Ecology considers how organisms of the same species interact with each other, how organisms of different species in the same space interact, and how multiple communities interact to make up an ecosystem, information crucial in understanding how biodiversity affects ecological function.
Ecosystems are organized into webs of interactions.
This course provides an introduction to the factors determining the distribution and patterns of abundance of organisms, and which relate plant and animal populations to their environment in both terrestrial and marine environments. It includes the physiological ecology of plants and animals, the life history strategies by which organisms adapt to their environments, trophic ecology and the ecological significance of the niche, biodiversity and co-existence. The importance of evolutionary history and succession for understanding patterns of distribution will also be emphasized.
