Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their physical environment. Although the definition of ecology appears rather simple, it comes with a deep history of how we have begun to organize living organisms at various biological levels (genetic, individual, population, community, ecosystem). It also comes with fundamental theories used to explain how different types of organisms come to adapt, survive, and co-exist in our environment. These theories, still to this date, are used to interpret historical, present, and future organizations and interactions between biota and environment.

The field of ecology has grown over the recent years, and it is now considered one of the most interdisciplinary research topics. The most notable branches of traditional ecology are “geoecology”, “ecological engineering”, and “human ecology”. Clearly, we have stepped out of the fundamental interactions between biota and environment—we are now altering ecological processes to design engineered ecosystems for various industrial and remediation purposes, and generating new theories to better describe how humans have organized themselves in the natural and social environment.

In the first part of this course, we are going learn about the fundamental theories of ecology. In the second part of this course, we will learn about how humans have come to play in the conventional biota-environment interactions by exposing ourselves into interdisciplinary topics of geoecology, ecological engineering, and human ecology.

No requirement

Grading components are divided into 3 parts
1) 20%: In class participation on paper discussion
2) 40%: Midterm exam (multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, short answer questions)
3) 40%: Student presentation (tie your own research topic to one or two theories of ecology learned from the course)

-Scientific literature
-Textbook: “Ecology: Concepts and Applications” 8th edition

Week 1
Introduction to ecology
(Biological & ecological organizations)

Week 2
Individual vs abiotic/physical factors
(Temperature, water, oxygen, energy, nutrient)

Week 3
Population ecology
(Natural selection, distribution, variation, life histories)

Week 4-5
Interactions
(Competition, exploitation, predation, parasitism, mutualism, synergism)

Week 6
Communities & ecosystem
(Diversity, species interaction, nutrient cycling and retention, succession and stability)

Week 7
Review & midterm

Week 8-9
Geoecology
(Intersection between ecology, geology, and biogeochemistry: how do biota influence or facilitate a range of geological and biogeochemical processes?)

Week 10-11
Ecological engineering
(Use of ecological theories to predict, design, manage, and restore ecosystems for engineering purposes)

Week 12-13
Human ecology
(Environmental, social, and institutional factors that organize us)

Week 14
Review

Week 15-16
Student presentations

Expectations
-In-class discussion