Chapter 1 Outline
Case Study: Deformity and Decline in Amphibian Populations
Connections in Nature
CONCEPT 1.1 Events in the natural world are interconnected.
- Early observations suggest that parasites cause amphibian deformities
- A laboratory experiment tests the role of parasites
- A field experiment suggests that multiple factors influence frog deformities
- Connections in Nature can lead to unanticipated side effects
- We live in an ecological world
Ecology
CONCEPT 1.2 Ecology is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environment.
- Public and professional ideas about ecology often differ
- Ecology is broad in scope
- The scale of an ecological study affects what can be learned from it
- Some key terms are helpful for studying connections in nature
Answering Ecological Questions
CONCEPT 1.3 Ecologists evaluate competing hypotheses about natural systems with experiments, observations, and models.
- Ecologists use experiments, observations, and models to answer ecological questions
- Experiments are designed and analyzed in consistent ways
- What we know about ecology is always changing
Case Study Revisited: Deformity and Decline in Amphibian Populations
Connections in Nature: Mission Impossible?
