ECOL100 Introductory Ecology

The subject deals with how organisms live, how they adapt to their environment through evolutionary processes, and how they interact with other organisms and the physical environment. Basic concepts in ecology are presented, including evolution and natural selection, interactions between organisms (competition, predation and mutualism) and their environment, population dynamics, ecological communities and food chains, change over time (succession), ecological processes and conservation.

The subject will highlight five levels: organisms, populations, community, ecosystems and the biosphere.

Knowledge:

- The candidate must have basic insight into how plants and animals affect each other and the environment they live in (based on five levels: organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems and the biosphere).

Skills:

- The candidate must be able to interpret interactions between organisms and their environment, and identify factors that affect the ecosystem's structure and function.

General competence:

- See the value of ecological connections and the importance of sustainable development.

- Have knowledge of scientific concepts (theory, issues and challenges), which can be used across a number of scientific disciplines.

- Have personal, research-based views on ecology, which is important to be able to solve problems through evidence-based knowledge.