Help Start Syllabus Class Library Communicate Image Map: click below

BIO226: Ecology - Introduction to ecological principles, including the distribution and abundance of organisms, population dynamics, community organization, energy flow, and nutrient cycling. 3 hrs credit. One year of introductory biology is a prerequisite.


Ecology is the study of the interrelationships between organisms and their environment. That means that anything that influences our well being is relevant in ecology, e.g., cold, heat, food, disease, interactions with other organisms, etc.

As the human population grows larger and technology provides ever more intrusive ways to affect our environment, understanding ecological principles becomes increasingly important for environmental management, species conservation, and even the quality of our lives. It also provides a basis for critical decisions, like how to vote when you have the opportunity.

We will take a look at ecology from the standpoint of the individual organism, through the ways that organisms make up populations, how those populations affect each other and build communities, and finally the ecological systems that we see in nature. We will examine ecology in the following five modules. In this class, we will take them in the following order.

  1. Individual

  2. Population

  3. Predation/Competition

  4. Community

  5. Ecosystem

For a textbook, we will use the fourth edition of The Economy of Nature by Robert E. Ricklefs (ISBN 0-7167-2815-X). It is published by W. H. Freeman & Company. The textbook will be available from the Northern Arizona University Bookstore, which you may obtain in person or by order.

This course runs during the spring 1999 semester at Northern Arizona University (course sequence number is 21239). The course begins on 11-Jan-1999 and ends on 5-May-1999. We will work on each subject area for 3 weeks, not counting a week for NAU's spring break in March (8-12).

Enroll in BIO 226.


If this is your first time in the class, you should:
  1. Read the Syllabus, Class page and complete the Student Profile/Agreement
  2. Read the help page and get the required plug-ins.
  3. Read Getting Started.

Then click one of the links above to read the Communication page, view additional resources from Cline Library, or get technical help.

E-mail Professor Gaud gaud@jan.ucc.nau.edu, or call (520)523-7516


Web site maintained by the NAU OTLE Faculty Studio

NAU Logo

Copyright 1997 Northern Arizona University
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED