This course is an introduction to ecology and ecosystem dynamics using a systems thinking lens. Through a case study on Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park, learners will explore how scientists study ecosystems, and investigate the complex array of factors that inform management efforts. At the end of the course, learners will be able to grapple with real-world conservation questions, such as whether an ecosystem can recover from anthropogenic disruption and what role humans can, and should, play in that recovery.
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Ecology: Ecosystem Dynamics and Conservation
Museu Americano de História NaturalMuseu Americano de História NaturalInformações sobre o curso
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Museu Americano de História NaturalMuseu Americano de História Natural
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education, and exhibition.

Instituto Médico Howard Hughes
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance biomedical research and science education. The HHMI BioInteractive website provides free multimedia resources to science educators and students. They include multimedia interactive resources, such as apps, animations, videos, click and learns, and virtual labs.
Programa - O que você aprenderá com este curso
Can an Ecosystem Recover?
We begin in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, and pose the question: Can this ecosystem recover after a 15-year civil war? To answer this question, learners must first consider what they need to know—what are the parts that make up this ecosystem, and how do they interact and work together? How do ecosystems react to disruption? How do we know? We will begin to explore the ecosystem as a dynamic whole rather than as a collection of parts, considering how changes might affect the system in a variety of ways. This application of a systems thinking lens to understanding ecosystems will be a common theme throughout the course.
How Do We Study Populations?
This week, we narrow the focus to populations within ecosystems. Who or what populates an ecosystem, and what are their roles? How do these roles change over time? What happens when a species is removed from a system? How do scientists study the populations within an ecosystem, from its largest to its smallest inhabitants? You will explore the important roles different species can play—such as ecosystem engineers, keystone species, and indicator species—and how they shape their ecosystems.
How Do Species Coexist?
This week we focus on community ecology and further explore the interactions between species in an ecosystem. For instance, how does the decline in a population from an ecosystem (as was the case in Gorongosa) affect the other players? How does adding a population -- such as an invasive species or translocated herds -- affect an ecosystem?
How is an Ecosystem a System?
This week, we will further their understanding about what makes an ecosystem a system by examining the flow of energy and matter through different parts of the environment. This includes understanding the interactions of biotic and abiotic factors within an ecosystem and the services each component provides. We will introduce the complicated effects of both abiotic (climate change) and biotic (herbivory) interactions within a coastal salt marsh system, touching on ecological concepts of thresholds in a system and ecosystem resistance and resilience.
Avaliações
- 5 stars86,35%
- 4 stars12,25%
- 3 stars0,93%
- 2 stars0,13%
- 1 star0,31%
Principais avaliações do ECOLOGY: ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS AND CONSERVATION
Makes your perspective go on a larger scale due to the intertwined effects of humans to our natural habitat and what we can do to actually live with all organisms on Earth harmoniously.
Following the case study of Gorongosa National Park made it easy to understand the concepts being taught because they were illustrated in such concrete ways. Very informative course!
This was particulary in depth of sciences of ecology, and having it based around a particular conservation project made it easier to folloe each progressive lecture and concept that was explored.
A very in depth and informative look into the field of ecology and conservation, particularly with regards to the fieldwork and mathematical modelling. The lectures were also excellent.
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