COURSE DELIVERABLES –

include selected slides from

course presentations

Ecology and List of abbreviations used:

Ecotechnologies  See course previous

deliverables
 hν – solar energy (hν as
photons of light)
 S – salinity
 to – temperature

Assignment:
 included in current
presentation

R.Jurmalietis, 2019
 “Living system” – a keyword representing EcT thinking
specifity (compare with other simplicity, out-of-box,
indigenous experience, etc. related projects) + ecosystem
as both a tool & target for Ecol.eng. activities

Ecosystems are very complex systems

See e.g. Ecological Engineering: Overview
S.E. Jørgensen, in Encyclopedia of Ecology, 2008

"The trouble with ecology is that you never know where

to start because everything affects everything else"
Robert A. Heinlein (from Farmer in the Sky)

Pictures retrieved from:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/380695593
28101702/?lp=true
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?
id=com.freakingmathplus
What is an Ecosystem? Simply speaking:
Arthur George
Eco-system : Tansley (1871 – 1955),
English botanist and a
pioneer in Ecology;
coined the term
Ecosystem.

hν, to, S…

Pictures retrieved from

https://lactobacto.com/
http://content.scottstreit.com/Sem
antic_Web/Images/
http://exchange.smarttech.com/

Picture retrieved from

Kļaviņš & Zaļoksnis, 2010
3
How to Simplify Complex Topic for
Non-Experts : Ecosystems

5 Key considerations to make

interpretations less complicated

4
 Herbivorous: seeds, grains, nuts, fruits, California ground squirrel
and sometimes roots Spermophilus beecheyi
 Prey for snakes, badgers, eagles, etc.
 Habitat for burrowing owls; protected
toads, frogs, salamanders; insects…
 Benefit for vegetation :
soil loosening, vertical mixing (org. 
mineral substances), seed distribution, air &
water penetration

Adaptation, habitat, trophic / food web,

solar system, keystone species
Picture retrieved from
(1) – (5) http://baynature.org/articles/jan-
mar-2008/lord-of-the-burrows
Living organisms are adapted to their environment. This means that the way they look,
the way they behave... makes them suited to survive and reproduce in their habitats.
https://www.americangeosciences.org/

ADAPTATION as an imperative for survival : (1)

all the living beings represent themselves set of adaptations
to environment/ecosystem they are living within.

PARADIGM

 “Organismal ecology is
concerned with the
morphological, physiological, and
behavioral ways in which
individual organisms meet the
challenges posed by their biotic
and abiotic environments.”
Picture retrieved from (Campbell & Reece, 2002)
https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/environment/soil-management/soil-
management-guide/drainage-management.html
 Life manifests itself through organisms, and every organism (living
being) reflects its environment, its life supporting system

Viscosity of
water and to
Cyclomorphosis
occurrence of cyclic
or seasonal changes
in the phenotype (i.e.
appearance) of an
organism through
successive
generations. It
occurs in small
aquatic invertebrates
that reproduce by
parthenogenesis and
give rise to several
generations annually.

IV VI VII VIII IX XI
Appeared to be just one species: Daphnia cristata
Pictures retrieved from:
http://www.zoofirma.ru/knigi/gid
robiologija/
http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/
 California thrasher : consistent with the chaparral (Californian
shrubland) habitat it lives in—it breeds and feeds in the
underbrush and escapes from its predators by shuffling from
underbrush to underbrush. Its 'niche' is defined by the
complementing of the thrasher's behavior and physical traits
(camouflaging color, short wings, strong legs) with this habitat.
Joseph Grinnell (1917). "The niche-
relationships of the California Thrasher"

Pictures retrieved from

https://philarogers.com/2015/11/08/the-elfin-forest-californias-chaparral/
http://www.rocklinwildlife.com/
 Habitat as a fundamental concept
A habitat is the actual location in the environment where
an organism lives, and it consists of all the physical &
biological resources available to a species.

(2)

Habitat construction / re- construction as a key issue

An important sector 9
Picture retrieved from
http://www.fsl.orst.edu/clams/download/pres in EcT designs
entations/j02s_spies_biod_am.pdf
• Kinds of habitats
Any place where
organisms live is by
definition a habitat, e.g.
backyard, an agricultural
field, a conifer forest,
riparian zones along
stream banks, chaparral
(we just discussed), etc.
– all these are habitats
for some group of Habitats are typically
organisms. classified on the basis of
more or less obvious
Picture retrieved from visual characteristics.
http://kids.readesl.com/Article/D/1187/Habitats
Green habitats: Landscape level / perspective

Picture retrieved from

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/e 11
cosystems/benefits/index_en.htm
 Habitat construction /
management

Maslow's hierarchy of
needs is a motivational
theory in psychology
comprising a five-tier
model of human needs...
But maybe this model...
not only for humans?!

Pictures retrieved from

https://www.hunter-ed.com/arizona/studyGuide/Habitat-
Management/20100401_700065652/
https://www.canva.com/photos/MADerBEAjhI-maslow-s-needs- 12
hierarchy-3d-illustration/
Picture retrieved from
https://www.teeswildlife.org/

13
 Temporary shelter for beneficial
insects like ladybirds and lacewings
(and trap for unfavourable insects)
during the cold winter months: cut
an old cardboard box into strips.

Habitat design

Picture retrieved from

http://www.uksafari.com/spottylodgers.htm
Ex Hafner & Philipp, 1986
 Habitat  Niche
Ecological niche
… term which is related to the fit of a species living under specific
environmental conditions (i.e. how organism fits into its specific environment –
needs & functions)
Self-evidently, every
organism has a place
to live, certain
requirements towards
that place + a set of
adaptations to survive Scarabaeus
& reproduce here,
and a functional role
sacer Food
in that place (i.e.
community focused
role)  ecologists
use niche concept
to organize their
thoughts on these
issues

Picture retrieved from

http://naturalresources.anthro-
seminars.net/concepts/niche/
Not just a spatial location,
food consumed, etc. …

Picture retrieved from

http://slideplayer.com/slide/7699718/
Picture retrieved from
http://homework.sdmesa.edu/dancinec/sectio
nal-review/ecology/answer3.htm

Niche – each member of

this community gathers
food in a unique way

Food relationships
as a key issue
18
Place in a Pond community:
food web
simplified food web
(i.e. «who eats whom»)
(3)
Food webs are one of the core
thematic frameworks in the
ecological sciences. Broadly
defined, food webs are special
descriptions of biological
communities focused on trophic
interactions between consumers
and resources.
http://www.macrorivers.org/food-webs/

Picture retrieved from

https://www.primaryconnections.org.au/ 19
 Trophic system related
method for EcT design:
Biomanipulation...
… the deliberate alteration of an ecosystem by
adding or removing species, especially predators,
i.e. manipulation within a trophic chain/web

Remember “shark-
sting-ray” case?

Picture retrieved from

http://trophiccascades.blogspot.co
m/2014/04/biomanipulation.html
 Pictures retrieved from
https://www.pinclipart.com/
https://www.primaryconnections
.org.au/
https://www.slideshare.net/Shre
yaMahajan2/patrick-geddes

(4)
OPPOSITE: Deep sea
hydrothermal vents,
subterranean biosphere

Solar powered systems as Low input systems

from Patrick Geddes’s

farewell lecture to his
Dundee students, 1919.

(1854 – 1932), a Scottish biologist,

sociologist, geographer, philanthropist
and pioneering town planner.
Low-input, self- Picture retrieved from
https://bwsr.state.mn.us/media/468
designing / self-
assembling systems

Just put a seed…

https://uubcar.org/first-five-years-history/
 CASCADE: kelp forests
(brown algae Laminaria) 
Habitat construction – sea urchins (algal fixation
CASE: designed by solar-supported point)  sea otters
macro-algae / kelp forests; controlled by
sea-otters – KEYSTONE PREDATOR

Picture retrieved from 23

http://acer.disl.org/news/2016/11/09/word-wednesday-top-down-or-bottom-up/
 (5)
Balance: don`t underestimate
dominant species while
talking about keystone!

Dominant species –
most abundant, highest
biomass, powerful control over
occurrence and distribution of
other species. Called also
Foundation species Pictures retrieved from
http://johnbarger.photoshelter.com/image/I0000J6Npp9Yzu94 (sugar maple)
http://www.welshbeaverproject.org/category/news/

Keystone species –
NOT necessarily most
abundant, exert strong control
due to their ecological roles
Keystone Species and Their Role in Ecosystems
(spectrum more wide than usually considered – not just ecosystem engineers
& terminal predators) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IWw8Ruz8Uo
 Ecological tree : keystone
importance of a single organism

Even single tree

as a keystone

+ Remember project Put stone in river :

not only living beings can have
Picture retrieved from
keystone effect ! https://www.pinterest.com/pin/503347695822702025/
HABITAT / NICHE as a core concept in EcT (Ecol.Eng.) projects:
habitat design for a selected species / group of species
 Why this particular species has been chosen? Define purpose
(for : personal enjoyment [e.g. backyard garden], tourism resources enhancement,
biodiversity protection, landscape architecture project, sustainable farming, etc.)
 Design using map: main ideas & arguments behind, comments
 Keystone elements added (for inspiration: e.g. woodpecker as a keystone
species, «put stone in a river» project, old tree / ecological tree)
LIST OF USED LITERATURE &
references must be added!

Pictures retrieved from

https://www.bigbatbox.com/
JUST FOR INSPIRATION: Setting up a Goldfish Aquarium
https://www.naturallivingideas.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uAU-uqsakE