MTO 227 - Ecosystem Ecology

Course Objectives

Main aim of this course is to present the interaction between the living and non-living environments and assess the corresponding role of the meteorological variables within this interaction for the undergraduates of the meteorological engineering department. The course will cover the fundamental topics of ecology. In this connection; interactions between the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere and the oceans; photosynthesis and respiration, and the cycles of water, carbon and nutrients, concepts of energy and mass exchanges between ecosystems, organism distribution and control, ecosystem structure and process, metabolic diversity, fertility, ecosystem dynamics and ecological models will be considered in the frame of this course.
In addition to the undergraduates of meteorological engineering, this course may also be favorable to undergraduates of biological and environmental sciences who are interested in related subjects.

Course Description

Introduction, What is Ecology? Ecosystem Concept; Ecosystem Components, Ecosystem Ecology, Earth’s Climate System; Earth Science and Soils; Water and Energy Balance in Terrestrial Ecosystems; Carbon in the Terrestrial Ecosystems; Terrestrial Production Processes; Decomposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems, Plant Nutrient Use in Terrestrial Ecosystems, Terrestrial Nutrient Cycling; Carbon and Nutrient Cycling over Water Surfaces; Community Effects on Ecosystem Processes; Temporal Dynamics; Effects of Landscape Heterogeneity on Ecosystem Dynamics; Integration; Global Biogeochemical Cycles; Managing and Sustaining the Terrestrial Ecosystems