University of Oxford Press. This course will introduce you to a broad range of ecological ideas. I hope that by the end of the course, you have a better appreciation for the complexity of ecosystems and the role that evolution has played in producing the biological diversity around us. In addition, almost every decision you make throughout your life, whether it be the foods you chose to buy or where you chose to live, has an ecological consequence. Although this is not a course in environmental science, I do want to help you build the tools to judge the science of ecology and give you basic information for making future decisions.
Modern ecology relies heavily on some basic ideas from natural selection.
Global Biomes and Global Problems - The core of this section is a survey of the earth's major biomes. I will begin by talking about climate, which is largely responsible for the distribution of the biomes over the globe. I will also discuss various ecological problems facing different biomes. I cannot possibly do a comprehensive review of all the environmental problems, so I will be selective. My goal is to illustrate how scientific knowledge is needed to identify and possibly mitigate environmental problems.