An overview of ecology the study of plants animals and the environment

What is a Biome?

Animal Behavior and Distribution Human activities in urban environments can affect how animals behave and where they are found. What animals do and where they are found affects other parts of the ecosystem too.

Different species of birds use different parts of a habitat. In urban Phoenix, some native desert birds can only be found in the desert outside the city, while others have moved into our city center. As the city expands, the desert retreats. This activity explores the effects of specific patterns of urbanization on various bird species.

Bird watching is a fascinating hobby.

A Wee Bit of ORGANISMAL ECOLOGY

However, it requires a little bit of patience and time. Studying bird behavior can help you find out more about the way birds relate to one another and live within their environment.

This activity will introduce students to a variety of common bird behaviors and allow them practice observation skills. Birds in an Urban Schoolyard Time: Bird researchers have found over 50 bird species in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Some of these bird species are native to the Sonoran desert while others are not. Vegetation planted by people, artificial irrigation, and buildings provide a variety of different habitats and microclimates within the urban environment. These habitat changes could alter the biodiversity and abundance of birds in the city.

Ecologists use Point Counts as one method for surveying birds. In this lesson, students test their questions about abundance and diversity in different areas by counting all the birds located within a circle with a radius of 20 meters for 10 minutes. Students will be able to: Where Are the Birds?

Behavioral ecologists explore how and why animals behave the way they do. These scientists study how natural selection shapes behavior.

They ask the question: This is important in urban environments where human activities and the structures they build can cause natural selection to favor certain traits of individual animals.

This unit guides students to generate their own questions about arthropod behavior and leads them step-wise through the hypothetico-deductive method to test their predictions in a class controlled experiment.

The Web of Inquiry: Conceptual background related to animals, plants, fungi and microbes is provided, followed by results collected by professional scientists. Students analyze graphs and respond to questions to determine patterns.A Big Ball of Life The biosphere is all about life.

Physical geographers use the term biosphere to describe our living world. All of the microbes, plants, and animals can be found somewhere in the biosphere. ECOLOGY: The Study of Ecosystems. Ecology (from the Greek oikos meaning "house" or "dwelling", and logos meaning "discourse") is the study of the interactions of organisms with each other and their environment..

The hierarchy.

Ecology Basics Overview

We should be able to define each of the following. species - population -. Charles E. Schmidt College of Science Course Descriptions Biological Sciences Chemistry and Biochemistry Complex Systems and Brain Sciences. Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their physical environment.

The distribution and abundance of organisms on Earth is shaped by both biotic, living-organism-related, and abiotic, nonliving or physical, factors. Study of the interactions of organisms with their physical environment.

Population A group of individuals of one species living in one area . Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with one another and with their physical environment. The distribution and abundance of organisms on Earth is shaped by both biotic, living-organism-related, and abiotic, nonliving or physical, factors.