Assignment

In each of seven
houses are seven cats;
each cat kills seven mice;
each mouse would have
eaten seven ears of spelt
(wheat); each ear of spelt
would have produced
seven hekat (half a peck)
of grain. Query: How
much grain is saved by
the seven houses
cats?...

Define the System in terms of the entities and components

Define the Boundaries

Identify the Controls and Feedbacks

What would Homeostasis look like

Consumed
Biomass

Fj

d j Bj M j
aj pj

Unassimilated
Biomass
(e.g., leavings & feces)

Assimilated
Biomass
a j Fj

Fj

Preyi

d j Bj M j
aj pj

Predatorj

(1! a j )Fj

Mineralized
Biomass
(e.g., CO2 & NH4+)

Production
Biomass
(Growth & Reproduction)

C
a
1

p
)
F
i
j(
j
j
i j

a j p j Fj

Pj
1
Ni a

)F
j j(
CN
CNj i
i

Dimensional Analysis

Biomass

Amount

Individuals, Mass (g C)

Death Rate

Rate

Individual/Time

Specific Death Rate

Specific Rate

Individual/Individual/Time

Flux Rate

Rate

Individual/Time

Assimilation Efficiency

Proportion

Mass (g C)/Mass (g C)
Individual/Individual

Production Efficiency

Proportion

Mass (g C)/Mass (g C)
Individual/Individual

Award of Excellence in Ecosystem Science

The NREL Award of Excellence in Ecosystem Science was established
by the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, NREL, in 1997. It is
presented to an individual whose independent and interdisciplinary
research has contributed to sustained, innovative syntheses and new
insights in the study of ecosystems.

1. Dr. Jerry M. Melillo

4. Dr. Pamela A. Matson

2. Dr. David Coleman

5. Dr. Samuel J. McNaughton

3. Dr. Thomas Rosswall

6. Dr. F. Stuart Chapin

Assignment
1. Read Chapter 1 of Moore and de Ruiter
(2012) Sept. 9, 2013
2. List 5 papers written by your distinguished
ecologist. Sept. 9, 2013
3. Review the papers written by your
distinguished Ecologist with eye toward
defining their ecology world-view in terms
of Community Ecology and in terms of
Ecosystem Ecology. Sept. 16, 2013

Assignment

1.
You have a deck of cards arranged by suit, with cards within a suit arranged in ascending order (Ace to
King).
2.

Shuffle the deck repeatedly for 1 minute.

Query Which of the following procedures will bring you back to the original arrangement the fastest:
A.

Draw cards from the shuffled deck, arrange the cards by suit first, then for each suit place the cards in
ascending order.

B.

Draw cards from the shuffled deck, arrange the cards by suit and place them in ascending order as
you draw them.

Design an Experiment to answer the question. Include the experimental design, variables, and metrics