Pre-Reading
Pre-Reading Activity
Discuss the following questions with a partner.
- Considering Figure 1 below,
- how are the three images related?
- what is the connection between human health and the environment?
- How else might nature both positively and negatively affect people’s health?
The following words will be defined in the reading. Do you know any of these words?
- infection
- vector
- epidemiologist
- ecology
- ecologist
- host
Reading 1: The Scope of Ecology [1]
Ecology is the study of the interactions of living organisms with their environment. One core goal of ecology is to understand the distribution and abundance of living things in the physical environment. Attainment of this goal requires the integration of scientific disciplines inside and outside of biology, such as biochemistry, physiology, evolution, biodiversity, molecular biology, geology, and climatology. Some ecological research also applies aspects of chemistry and physics, and it frequently uses mathematical models.
Why study ecology? Perhaps you are interested in learning about the natural world and how living things have adapted to the physical conditions of their environment. Or, perhaps you’re a future physician seeking to understand the connection between human health and ecology. Humans are a part of the ecological landscape, and human health is one important part of human interaction with our physical and living environment.
Lyme disease, for instance, serves as one modern-day example of the connection between our health and the natural world (Figure 1). More formally known as Lyme borreliosis, Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans when they are bitten by the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), which is the primary vector for this disease. However, not all deer ticks carry the bacteria that will cause Lyme disease in humans, and the tick I. scapularis can have other hosts besides deer. In fact, it turns out that the probability of infection depends on the type of host upon which the tick develops: a higher proportion of ticks that live on white-footed mice carry the bacterium than do ticks that live on deer. Knowledge about the environments and population densities in which the host species is abundant would help a physician or an epidemiologist better understand how Lyme disease is transmitted and how its incidence could be reduced.
A career in ecology contributes to many facets of human society. Understanding ecological issues can help society meet the basic human needs of food, shelter, and health care. Ecologists can conduct their research in the laboratory and outside in natural environments (Figure 2).
These natural environments can be as close to home as the stream running through your campus or as far away as the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Ecologists manage natural resources such as white-tailed deer populations (Odocoileus virginianus) for hunting or aspen (Populus spp.) forests for paper production. Ecologists also work as educators who teach children and adults at various institutions including universities, high schools, museums, and nature centers. Ecologists may also work in advisory positions assisting local, state, and federal policymakers to develop laws that are ecologically sound, or they may develop those policies and legislation themselves. To become an ecologist requires an undergraduate degree, usually in a natural science. The undergraduate degree is often followed by specialized training or an advanced degree, depending on the area of ecology selected. Ecologists should also have a broad background in the physical sciences, as well as a sound foundation in mathematics and statistics.
Reading Comprehension
Answer the questions in your own words.
- What is the purpose of this reading?
- What is ecology?
- According to the reading, why should people study ecology? Can you think of some other reasons to study ecology?
- Name at least one problem, according to the reading, that knowledge of ecological problems can help solve.
- Describe the different types of jobs ecologists can perform.
- Environmentalists work to protect the environment. How is ecologists’ work similar to and different from environmentalists’?
Match the words with their definitions.
|
7. ______ ecologist |
a) a person who studies disease in a population |
|
8. ______ host |
b) an organism that has another organism living on it |
|
9. ______ epidemiologist |
c) a person who studies the interactions of living organisms with their environment |
|
10. ______ vector |
d) an organism that transmits a disease |
Vocabulary Practice
Complete the sentences below using the words in the box. You may need to change the verb form to fit the sentence.
|
abundant density distribution foundation landscape multifaceted probability proportion sound transmit |
- The _________________________ surrounding the castle attracts as many visitors as the castle itself.
- Lyme disease is _________________________ to humans via small insects called ticks.
- There is _________________________ evidence to support his argument, so he must be correct.
- The new building uses the last technology to reduce energy costs and reuse rainwater. Its design is environmentally _________________________.
- Low bone _________________________ can cause fractures and breaks.
- Freshman classes serve to give students a strong _________________________ of knowledge that they can then build on.
- The _________________________ of infections around the city did not appear to be random; there was a group of outbreaks in one area.
- The _________________________ of survival is lower if people are older.
- The _________________________ of the population that lives in the city has grown every year.
- The problem is very complex. It’s _________________________.
Reading Discussion
Discuss these questions with your classmates.
- Would you like to be an ecologist? Why or why not?
- Which type of host has a higher proportion of ticks, which carry the bacteria-causing Lyme disease, living on them? Why might that be?
- If you wanted to be an ecologist, what classes might be important for you at university?
- Ecologists work in many different places. What place most interests you? Why?
- Download the original, un-adapted version for free at https://cnx.org/contents/jVCgr5SL@15.47:OkwK3CFU/Introduction ↵