We will cover fundamentals of ecology, considering Earth as an integrated dynamic system. Topics include coevolution of the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere and oceans; photosynthesis and respiration; the hydrologic, carbon and nitrogen cycles. We will examine the flow of energy and materials through ecosystems; regulation of the distribution and abundance of organisms; structure and function of ecosystems, including evolution and natural selection; metabolic diversity; productivity; trophic dynamics; models of population growth, competition, mutualism and predation. This course is designated as Communication-Intensive; instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided. Biology is a recommended prerequisite.

" We will cover fundamentals of ecology, considering Earth as an integrated dynamic system. Topics include coevolution of the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere and oceans; photosynthesis and respiration; the hydrologic, carbon and nitrogen cycles. We will examine the flow of energy and materials through ecosystems; regulation of the distribution and abundance of organisms; structure and function of ecosystems, including evolution and natural selection; metabolic diversity; productivity; trophic dynamics; models of population growth, competition, mutualism and predation. This course is designated as Communication-Intensive; instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided. Biology is a recommended prerequisite."

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Soil-dwelling animals play critical roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Despite the importance of these animals, little is known about their microbiomes. To address this, a recent study systematically characterized the microbiomes of ecologically important soil dwelling invertebrate groups across China. Each taxon of invertebrates had diverse microbiomes that contained ‘unique’ microbial taxa that were not found in surrounding soils. Both random effects and deterministic ones, like host selection, played a role in the microbial community assembly. The researchers also found several unidentified microbial taxa and evidence that this ‘microbial dark matter’ played potentially important ecological roles. When moving up the food web, the microbial diversity, the number of ‘unique’ taxa, and the ecological role of unknown taxa increased..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.