BIOL 315-01, Ecology, Fall 2009

Abstract

One objective of mine is for you to realize and appreciate the interactions of the biological world. These interactions take place between the biological components themselves and between the biological components and the physical world. Hopefully you will come to see that "everything affects everything else." The study of these interactions will take the form of "predation", "competition", "nutrient cycling", to mention a few, which are arbitrarily divided and categorized for our convenience. At times these studies may seem disconnected from the real world and may be too simplistic. The specific facts that you learn will become outdated very quickly, but the general processes and mechanisms of our world will remain the same. Perhaps more importantly are the processes that you will go through in learning that the world can be viewed from many perspectives. There are no rules or laws of ecology, and there are many different ways to study the world. I hope that besides learning about some of these ways you will also learn how to continue to change after this course is finished. An objective of the laboratory is to expose you to aquatic field experiences. I want to expose you to field work, i.e. the methods of data collection, the types of questions that can be answered, and limits involved. As our natural world continues to degrade, I find it unconscionable to offer a biology degree without the option of some field experience.