ARCHIVE - Visualizing Ecology - Week 5: Ecosystem Ecology and Food Web http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter/taxonomy/term/18/0 en ARCHIVE - HENRY WEEK 5 http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter/henry-week-5 <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 200%" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Henry Browne</font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 200%" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Week <span> </span>5</font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 200%" class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">“every day , from sunrise until sunset, myriads of (plant) laboratories, factories, workshops and industries all the world over, on land and in the sea, in the earth<span>  </span>and on the surface soil, are incessantly occupied , adding each its little contribution to the general fund of organic wealth….”- Reinheimer , Worsterp.291</font></p><p><a href="http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter/henry-week-5">read more</a></p> http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter/henry-week-5#comment Week 5: Ecosystem Ecology and Food Web Mon, 05 Feb 2007 01:42:05 -0800 brohen24 292 at http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter ARCHIVE - David Kruger week 5 http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter/david-kruger-week-5 <p class="MsoNormal">David Kruger</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>            </span>“The niche is the species, and the species is the niche. Since all species are by definition different, and since behavior as much as bone structure defines a species, it would seem obvious that niches must differ – with out necessarily being the outcome of competitive exclusion.” (pg 299)</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>            </span>Niches are a good way of describing the reoccurring phenomenon of diversity in nature. Tansley described a “mature science… [as one that has] isolated the basic units of nature into its individual parts” <span> </span>(Worster pg 300). I think niches are a reflection of a mature science. A niche is an idea that can separate one species from the next by its most primal differences - habitat, appearance, behavior, competition etc. Most interesting is how it relates the competition of a species to how it interacts in and about a physical environment. This brought the thought to my mind that a niche may be one of the better arguments for evolution. As we know Darwin’s theory of evolution was based on competition, that every species was in a recourses foot race necessary for survival with prizes including breeding grounds and food (Bush 6). This is an important idea but it still doesn’t explain some of the finer technicalities in the rules of the game. In regard to concepts such as biodiversity and evolution, competition describes the overall tendencies of an ecosystem and a niche hits the particulars of the point system. Darwin was describing this when looking at canaries in the Galapagos and deduced how the canaries fit together as an integrated whole. </p><p><a href="http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter/david-kruger-week-5">read more</a></p> http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter/david-kruger-week-5#comment Week 5: Ecosystem Ecology and Food Web Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:04:57 -0800 krudav10 286 at http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter