Skip to content

Chapters

This textbook is organized into 17 chapters covering 380 concepts.

Chapter Overview

  1. Foundations of Ecology - This chapter introduces the core vocabulary and foundational science concepts that underpin all of ecology.
  2. Ecosystems and Biomes - This chapter surveys the major terrestrial and aquatic biomes on Earth and examines the structural organization of ecosystems.
  3. Energy Flow in Ecosystems - This chapter examines how energy enters, moves through, and exits ecosystems.
  4. Biogeochemical Cycles - This chapter traces how matter cycles through Earth's living and nonliving systems.
  5. Species Interactions - This chapter explores the ecological relationships between organisms, from predation and competition to mutualism and parasitism.
  6. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services - This chapter examines biodiversity at the species and ecosystem levels, and the essential services that healthy ecosystems provide to humans.
  7. Population Ecology - This chapter covers how populations grow, stabilize, and decline, from single-species models to human demographic patterns.
  8. Earth Systems and Resources - This chapter examines the physical foundations of ecology: how plate tectonics shapes habitats, how soils form and erode, how the atmosphere drives weather patterns, and how solar radiation creates climate zones.
  9. Sustainability and Energy Resources - This chapter introduces the concept of sustainability and surveys the full spectrum of energy resources available to human civilization.
  10. Land and Water Use - This chapter examines how humans use land and water resources and the ecological consequences of those choices.
  11. Atmospheric Pollution - This chapter covers the sources, chemistry, and health effects of air pollution.
  12. Water and Land Pollution - This chapter examines water and land pollution, from nutrient runoff and eutrophication to persistent organic pollutants and bioaccumulation.
  13. Systems Thinking - This chapter develops the thinking tools that ecologists use to understand complex, interconnected systems.
  14. Scientific Literacy - This chapter builds the skills students need to evaluate scientific claims.
  15. Global Climate Change - This chapter addresses the science of global climate change, from the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion to ocean warming, acidification, and sea level rise.
  16. Biodiversity Loss and Policy - This chapter examines the causes of biodiversity loss and the policy frameworks designed to prevent extinction.
  17. Evaluating Environmental Claims - This capstone chapter applies all prior knowledge to the practical challenge of evaluating environmental claims encountered in social media, news, and everyday life.

How to Use This Textbook

Chapters are ordered so that prerequisite concepts always appear before the concepts that depend on them. You can follow the chapters in order for a complete learning path, or use the learning graph viewer to find specific concepts and identify which chapters you need to complete first.

Note: Each chapter includes a list of concepts covered. Make sure to complete prerequisites before moving to advanced chapters.