Course Description-
This course is designed to assist students in mastering the main concepts of ecology, while keeping the presentation more applied, than theoretical. An evolutionary perspective forms the foundation of the entire discussion. Evolution is brought to center stage throughout the course, as it is needed to support understanding of major concepts. We will begin by discussing the nature and history of the discipline of ecology, followed by a brief discussion of the natural history of the planet. We will build on this foundation using a hierarchical structure, focusing on the ecology of individuals, populations, community and ecosystems.

Course Objective-
General objectives relating to Finlandia University’s competencies:
• Read, write, and talk about ecology concepts using the appropriate language (I - Communication).
• Analyze and explain ecology concepts that affect everyday activities (II - Computation).
• Critically analyze problems (IV - Creative and Critical Thinking).

Course specific objectives: Students who complete this course you should be able to
• Define ecology as a scientific discipline and its broad applications and research approaches.
• Describe various geographic distributions terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna and their correspondence to variations in climate.
• Compare and contrast mechanisms used for temperature, water and salt regulation at the level of the individual organism.
• Describe the sources of energy and the rate at which organisms take in and use energy.
• Give examples of ways in which gene frequencies can change in populations.
• Describe four major concepts associated with population genetics and natural selection.
• Summarize ways and mechanisms by which individuals within a population are distributed in the environment.
• Define species diversity and the intermediate disturbance hypothesis.
• Compare Darwin’s theory of evolution based on variation, competition and subsequent selection.
• Define food webs, their importance as a means for describing feeding relations in a community, and the importance of keystone species in maintaining the structure of communities.