Ecology
next Principles of
Ecology History of Ecology
Ecology is the branch of
science
that studies the distribution and abundance of
living organisms,
their habitats,
and the interactions between them and their
environment — which includes both
abiotic
(non-living) elements like
climate and
geology,
and biotic
ones like other species. The term was coined in
1866 by the
German biologist
Ernst Haeckel from the
Greek oikos meaning "house" and logos meaning "science."
Human ecology is a related but distinct academic discipline which
studies
humankind, the organized activity of this species, and its environment; it
overlaps biological ecology,
sociology,
and other disciplines.
Outside scientific contexts, the word ecology is often
used as synonym of "the
environment", i.e. the ensemble of all wild organisms that are living
mostly in their ages-old environment and manner, with little human
interference; and especially of that part of it that is most important to
humans,
for any reason —
economical,
medical,
aesthetical,
hedonistic,
sentimental, etc.. This sense usually applies when one says that something is
good or bad for the "ecology", and in
political ecology.
Others may use the word ecology to mean not a science, but
a
philosophical or even
religious
system, which implies a specific vision of the universe and specific values
and moral imperatives — e.g. that the totality of life is a coherent system,
possibly with a purpose; that the extinction of higher species is "bad"; that
people should live in harmony with other living beings; and that nature should
be protected from human interference. Ecology in this sense is also
called
environmentalism.
Scope
Ecology is usually considered a branch of
biology,
the general science that studies
living beings. These can be studied at several levels, from
proteins
and
nucleic acids (in
biochemistry and
molecular biology),
cells (in
cellular biology), organisms (in
botanics,
zoology,
and other similar disciplines), and finally at the level of populations,
communities, and
ecosystems
— which are the subjects of ecology.
Because of its focus on the broadest level of life and on the iterrelations
between living beings and their
environment, ecology draws heavily on other branches of science, such as
geology and
geography,
meteorology,
pedology,
chemistry,
and physics.
For this reason, ecology is often said to be a
holistic
science.
Ecology is frequently defined as the study of the following triangular
relationship:
- the relationship between individuals of a
species —
for example, the study of the
queen bee,
and how it relates to the worker
bees and the
drones. The
queen bee is completely cared for by the workers; it has no control over the
hive, but performs the reproduction of its entire population and produces
pheromones needed for the well-being of the colony.
- and the environment of this activity — for example, the consequences of
the environmental change on the bee activity. Bees may die out due to
environmental changes (see
pollinator decline). The environment at the same time both affects and
is a consequence of this activity and is thus intertwined with the survival
of the species.
Disciplines of ecology
Ecology is a broad science that encompasses many specialized branches,
including
-
ecophysiology (or autoecology), which studies the relations between a
single type of
organism
and the factors of its environment;
-
population ecology, which studies the relations between a population of
individuals of the same species and its environment;
-
synecology, which studies the relations between ones
community,
in addition to individuals of different species within his environment,
often using the concept of
ecological succession;
- The study of specific
ecosystems.
-
global ecology, which studies ecology on the scale of the
ecosphere
or biosphere (the totality of the space occupied by alive beings).
-
chemical ecology,
molecular ecology, and
ecotoxicology.
-
applied ecology, including
agroecology
-
conservation ecology,
restoration ecology, and
landscape ecology.
-
animal ecology,
plant ecology, and
aquatic ecology.
-
soil ecology and
microbial ecology.
-
tropical ecology,
polar ecology, and
urban ecology.
-
behavioral ecology
-
ecoevolution and
paleoecology
-
macroecology, and
theoretical ecology
Ecology also plays important roles in many inter-disciplinary fields:
Finally, ecology has also inspired (and lent its name to) other
non-biological disciplines such as
