Plant Ecology

STUDY PLANT ECOLOGY ONLINE 

• Learn about plant Ecology
• Expand your knowledge or persue a passion
• Extend your opportunities to work in horticulture, Environmental Management or Plant Sciences 

Acquire a deeper understanding on the principles of plant ecology, why plants are the way they are, their relationships to other plants and living beings, how they developed in evolution and which factors determine their growth and survival. Apply that understanding to the cultivation or management of plants, develop a new view on the plant world.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Introductory Ecology
2. Plant Communities
3. Plants and their Environment
4. Plants, Soils & Climate
5. Plant Adaptations to Extreme Environments
6. Manipulating Plant Environments
7. Environmental Conservation
8. Environmental Organisations, Assessment and Funding

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Define the term ecosystem
• Explain the importance of plants as energy producers within ecosystems
• Explain basic ecological principles
• Define the terms open and closed plant communities, semi-natural vegetation, dominant species, climax association.
• Describe the effects of plant association and competition on the succession of plants
• Describe how plant communities respond to environmental stresses.
• Explain how the development, structure and function of an organism depends on the interaction of that organism with its environment
• Describe the effects of a range of abiotic environmental factors on plant growth and development
• Explain the importance of monitoring abiotic environmental factors
• Describe plant modifications to withstand extreme environmental conditions
• Describe the weather and climate in a particular region.
• Relate plant distribution, growth and natural selection to soil, geography, weather and climate.
• State how soil, geography, weather and climate affect the horticulturist’s selection of plants for any specific growing location.
• Evaluate the use of meteorological records in relation to plant growth and development
• Define the terms xerophyte, hydrophyte and halophyte
• Describe the structure and function of xerophytes, hydrophytes and halophytes
• Describe how xerophytes, hydrophytes and halophytes can be utilised in garden or landscape situations
• Describe the significance of xeromorphy in temperate zone plants and its importance in the garden or landscape situation.
• Evaluate the methods by which environmental conditions can be manipulated to improve the growth and development of plants
• State the factors affecting the choice of plants for garden or landscape sites with extreme conditions
• Assess the value of using protective structures to grow plant
• Describe the sources and nature of pollutants and possible effects on plants
• Describe how the environment may be affected by a range of horticultural practices
• Explain how planning, environmental assessment and impact analysis may contribute to the conservation process
• State the major sources of grant aide available to support environmental conservation on horticultural sites
• Review the role of national and international organisations in the conservation of plants and gardens.

What is Ecology?

Ecology is the study of the relationship between plants and animals and their physical and biological environment. The physical environment includes:

1. Light
2. Heat
3. Solar Radiation
4. Moisture
5. Wind
6. Oxygen
7. Carbon dioxide
8. Nutrients in soil, water and the atmosphere.

The biological environment includes:

i) Organisms within the same species
ii) Other plants
iii) Other animals

Many approaches can be made to study organisms in their environment; therefore ecology draws upon such fields as:

• Meteorology
• Hydrology
• Oceanography
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Geology
• Soil Science
• Animal Behaviour
• Taxonomy
• Physiology
• Botany
• Mathematics

In recent years, public awareness of environmental problems has increased greatly. This has make ecology a common and often misused word.  It is often confused with environmental programs and environmental science. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines ecology as:

"The branch of biology dealing with the relation of organisms to
one another and to their physical surroundings."

Although the field of ecology is a distinct scientific discipline, it does contribute to the study and understanding of environmental problems.

The term "ecology: was first introduced in 1869 by a German biologist named Ernst Haeckel.  The term was derived from the Greek "oikos" which means household or the study of home. Ecology, then, is the study of plants and animals in relation to their home, or environment.  The study of ecology was further advanced by Charles Darwin, with his theory of evolution and Alexander von Humboldt, who made extensive explorations in the Orinoco and Amazon River regions in South America in the nineteenth century.