Ecology

Introduction and contents...............................................................................................2

Ecology......................................................................................................................2
About this course....................................................................................................2
Course materials.........................................................................................................3
Book 1: Interactions...............................................................................................3
Book 2: Population ecology...................................................................................3
Book 3: Communities.............................................................................................4
Book 4: Ecosystems................................................................................................4
Book 5: Humans and ecology................................................................................4
Do this....................................................................................................................5
Try this...................................................................................................................5
Acknowledgements........................................................................................................5

Introduction and contents

The materials listed below are presented on the following pages of this unit in pdf
format.
Book 1: Interactions
Book 2: Population Ecology
Book 3: Communities
Book 4: Ecosystems
Book 5: Humans and Ecosystems
This material is taken from a discontinued Open University course. It is intended
for re-purposing and re-use by educators rather than for use directly by learners.
Learning outcomes appropriate to the original course may be provided within the
material, but it is intended that educators will construct new learning outcomes
appropriate to the re-use they make of this material.

Ecology
About this course
Course description
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and with their
environment a truly vast area of biology. The original course examined the
biological principles that are the basis for analysing and understanding ecological
situations, and should give you some of the skills and knowledge needed by
professional ecologists.
There were five books, each taking an experimental and investigative approach,
included in the original course materials which are presented here:
Book

1 Interactions introduces a wide-ranging survey of the diversity of

ecological interactions among animals, plants and microbes. We emphasise the
ecological consequences of these interactions and investigate the roles of
physical and chemical factors in air, soil and water.
Book 2 Population ecology considers how and why the abundance of wild
animals and plants changes, including how competition and predation may
either drive or limit population fluctuations.
Book

3 Community ecology looks at what determines the species diversity of

communities and examines the role of history and dispersal in the distribution
patterns of species.

 Book

4 Ecosystems examines the role of primary producers, consumers and

decomposers in ecosystems, and how they are linked by energy flow and
mineral cycles.
Book

5 Humans and ecology discusses the conflicts of interest amongst

conservation, food production and increase in human population in the light of
the ecological principles developed earlier in the course.
This course was last presented in 2006.
Suggested study hours 250
Format pdf for 5 books

Course materials
Book 1: Interactions
Below is each of the sessions that make up book 1 of Ecology, Interactions. To see the
files click on 'View document' below the session title.
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Book 2: Population ecology

Below are each of the sessions that make up book 2 of Ecology, Population Ecology.
To see the files click on 'View document' below the session title.
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3

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Book 3: Communities
Below are each of the sessions that make up book 3 of Ecology, Communities. To see
the files click on 'View document' below the session title.
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Book 4: Ecosystems
Below are each of the sessions that make up book 4 of Ecology, Ecosystems. To see
the files click on 'View document' below the session title.
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Book 5: Humans and ecology

Below are each of the sessions that make up book 5 of Ecology, Humans and ecology.
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Acknowledgements
This material is taken from The Open University's OpenLearn website. OpenLearn
provides free open educational resources for learners and educators around the world
under a Creative Commons licence. Third party materials have been removed but for
ease of use the original acknowledgements copy has been included. For the online
version of this unit and for other free educational resources across a range of topics,
please go to http://www.open.ac.uk/openlearn/home.php.