Blog 17 Eco 6

•  6. Biodiversity: In island Bio geography, a model MacArthur & Wilson's 1963 Island Bio geography Equilibrium  paper is demonstrated. In estimating stream diversity, the model shows a stream of animal life and displays the species"discovery to effort" to curve. In estimating plant diversity, it is a model to calculate data for analyses of biodiversity. The concept of ‘biological diversity’ is complex and includes the concept of species diversity, or the total of all species in a given area or habitat. It can also refer to genetic diversity within a species or  can even refer to the diversity of habitats in a given region.

Blog 16 Eco 5

• 5. Conservation Ecology: In biomagnificaion, Rachel Carson published 'Silent Spring' which drew attention to how the use of pesticides was indirectly decimating bird populations by causing thinning of egg-shells in 1962. The model demonstrates how DDT in near-shore waters accumulates in a 'food chain' of phytoplankton, zooplankton, smelt, salmon, and pelicans. In Tragedy of the Commons  Garrett Hardin (1968) describs how multiple individuals acting in their own interests, while using a common resource, will overuse the resource.   This model shows the concept in a common field where four farmers are grazing cattle.  

Blog 15 Eco 4

• 4. Behavioral Ecology: In Foraging, the model demonstrates a behavior of honeybees.  It represents  Charnov's (1976) Marginal Value Theorem, which predicts how long an animal should forage in a given patch. In Vigilance Behavior (Collective),  the model is shown of Pulliam's (1973) vigilance model  suggests that an advantage to birds of feeding in flocks is that there are multiple eyes eyes watching for predators. In Vigilance Behavior   Individual) the parameters for individual birds can be adjusted.  In Foraging, the model simulates the foraging behavior of two predator species and tracks the mean and standard deviation in energy for each species. An organism’s behavioral patterns are influenced by its genetics and can therefore evolve. 

Blog 14 Eco 3

• 3.Community Ecology: A model of Connell's 1960 competition experiment if of realized niches of two species of barnacles, Chthamalus and Balanus. In addition, microcosm is a simulation which demonstrates Gauss (1934) experiment with protists. The two Paramecium species compete for resources. Populations must interact with other populations in order to survive. Communities are often identified by their  plants or animals, but they also include all of the fungi, protists, and bacteria.

Blog 13 Eco 2

• 2. Population Ecology- The Logistic Growth model demonstrates resource limited population growth. Populations have a per capita growth rate and carrying capacity and individuals in a population are views in windows, which show that there are still births/deaths in the population.  Population sizes can be predicted through direct sampling, sampling with removal, and mark/recapture. 

Blog 12 Eco 1

Blog 12 Eco 1

1. Population genetics- Population Genetics is the study of the distributions and changes of allele frequency in a population. As demonstrated with the popgen fishbowl  stimulation, the population is subject to the four main evolutionary processes also known as natural selection, genetic drift, mutation flow, and gene flow.