BACKYARD ECOLOGY

DEFINITIONS:

• What is ecology?
• From niche to biosphere

SOME QUESTIONS:

• Why do wild plants & animals live in our backyards?
• Why do robins live in the suburbs?
• How do wild plants invade our backyards?
• What eats our wild animals?

THE BIG PICTURE:

• Niche numbers in our backyards
• The naturalist's joy in traveling
• Some ecological "rules" to think about
• Energy flow in nature
• The Nitrogen Cycle & nature's interconnectedness
• A bottleneck in nature
• Life needs certain things...
• Your own effect on the biosphere
• Evolution

FIELD ECOLOGY:

• Looking for plants & animals "ecologically"
• Noticing when events happen in nature

MORE INFO:

• books on ecology
• Jim's Field Notes on Ecology

THINGS TO DO:

• Backyard composting
• Jim's solar cooking designs
• Browse our direct feed of ScienceDaily Magazine's headlines on plant & animal dicoveries