## 1.2 Introduction

Most applications of calculus to ecological problems involve the determination of specific relationships between measured quantities. Frequently, the obvious relations involve rates of change of the quantities of interest, and not the quantities themselves. In mathematical terms, we often can determine equations involving the derivatives of functions instead of the functions themselves. We then need to use an inverse operation – called integration in integral calculus – on the derivative to determine the desired function.

For example, we may wish to know the blood level of a toxic material that is absorbed through the skin during a certain time period. However, the mathematical model may be based on the rate of absorption through the skin and rate of excretion via the urine. Thus we wish to know the magnitude of a quantity (body level of pollutant) when we know only the rate of change of that quantity (rate of increase by absorption and rate of decrease by excretion).