Ecology an

Notes

Ecology and Evolution: Interconnectedness Why Evolution in Ecology? • Evolution explains how traits arise and change over generations. • Ecology explains how organisms interact with their environment. • Ecological pressure (competition, predation, climate) drives evolution. • Evolution, in turn, alters ecological relationships. • Ecological theatre metaphor: • Ecology provides the stage and scenery (environment, resources, interactions). • Evolution provides the "play" (change in traits & species through time). Key Evolutionary Terms • Trait: A measurable characteristic of an organism (e.g., beak size). • Adaptation: A heritable trait that increases fitness in a particular environment. • Note: All adaptations are traits, but not all traits are adaptations. • Mutation: Random change in DNA that can create new alleles. • Genetic Drift: A random change in allele frequency due to chance (stronger in small populations). • Difference: A mutation creates variation; drift randomly changes its frequency. • Phenotype: Observable traits (e.g., color, behavior). • Genotype: A genetic makeup (set of alleles). • Evolution: A change in allele frequencies in a population over time. • Natural Selec...