The History of Ecology

“When we no longer look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as at something wholly beyond his comprehension; when we regard every production of nature as one which has had a history; when we contemplate every complex structure and instinct as the summing up of many contrivances, each useful to the possessor, nearly in the same way as when we look at any great mechanical invention as the summing up of the labor, the experience, the reason, and even the blunders of numerous workmen; when we thus view each organic being, how far more interesting, I speak from experience, will the study of natural history become!”

― Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species

Augusta Creek at Kellogg Forest

Ecology as a field has been around only two hundred years. Of all the biological sciences, it is the most vast and comprehensive, and there is still an enormous amount of information we still do not know. Ecology itself is the study of interactions between organisms and the environment they reside in. However, interactions are dependent on a host of factors which influence every part of the environment and the parties involved.

In this regard, Ecologists are part of one of the most complex, intricate, demanding, and yet wonderful, new, and exciting interdisciplinary fields.

Today, I will take you on a trip through time; to the roots of ecology, and the people who shaped it and paved the way for us researchers today. These men and women were visionaries, yet many were met with contempt for their views. It is not only important to recognize them for the body of work they created, but often their bravery to share it when it undermined or overturned the traditional governing principles and paradigms.

Hippocrates

It is impossible to start a discussion about the history of ecology without recognizing Hippocrates (460 B.C. - 370 B.C.). His theory on how diseases were transferred (by way of nature, not by Gods punishment) were revolutionary, and showed one of the very first causal relationships in nature. He was the first to categorize endemic versus epidemic diseases, which is a central, key ideal even today in understanding diseases among plants and animals alike.

Aristotle (384 B.C. - 322 B.C.) may have been the world's first interdisciplinary student, and later...teacher. His most known body of works are his contributions to logic, metaphysics, and ethics. However his writings on politics, government, theater, music, poetry, and physics are equally impressive and earn him a place in each of those fields discussions. His writings on biology and zoology are extensive, and were some of the first looks "under the skin" so to speak, of thousands of animals, by way of his dissections. His classification system stood for hundreds of years, and although there are faults in many of his views on the causes of differences in anatomical structures among animals, his understanding of their complexity gave rise to the field of biology that stands today.

Theophrastus

Aristotle's greatest contribution to ecology may well have been his teachings, as his student, Theophrastus (371 B.C. - 287 B.C.), was one of the first people to document the interrelationship between animals and their environment. He wrote 18 books alone on plant structure, classification, and reproduction, and was pivotal in founding the field of botany.

These early theories, writings, and discoveries lasted for nearly two-thousand years before 17th century science finally had more questions to ask, and more answers to find. Much like the Copernican revolution changed the way we understood our place in the universe, that same time period changed the way we look at the world itself.

Antoni van Leeuwenhoecke (1632-1723), the father of microbiology, made significant contributions to the development of the microscope and was one of the first to see and categorize bacteria, protists, the cell vacuole, muscle tissue, and blood capillaries. He also began to look at and categorize food chains, and the roles microorganisms play in and on other organisms.

Carl Linnaeus

Perhaps the next major step toward understanding how the environment works together was made by the one who broke it apart. Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) cataloged and classified every organism he could find...and he was looking for plenty. He traveled far and wide, collecting, noting differences, and creating a hierarchical classification system, and a way to name each species. The Linnaean system of classification is still used today. While there are many flaws and it has been molded here and there for new evolutionary discoveries, it still served as a tremendous foundation for continuity in the scientific world, and the beginning of our understanding of evolutionary connectedness.

Charles Darwin

The greatest contribution to ecology was made by one man, but many others were speaking through him. When Charles Darwin (1809-1882) joined the "Beagle" and began to capture and categorize all of the exotic wildlife he could find, he carried a book with him, Charles Lyell's, Principles of Geology. While noticing the layering of strata, and the presence of different fossils, an idea began to form in his head. The full realization of his theory, however, would not be realized until years later, after countless documentation, experimentation, and collaboration, when he stumbled upon Thomas Malthus, "An Essay on the Principle of Population." In this book, the idea of natural selection was soon formulated in Darwin's mind. As Malthus explained how population growth was exponential, yet food growth was linear, Darwin began to remember his time aboard the Beagle, and how many different fossils he had found that no longer existed as extent species. He realized that there must be something acting on them to keep population growth in check, and that only certain individuals must make it to reproduction. The theory of evolution by way of natural selection has been credited solely to Darwin, however, Alfred Russel Wallace deserves an accolade as well. It was in fact he who sent Darwin a short essay covering this exact phenomena and pleaded with Darwin to publish his book. Darwin struggled with his discovery til his death in 1882. As a very religious man, he knew he and his theory would be assaulted from the church; a battle that still rages today.

Gregor Mendel

Another religious man also made an important discovery that unfortunately went years before being found and it's importance realized. Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), a friar, did meticulous work on germinating pea plants and discovered that it was in fact a unit of inheritance that passes along characteristics from one generation to another. His work, now called Mendelian Genetics, is not only still taught today, but has served as the starting point for nearly every biological science class curriculum.

Rosalind Franklin

That unit of inheritance was a complete mystery, until a team of Watson, Crick, and Franklin photographed and diagrammed the very first strand of DNA in 1953. Although only Watson and Crick are associated with the discovery by way of the Noble Prize, it is important to remember Rosalind Franklin's contribution as well. It was her X-ray photography that was finally able to capture the double helix.

Ernst Haeckel

Karl Mobius (1825-1908), a German Zoologist, was the first to study community ecology and the living community. He was one of the pioneers of early ecology. However, the true father of ecology was Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919). Haeckel invented the term ecology, and popularized the research tie between ecology and evolutionary biology.

All in all, ecology has grown as a field rather quickly. In it's earliest roots it was the documenting, drawing, and naming of organisms. Later it was the study of their behavior, their genetics, and their anatomy. Later still, study turned to their relationships with other organisms and other communities. Today, ecology studies these interactions with both biotic and abiotic processes, together with an evolutionary understanding. In the future the study of ecology may change again, and lead to the study of creating ecosystems, restoring those that are nearly gone, and better understanding our role in protecting the thousands of habitats that make up our home...earth.

-Jason Lambracht

Fens, Marshes, and Bogs! Oh My!

I would first like to thank those of you who have taken this delightful journey through Ecology 355, but have only experienced it in written format. If you have followed us this far, I ardently encourage you to seek these wonderful experiences that have been described and photographed in detail--in the case of ecology, everything is better firsthand. For those of you who have now transformed into ecology "intermediates" and have been through all of the various adventures with our expert guides--Idelle & Jorge--I implore you to use your knowledge to preserve those precious environments we have been so fortunate as to encounter.

Which brings me to the wonderful wetland ecology of Bishop's Bog. Do not be fooled, though, a bog is not the only type of wetland. At times, a wetland may not even appear to be wet. 'Wet meadows' are one such example: for most of the year, these wetlands are without standing water. What exactly defines a wetland then? Our Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Environmental Protection Act defines a wetland as: "land characterized by the presence of water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances does support, wetland vegetation or aquatic life and is commonly referred to as a bog, swamp, or marsh..."

Above is the marsh found within the wetland preserve in Portage.

Upon arriving in Portage and finding our way to the wetland preserve, we had lunch. Yes, even Cortes had lunch before conquering the Aztec empire. Like those early explorers and conquistadors, once we had lunched we were free to wander about the marsh/lake area of the preserve--on the trails.

Much thanks to Shane and Mike, who were here on a previous trip with their plant systematics class, we were alerted to the interesting and diverse plants that reside in these very wet and acidic conditions:

Top from left: carnivorous pitcher plants in bloom, and sun-dew

Bottom: tamarack.

We also found a great deal of fresh blueberries, which we eagerly raided--a meal is never complete without a sweet finish!

Exploring and out competing the robins for blueberries, however, were not our only tasks for the afternoon. Out of the wooded trails, past the Portage Parks & Rec picnic area, across the street, and past the parking lot lay the ecosystem we traveled all this way to examine: Bishop's Bog.

Beware of the poison hemlock when you enter the trail to Bishop's Bog. It may look like over grown Queen Anne's lace, but it can cause respiratory shock if too much is ingested. The famous Socrates was condemned to death for impiety and given an infusion of poison hemlock. In more diluted doses, it has been used as a remedy for arthritis among other medical ailments.

It appears as a magical forest of flowers...

Once in the bog, we had two prerogatives: identify the plant species of the bog and measure the water chemistry.

Growing in the first area of the bog, just beyond the forest (of trees), we identified hop sedge, sphagnum moss, and leather leaf. Moving along the floating walkway, we found an area resembling non-wetland forest. Here we identified maple trees, oak trees, ferns, and blueberry bushes as well as the leather leaf, sphagnum moss, and a different type of sedge. We also found a great deal of exotic buckthorn. These invasive shrubs were introduced as ornamental plants. The fruits produce a severe laxative effect on the birds that eat them, causing the seeds to be distributed at random and all over. The shrubs will crowd out native plants.

Christy surrounded by cattails and sedge of the "first area"

Seven different aspects of water chemistry were measured in various areas of the bog. The average temperature was 21. 34 degrees Celsius; average pH was 4.98; average (spc) was 54.78; average (ch) was 33.26; average dissolved oxygen was 1.98; average (tds) was 0.0388. Lower temperatures generally support higher amounts of dissolved oxygen. The low pH of the bog system may be one of the reasons for low levels of dissolved oxygen. This is not necessarily a negative quality, it just means that there is not enough oxygen in the system to support large organisms such as fish. What kind of fish would live in this mucky area anyhow?

Left: Al using a yard stick to measure water depth near the hydrolab.

Right: Lindsey posing with the hydrolab...taking credit for doing water chemistry measurements

The diversity of this unique community is truly amazing. At times, one may not believe themself to be in a wetland. Some areas look mucky, but other than that it more closely resemble a forest rather than any type of wetland. Awareness of one's surroundings is important, and I believe it is one of the most important lessons I have learned here. There are so many micro-communities that are fragile and require careful preservation. The walkways through Bishop's Bog are an excellent way to explore the diversity of different communities without harming the species growing there. If you are looking for an interesting family adventure, this is the place to be--and don't forget your field guide!

Predation Experiment

This story begins, as any other would, with a group full of people with an unsure question and a perplexed sense of self and purpose. The details get a little hairy from here, so I think it best to pretend they don’t exist and get on to the juicy bits, and by juicy bits I mean the scrumptious nature of a predator/ prey relationship. On the other hand, I’m not actually sure if it would be considered juicy or maybe even crunchy…however I imagine the happy medium would lie somewhere around the consistency of a Tootie Pop. At any rate these are just senseless inquires best made at the perspective of a predator and how it might view its tasty little morsels. On second thought, perhaps it’s best we skip over the juicy bits as well.

Working hard (or hardly working) at collecting samples from Augusta Creek

It’s time to set the scene! The world as we know it is over and you’re wondering a desolate wasteland ruled by sand-people and an omnipotent fern with a sassy, take-no-crap-from-nobody attitude. Suddenly fern is screaming at you to wake up and quickly takes the form of Al Manner (yes, this character in question is me!). Excluding more details, you are now hell-bound for ecology class feeling tremendous enthusiasm for the path your experiment has finally found itself on. This enthusiasm is, of course, well deserved, having successfully scaled the tumultuous battle to near self-discovery in order to reach the state your experiment is currently at (details not discussed). However, for clarity sake, I feel it necessary to bring up one of our “non-existent” details and say that the present state at which you find yourself is partly inspired by the faintest glimpse into the infinitely interconnected network of ecology. Simply put ecology plans to explain the relationships of living things (henceforth referred to as organisms) and said creatures’ physical living situation (otherwise called their environment).

Casting off to collect mosquito larva from pitcher plants!

The importance of elaborating on this detail is that it introduces the topic from which our experiment had spawned from and provides you with a neat sense of context. I could expand upon this idea by providing a few “all too real” examples; however I feel that although I have been granted unlimited artistic freedom, many creations of this sort tend to be happiest when people are around to experience it…so as not to lose you, let’s chuff on! But first an alliteration: please permit me to provide prompt protraction of the proposed purpose of my particular procedural process. Perhaps this pathway of piled prose pushes the perceived towards a perturbed sense of purpose or practical prevalence of this persistent prattle, however for the principle of pure pretend pursuit, I pressure your placation.

This is a damselfly...we used some of their larva for the experiment... better to ask forgiveness than permission?

So the production seen above, has been a little exhausting, not only to write but probably to read as well. I started this a week ago and just haven't been able to muster the energy to finish in a way that might actually reach the point of this bog post. Due to this, I will shift styles and just write about my groups predation experiment in a bit more of a direct fashion. The original idea behind our experiment was to first collect a bunch or prey and a few predators and place them in the same environment. Over time we would chart the differences in the prey population as a result of different predators. We believed that due to feeding differences between damselfly larva and mosquito larva, we would be able to see feeding preferences of the two predators due to variance in population size of the difference species of prey. Overall we thought that because mosquito larva could only eat food that it could fit in it's mouth, there would be a larger population of larger prey species in the same environment as the mosquito larva when compared to damselfly larva and the control. For many reasons, including the difficulty in charting population size of many different prey species, as well as a general lack of attentiveness to the project (we forgot about it),  this experiment was a bit of a flop. Our next plan was much more simple and straightforward. 

The experiment that we decided to conduct also involved the predator prey relationship, but this time we focused more on prey population and how it responded to different predators. We tested three different groups, one with just prey, one with mosquito larva and prey, and the last with stonefly larva and prey. Over a week long period we counted prey population every day and found a few interesting results. The sample that had no predators in it, also had a large population which resulted in a dramatic population crash and an overall smaller final population than all other samples. Another interesting result was how the population that with the mosquito larva and the the stonefly larva differed, in that the population with mosquito larva also experienced a population crash, but also quickly recovered only to crash again. This stood in contrast to the stonefly sample in which the population experienced neither a dramatic crash or a dramatic growth but a slow and controlled growth. These results are fascinating because they point to the conclusion that ecosystems depend not only on predators to control various populations, but also that the correct balance of predators are vital in presenting a stable environment for these populations to coexist. 

What do you see?

I remember my first trip to the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History when I was little; the gallery of evolution is a huge room filled with skeletons, fossils, and stuffed animals of all kinds, and I wanted to look at every single one. A particularly interesting specimen was what initially appears to be an abstract painting, but upon closer examination reveals itself to be composed of the bodies of various bats and insects. (I was horrified, but couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away from it!) Victorian exhibition slides are another excellent example of the results of a combined interest in art and the beauty of nature as it was coming to be better understood.



Wow, this exhibit has its own Wikipedia page!



This is a Victorian microscope slide made up of arranged diatoms.

However, the introduction of modern biological ideas was far from the first time that science and art came together to provide a new perspective of our world. The very first art forms found in archaeological sites around the world are remarkably similar images of the human body; these are not necessarily anatomically accurate (this would have to wait for da Vinci), but they demonstrate the importance that fertility and survival held in the daily lives of our ancestors.



These figurines are called Venuses, and over 100 of them have been found throughout the world.



Did you know?  Leonardo da Vinci had to steal corpses in order to study human anatomy because the subject was so taboo during his time.



I must admit, I was surprised when my first college-level ecology class began with a trip out to Kellogg Forest to draw whatever we observed. This class only met ten times - what could possibly be so important about observations? Surely we had learned about such things in other science classes. But I was wrong: art is a really interesting aspect of science, and our observations are some of our most valuable tools when studying ecology. The first day that we all went out and worked on our artwork, the majority of the resulting pieces portrayed a macroscopic view of nature, such as a landscape or riverscape. By the last day of class, however, our artwork was divided exactly in half between microscopic and macroscopic perspectives of what we saw in Kellogg Forest, and many drawings and paintings contained readily identifiable species. I was surprised by this shift in perspective towards the more detailed, actually, because I think that this class opened my mind to a more big-picture view of what I normally consider to be relatively separate organisms and processes.



A beautiful drawing by Cristy!



This cake was tasty and educational!

Happy seeing!


References:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exhibit_Museum_of_Natural_History,_Ann_Arbor_-_IMG_9120.JPG
http://www.victorianmicroscopeslides.com/slideexb.htm
http://www.disclose.tv/forum/13-000-year-old-clay-figure-found-in-higashiomi-japan-t23388.html
http://www.citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/images/masters/leonardo-anatomy.html

Dune Ecology

What can be better than having class on the shores of Lake Michigan? (not much...if you have to be in class, anyway).

For one of our field trips, we drove up to Saugatuck Dunes State Park for a lesson on dune ecology and dune succession. Dune succession is the changing of an ecosystem over time in terms of plants and wildlife. Here is a general outline of the process:

1. Sand shifts due to wind and water.
2. A few plants are able to take root. These plants require little water and nutrients.
3. Birds bring tree seeds and seedlings begin to grow. 
4. Plants create root systems, bring in moisture, and decompose, which creates humus and better soil for more plants. 
5. Animals also begin to inhabit the area because of increased resources of food and shelter. 
6. Bugs, spiders, and other insects move in to the vegetation and sand. 
7. Pine trees and grass start to take over the dune area. 
8. Behind the transition zone is a dense pine forest with a large variety of plants and animals. 
9. Oak trees also move into the area. 
10. Leaves and bugs contribute to the decomposition of organic matter and lead to an increase in humus. 
11. Beech and maple trees move in and wildlife diversifies even more. 

While at the beach, we went on a scavenger hunt to find many different types of plants and dune features. These included: marram grass (beach grass), backdunes (high inland dunes), and cottonwood trees. 

This is a picture of the transition zone between the upper beach and forest.

This photo shows a backdune. 

We used quadrats to measure the percent cover of vegetation in foredunes (upper beach), wetpannes (interdunal areas), blowouts, and forest edge. We found that there was more vegetation and a greater number of woody plants on the forest edge. There was also a greater percent vegetation with a greater diversity of species on the forest edge than on the foredune or wetpanne (the inland blowout contained no vegetation). 

A group uses the quadrat to measure vegetation cover. 

Here are some more pictures from the day:

Damselfly Adventure!

The Augusta Creek in Kellogg Forest was our destination for viewing the behavioral ecology of the ebony jewel-wing damselfly (Calopteryx maculata). The males are various blue-green colors and the females are a more dull color with a white spot at the end of their wings.

Male Damselfly

Female Damselfly

One of our main focuses of our research was to identify the most common locations of male and female damselflies along the stream. We wanted to know what areas were the most popular and try to hypothesize why.

Me and my group decided to watch different areas of the stream and see which were the most active.  We observed the sunny areas along with the shaded areas to see if the behaviors varied at all. After observing we tried capturing as many damselflies as we could from each area to measure their color on a color chart (shown below) and note any differences.

 

OUR RESULTS: We found that the damselflies are a lot more active in the sun then they were in the shade.  We noticed that there were many more damselflies enjoying the sunny areas as opposed to the shaded, more covered areas.  

Two males perching high on a tree

 While in the sunny areas the male-male fights tended to be more common because they were defending their territories.  I would have liked to get a picture of it, but they never lasted very long. The one factor that didn't seem to change between the different areas was the color of the male damselflies.  They were all different bright green colors. So there wasn't much color variation at all.

A trip back in time…

Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to travel back in time? Go to the past and see how things were?

How does a barren beach become a Forest? At lake Michigan we can see this as we travel inland from the shore.

The dunes at Lake Michigan are one of the few places on this planet in which one can do this without having to use one of H.G. Wells’ machines. They are a living story of how succession happens and vegetation is able to establish along a barren beach to eventually become a forest. As a field class at KBS our class could not leave the chance of visiting Saugatuck State Park to study the dunes. 

Very big stairs for a very tall dune system!

After climbing around 300 steps, we started appreciating the beauty of the dunes. One of the first things we saw was a blow out (where we got to have our lunch).  Blow outs are areas that erosion due to animal behavior (including us), wind and water action have turned back into bare sand with a few species. They are “islands” in the middle of the forest, that have been taken back to the first stages of succession.  

Blowouts give us a feel for how delicate the dunes are and how disturbance such as wind, rain or simple footprints can destroy it or seriously damage it.

 After lunch we headed to the beach, to start our journey from past to present. At the fore dune, the first stage and the one closest to the coast, we saw that the vegetation was mainly grasses. This is because the grasses have roots that are able to grab on to the sand. Together they reduce wind speed, which gives rise to the majestic dunes.

The coast along Lake Michigan, crowned by the dunes.

 The next stage of the dunes is wetpannes. They are areas of the dune that have sank, sometimes all the way up to the water bed, acting as a pit. The wetpanne at Saugatuck was not that dramatic, but it gives rise to the backdune, which is the oldest part of the dune, and the present. It looks just like a forest, with a lot of woody plants and giant trees.

As part of our activities, we had a scavenger hunt for common species at each stage of the dune in which we had to look for species like this panicum grass.

Once within the forest, where the vegetation dense and highly diverse, it is hard to imagine that you are still in a dune. It is incredible to think that all these plant and animal species are able to survive in such a hard environment like sand and are together able to withstand erosion. 

Would you believe this is found in a dune?

The dunes at Lake Michigan have been one of the key places that have led to the undrstanding of succession. Having the oportunity to see these and experience succession has been one of the greatest parts of our class!