Ecology Field of Study
An Ecology Field of Study is a Branch of Biology that studies the interactions among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment.
- Context:
- It can (typically) explore the relationships at various levels including individual organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and the global biosphere.
- It can (often) be interdisciplinary, overlapping with fields such as biogeography, evolutionary biology, genetics, ethology, and natural history.
- It can (typically) focus on concepts like organism abundance, biomass, distribution, and their interactions with the environment.
- It can (often) analyze ecological processes like energy and material flow in communities, ecological succession, species interactions, and biodiversity patterns.
- It can have practical applications in areas like conservation biology, natural resource management, urban planning, community health, and ecological economics.
- It can (often) be foundational to understanding environmental issues and informing policy and conservation efforts.
- ...
- Example(s):
- Terrestrial Ecology, which studies the impact of deforestation on local ecosystems and species diversity.
- Marine Ecology, which researches the effects of pollution on marine life and the health of aquatic ecosystems.
- Population Ecology, which focuses on the dynamics of species populations, their interactions, and how environmental factors affect them.
- Urban Ecology, which examines the interactions between living organisms and their environment in urban settings.
- Conservation Ecology, which is concerned with understanding and addressing the loss of biodiversity and degradation of habitats.
- Landscape Ecology, which explores the patterns and processes of landscapes, including the effects of human activities on these patterns.
- Behavioral Ecology, which investigates the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior.
- Restoration Ecology, which aims at restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats to their original condition.
- ...,
- Counter-Example(s):
- Microbiology, which focuses primarily on microorganisms and their activities, often at the cellular level.
- Genetics, which focuses on studying genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.
- See: Biogeochemical Cycles, Ecological Modeling, Ecosystem Services, Landscape Ecology, Species Diversity, Sustainable Development, Trophic Levels.
References
2024
- (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ecology Retrieved:2024-1-14.
- Ecology ()is the study of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps with the closely related sciences of biogeography, evolutionary biology, genetics, ethology, and natural history.
Ecology is a branch of biology, and is the study of abundance, biomass, and distribution of organisms in the context of the environment. It encompasses life processes, interactions, and adaptations; movement of materials and energy through living communities; successional development of ecosystems; cooperation, competition, and predation within and between species; and patterns of biodiversity and its effect on ecosystem processes.
Ecology has practical applications in conservation biology, wetland management, natural resource management (agroecology, agriculture, forestry, agroforestry, fisheries, mining, tourism), urban planning (urban ecology), community health, economics, basic and applied science, and human social interaction (human ecology).
The word ecology () was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst Haeckel. The science of ecology as we know it today began with a group of American botanists in the 1890s. [1] Evolutionary concepts relating to adaptation and natural selection are cornerstones of modern ecological theory.
Ecosystems are dynamically interacting systems of organisms, the communities they make up, and the non-living (abiotic) components of their environment. Ecosystem processes, such as primary production, nutrient cycling, and niche construction, regulate the flux of energy and matter through an environment. Ecosystems have biophysical feedback mechanisms that moderate processes acting on living (biotic) and abiotic components of the planet. Ecosystems sustain life-supporting functions and provide ecosystem services like biomass production (food, fuel, fiber, and medicine), the regulation of climate, global biogeochemical cycles, water filtration, soil formation, erosion control, flood protection, and many other natural features of scientific, historical, economic, or intrinsic value.
- Ecology ()is the study of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps with the closely related sciences of biogeography, evolutionary biology, genetics, ethology, and natural history.
- ↑ S. E. Kingsland, "Foundational Papers: Defining Ecology as a Science", in L. A. Real and J. H. Brown, eds., Foundations of Ecology: Classic Papers with Commentaries. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1991. pp. 1–2.