTERNS - Life history
• Section N BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY - Social group, cooperation and altruism
• Sex in ecology
• Section O POPULATION GENETICS - Genetic variation
• Speciation
• Section P ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES - Components and processes
• Primary and secondary production
• Food chains
• Section Q COMMUNITIES - The community, structure and stability
• Island communities and colonization
• Community patterns, competition and predation
• Section R COMMUNITY DYNAMICS - Succession
• Community responses to disturbance
• BIOMES
• Ecosystem patterns
• Grasslands
• Tundra
• Forests
• Deserts, semi-deserts and shrubland
• Saltwater biomes
• Freshwater biomes
• Section S HARVESTING - Harvesting theory
• Fishing and whaling
• Section T PEST CONTROL - The pest problem and control strategies
• Pesticides and problems
• Biological control and integrated pest management
• Section U CONSERVATION - Rare species, habit loss and extinction
• Conservation strategies
• Biological resources and gene banks
• Section V POLLUTION AND GLOBAL WARMING - Air, water and soil pollutants
• Greenhouse gases and global warming
• Ozone
• Section W THE ECOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE - Soil erosion and agriculture
• Nutrient, water and energy use.