Ecology: Biology of Interaction. Appendix I. Ecology Course Program (= 'Bioecology')

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6.24. Екоконверсія

D. Shabanov, M. Kravchenko. Ecology: The Biology of Interaction Appendices

Appendix II. Questions for Credit (Exam)

{ "title": "6.24. Ecoconversion", "summary": "", "body": "Dmytro Shabanov, Maryna Kravchenko. Ecology: Biology of Interaction\nAppendices\n\nAppendix II. Questions for the Credit (Exam)\n\nAppendix I. Ecology Course Program (= \"Bioecology\")\nThe exam tickets for the ecology course adopted at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University provide formulations corresponding to the main part of this program. Tests may also use questions related to additional program material.\nPart I. Biotic Systems. Biosphere\nTopic 1. Ecology and Biotic Systems it Studies\nBasic material. Subject and structure of ecology. Importance of ecological knowledge for modern humanity. Distinction between the concepts of \"ecology\" - \"environmental studies\" - \"nature conservation\". Profane and scientific ecology.\nConcept of structural levels of biotic systems; levels studied within ecology.\nMorphological, physiological, ecological, and evolutionary-historical methods of studying biotic systems. Holistic and reductionist approaches to their description.\nConcepts of system and regulation. Positive and negative feedback. Regulation and stability of biotic systems. Emergent features of complex biotic systems.\nAdditional material. History of ecological knowledge and ecology as a science. Scientific method; modeling and its significance in ecology. Universal properties of biotic systems. Selection as a cause of adaptations and stability of biotic systems. Problem of the leading level of selection; concept of multilevel selection.\nTopic 2. Biospherology\nBasic material. Features of Earth as a planet inhabited by life. James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis. Concepts of biosphere and noosphere; their different interpretations.\nEnergy sources for biogeochemical cycles and methods of its transformation. Biogeochemical functions of living matter.\nEnergy sources for biogeochemical cycles and methods of its transformation. Biogeochemical functions of living matter. Hydrological cycle. Sedimentary (rock) cycle. Biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and other biogens. Mechanisms of regulation of biogeochemical cycles.\nAdditional material. Phenomenon of life and attempts to define it. Origin of life. Fates of Venus, Mars, and Earth. Main stages of life history on Earth, characteristic changes in ecosystems during its course. Search for extraterrestrial life. Anthropic paradox.\nPart II. Biogeocenoses. Communities. Populations\nTopic 3. Biogeocenology\nBasic material. Correlation between the concepts of \"ecosystem\" and \"biogeocenosis\". Components of ecosystems. Biome classification of biogeocenoses. Comparison of characteristics of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.\nFunctioning of ecosystems. Ecological balance. Trophic networks and trophic levels. Ecological pyramids and ecological efficiencies. Circulation of substances and energy flow in ecosystems. Methods for assessing and measuring ecosystem productivity. Comparison of different biomes by biomass and productivity.\nSuccession: autotrophic and heterotrophic, primary and secondary. Serial and climax communities. Dynamics of species diversity during succession. Causes of succession.\nFeatures of agroecosystems. Ecological subsidies to agroecosystems.\nAdditional material. Features of individual biomes, characteristic life forms. Influence of biome features on adapted human cultures.\nTopic 4. Population Ecology\nBasic material. Populations, their static and dynamic characteristics. Demographic characteristics of populations. Types of mortality curves according to Pearl.\nExponential and logistic models of population growth. Lotka-Volterra model. Classification of types of interaction between populations based on this model. Mathematical models in ecology, limits of their applicability.\nTypes of interaction between populations (and species): interference and exploitation competition, exploitation (true and grazing predation, parasitism, parasitoidism), protocooperation, mutualism, commensalism, amensalism, neutralism. Importance of different types of interaction for regulation of population numbers and maintenance of biological diversity in communities. Adaptations of organisms to interaction with individuals of other species.\nRegulation of population numbers. Fluctuations in population numbers and their causes. Delay in response to the action of regulating factors as one of the causes of population number fluctuations. Ecological strategies according to McArthur and Wilson, and according to Ramensky and Grime.\nEcological niche. Fundamental and realized niches, influence of competition on the width of the ecological niche. Gause's principle of competitive exclusion.\nAdditional material. Heterogeneity of individuals in populations, types of their interaction. Behavioral strategies; evolutionarily stable strategies.\nPart III. Organisms and Environment\nTopic 5. Autecology and Fundamentals of Environmental Studies\nBasic material. Environment and ecological environment: differences in approach to consideration. Classification of environmental factors by their origin. Classification of ecological factors. Comparison of conditions and resources.\nMain habitats: land-air, water, soil, and other organisms; features of these habitats. Adaptations of species and organisms to unfavorable environment, their types. Life forms. Ecological subsites, some features of adaptation to them.\nLiebig's law of minimum and cases of its inapplicability. Shelford's tolerance rule. Steno- and eurybionts; concepts characterizing tolerance of organisms.\nSize classes of organisms, features of influence on them of various ecological factors. Allometric growth of organisms and its causes.\nSolar radiation, its spectral composition, and absorption by the atmosphere. Greenhouse effect. Various biological effects caused by the action of solar radiation. Adaptations of organisms to interaction with solar radiation. Photoperiodism, its causes and manifestations. Adaptive biorhythms.\nTemperature and its influence on organisms. Thermobiological types of organisms. Thermal balance of organisms and various methods of its regulation. Bergmann's, Allen's, and Gloger's rules, limits of their applicability. Concept of effective temperatures.\nRegulation of water balance. Ecological importance of humidity and salinity.\n\"Interaction\" of ecological factors (organism responses to simultaneous action of various factors). Concept of adaptive compromise.\nAdditional material. Influence of environment on ontogenesis. Stabilizing selection. Features of species as a reflection of their history and characteristic lifestyle.\nPart IV. Humanity\nTopic 6. Human Ecology and Nature Conservation\nBasic material. Unique ecological features of Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 as a species: extremely accelerated evolution due to cultural inheritance; partial release from dependence on intra-ecosystem mechanisms of regulation of numbers and amount of consumed resources; extrasomatic use of resources with the help of technosphere; use of fossil and atomic energy; critical dependence on non-renewable resources; globality in inter-population redistribution of resources and exchange of information; production of xenobiotics and substances weakly involved in biogeochemical cycles. Human as a biosocial being. Biological prerequisites of human social behavior. Comparison of cultural and genetic inheritance.\nGeneral and unique features in mechanisms of regulation of human population numbers. Globality of modern humanity. Hyperbolic growth of human population, its causes. Demographic transition. Regulation of human population numbers: achievements and prospects.\nMain modern environmental problems: overpopulation; lack of food, energy, and water; destruction of natural ecosystems, decrease in biodiversity and global extinction of biota; pollution; climate change; soil degradation; military threat. Main resources used by humanity; renewable and non-renewable resources. Sources of energy of modern humanity; \"alternative\" energy. Problems of anthropogenic impact on the content of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, destruction of the ozone layer, acid rain, biogenic and pesticide pollution; possible solutions to these problems. Key problems of modern agriculture.\nMain stages of development of relations between human populations and their habitats. Instability of the modern state of relations between humanity and the biosphere. Concepts of rational use of natural resources, naturocentrism, sustainable (non-exhaustive) development. Possible future: scenarios of depletion and prosperity. Search for the optimal way of action for an individual, human groups, and humanity as a whole at the current stage of our development.\nAdditional material. Key stages of anthropogenesis. Biological and social features of a person related to their evolutionary history. Evolution of human behavior mechanisms. Different views on environmental (ecological) ethics.\nBATRIMG1>BATR" }

6.24. Екоконверсія

D. Shabanov, M. Kravchenko. Ecology: The Biology of Interaction Appendices

Appendix II. Questions for Credit