By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify new technologies and methods for describing biodiversity
Explain the legislative framework for conservation
Describe principles and challenges of conservation preserve design
Identify examples of the effects of habitat restoration
Discuss the role of zoos in biodiversity conservation

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define biodiversity in terms of species diversity and abundance
Describe biodiversity as the equilibrium of naturally fluctuating rates of extinction and speciation
Identify historical causes of high extinction rates in Earth’s history

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify chemical diversity benefits to humans
Identify biodiversity components that support human agriculture
Describe ecosystem services

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify significant threats to biodiversity
Explain the effects of habitat loss, the introduction of exotic species, and hunting on biodiversity
Identify the early and predicted effects of climate change on biodiversity

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the effects of abiotic factors on the composition of plant and animal communities in aquatic biomes
Compare and contrast the characteristics of the ocean zones
Summarize the characteristics of standing water and flowing water freshwater biomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define biogeography
List and describe abiotic factors that affect the global distribution of plant and animal species
Compare the impact of abiotic forces on aquatic and terrestrial environments
Summarize the effects of abiotic factors on net primary productivity

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define global climate change
Summarize the effects of the Industrial Revolution on global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration
Describe three natural factors affecting long-term global climate
List two or more greenhouse gases and describe their role in the greenhouse effect

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify the two major abiotic factors that determine terrestrial biomes
Recognize distinguishing characteristics of each of the eight major terrestrial biomes

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define ecology and the four basic levels of ecological research
Describe examples of the ways in which ecology requires the integration of different scientific disciplines
Distinguish between abiotic and biotic components of the environment
Recognize the relationship between abiotic and biotic components of the environment

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Discuss the biogeochemical cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur
Explain how human activities have impacted these cycles and the potential consequences for Earth

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe the basic ecosystem types
Explain the methods that ecologists use to study ecosystem structure and dynamics
Identify the different methods of ecosystem modeling
Differentiate between food chains and food webs and recognize the importance of each

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe how organisms acquire energy in a food web and in associated food chains
Explain how the efficiency of energy transfers between trophic levels affects ecosystem structure and dynamics
Discuss trophic levels and how ecological pyramids are used to model them

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Compare innate and learned behavior
Discuss how movement and migration behaviors are a result of natural selection
Discuss the different ways members of a population communicate with each other
Give examples of how species use energy for mating displays and other courtship behaviors
Differentiate between various mating systems
Describe different ways that species learn

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Discuss the predator-prey cycle
Give examples of defenses against predation and herbivory
Describe the competitive exclusion principle
Give examples of symbiotic relationships between species
Describe community structure and succession

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Explain the characteristics of and differences between exponential and logistic growth patterns
Give examples of exponential and logistic growth in natural populations
Describe how natural selection and environmental adaptation led to the evolution of particular life history patterns

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Discuss exponential human population growth
Explain how humans have expanded the carrying capacity of their habitat
Relate population growth and age structure to the level of economic development in different countries
Discuss the long-term implications of unchecked human population growth

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Describe how life history patterns are influenced by natural selection
Explain different life history patterns and how different reproductive strategies affect species’ survival