Plant Ecology

An introduction

Ecology as a Science

Study of the relationships between living organisms and their environment

Of the interactions of organisms with one another

Of the patterns and causes of the abundance and distribution of organisms

Ecology as a Science

We’ll use the perspective of terrestrial plants

Basic ecology - ecological principles

Applied ecology - application of principles to practical problems

Not about advocacy, activism, or “warm fuzzies”

Ecology as a Science

Ecology is only one way of knowing about the world

Based on the weight of credible, repeatable evidence

Hard facts (how many species, how does it function) versus aesthetics, opinions (Is it beautiful?)

1.1 The scientific method

PatternsProcessesTheories

Table 1.1

Diversity of Ecological Evidence

1) Observations (descriptive data)Careful monitoring within the natural

environment to detect patterns

1.3 Repeated observations can reveal information not apparent from one or a few observations (1)

Lake Mendota, WI

1.3 Repeated observations can reveal information not apparent from one or a few observations (2)

1.3 Repeated observations can reveal information not apparent from one or a few observations (3)

Diversity of Ecological Evidence

2) Field experimentsManipulative experiments in the field to

establish cause of observed patterns

1.2 Large-scale manipulative experiments at the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area (Part 1)

1.2 Large-scale manipulative experiments at the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area (Part 2)

Diversity of Ecological Evidence

3) Laboratory experimentsControlled conditionsSimplified systemAddress specific questions

Diversity of Ecological Evidence

4) Mathematical modelingComputer-aided

1.4 Ecologists study patterns and processes across a wide range of scales in space and time

Scale important because of heterogeneity of habitats

1.5 The environment in a microhabitat can differ from conditions in the surrounding area

Microclimate

1.6 H.M.S. Beagle sailed from England December 27, 1831, on a five-year mission

Beginnings of plant ecology as the study of natural history

Founder of the field of Plant Ecology - J. Eugenius Warming

Plant ecology emerges in mid- to late-1800s

Plant communities (synecology)

Species,individual adaptation (autecology)

Further advances in mid-1900s

Functional ecology, physiological ecology, plant population biology

Recent rise of landscape ecology, conservation ecology

Why do we care?

Conservation, preservation, restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem functions

Food supply - agroecology