生态学概念、研究范畴及研究方法

Field experiment

sp. composition and N supply
Nutrients in the rain forest canopy

Epiphytes mats ~ ½ to 4x of the nutrient content of the foliage of the canopy trees
Photosynthesis, migratory birds, bats

Fox-rabies (math model)

Assumptions: no recovery or immune, no migration, random contact Biology: life span 2 yrs., 1 cub/yr, latent phase 28 days, die 5 days after becoming infectious


Secondary production: trout >> Galax
Succession of old fields

Natural trajectory vs. natural snapshot Correlation vs. mechanism

within field comparison indicated introduced sp.↑and prairie sp.↓ as N↑
Branches of Ecology
Chemical, Molecular, Physiological, Behavioral, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Landscape, Evolutionary, Theoretical, Conservation and management, Biodiversity
Journals: Behavioral Ecology, Biological
Conservation, Chemical Ecology, Conservation Biology, Conservation Ecology, Ecological Application, Ecological Modeling, Ecological Monograph, Ecologist, Ecology, Environmental Management, Evolutionary Ecology, Functional Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Journal of Wildlife Management, Landscape Ecology, Molecular Ecology, Oecologia, Oikos, Trends in Evolution and Ecology, etc.


Energy budget of bumblebee

How to keep warm in cold environment?
Energy gain for feeding – energy loss from flying, feeding and keeping warm Lab and field studies

Ecology of forest birds

5 warbler sp. of similar ecological requirement
Feeding zones In the presence or absence of other species Competition and partitioning

N=S+L+I dS/dt = (b-d)S -αSI dL/dt = αSI - dL - βL dI/dt = βL - dI - γI α - contact rate β - reaction rate γ - rabies-induced mortality
Merits of model


Summarizing current knowledge
Approximation and simplification
Methods of studying ecology

To understand, describe, explain, predict and control
Scale Lab experiment, field experiment, natural trajectory experiment, natural snapshot experiment, mathematical model
Activity pattern (lab and field exp.) Habitat preference (natural exp.) Community effect (field exp.)

Trophic cascade – effects flowing down from one trophic level to the next and the next Energy flow Primary production: trout >> Galax
Ecological spectrum
Biosphere, Landscape, Ecosystem, Community, Population, OrganiBaidu Nhomakorabeam, Organ system, Organ, Tissue, Cell, Subcellular organelles, Molecules


Number and kinds of flower visited, sugar content of flower Energy loss at different temperature

Brown trout v.s. Native Galaxias


Fish → Mayfly nymph → algae