Ecology
is the branch or aspect of
biology
that studies the
biota
(living things), the
environment
, and their interactions. It comes from the
Greek
oikos
= house;
logos
= study.
Ecology is the study of
ecosystems
. Ecosystems describe the web or network of relations among organisms at different scales of organization. Since ecology refers to any form of
biodiversity
, ecologists research everything from tiny
bacteria
in
nutrient
recycling
to the effects of
tropical
rain forests
on the
Earth's atmosphere
. Scientists who study these interactions are called
ecologists
.
Terrestrial ecoregion
and
climate change
research are two areas where ecologists now focus.
There are many practical applications of ecology in
conservation biology
,
wetland
management,
natural resource
management (
agriculture
,
forestry
,
fisheries
),
city planning
(urban ecology), community health,
economics
, and applied science. It provides a framework for understanding and researching human social interaction.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
Population ecology measures the size of a
population
: all the living things from one
species
that live in an place.
[5]
: 5
A population
gets bigger
because of
birth
and movement into a place, and it gets smaller because of
death
and movement out of a place. Growth rate is the change in population size divided by the current population size. When a population is small, growth rate does not change, so the population shows
exponential growth
.
[5]
: 688-691
Rate of exponential growth depends on how a living thing reproduces. If it has only a few
offspring
(children) which grow slowly, like a human, the rate will be low. If it has a lot of offspring which grow quickly, like a
fruit fly
, the rate will be high.
[6]
: 1042
Any environment only has enough
natural resources
, such as food, water, or space, for a certain size of population. This size is called the
carrying capacity
. When population size is near the carrying capacity, growth rate will become less. The graph of population growth will be an S-shape, called logistic growth.
[5]
: 688-691
Community and ecosystem ecology
[
change
|
change source
]
A
community
is all populations of different species that live in the same place.
[5]
: 5
An
ecosystem
is a community and its environment. Ecosystem ecology studies how
energy
and
nutrients
move through an ecosystem.
[7]
All living things need
energy
to survive, move, grow, and reproduce. A
trophic level
is the number of times energy moves from one living thing to another, before reaching a particular living thing. The first trophic level, called producers or
autotrophs
, gets energy from the environment. They use the energy to make
organic compounds
. Most producers, such as plants, take in energy from sunlight, but some take it from
inorganic compounds
.
[8]
Other trophic levels, called consumers or
heterotrophs
, get their energy by eating other living things. All animals are consumers, and there are three kinds:
herbivores
,
carnivores
, and
omnivores
. Herbivores eat only plants, carnivores eat only other animals, and omnivores eat both.
Decomposers
are living things which break down dead things. A
food web
shows the movement of energy in an ecosystem.
[5]
: 732-733
Ecology starts many powerful philosophical and political movements - including the conservation movement, wellness movement, environmental movement, and ecology movement we know today. When these are combined with
peace
movements and the Six Principles, they are called
green
movements. In general, these put ecosystem health first on a list of human moral and political priorities, as the way to achieve better human health and social harmony, and better
economics
.
People with these beliefs are called political ecologists. Some have organized into the Green Parties, but there are actually political ecologists in most political parties. They very often use arguments from ecology to advance
policy
, especially
forest
policy and energy
policy
.
Also, ecology means that it is the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment, including other organisms.
Many ecologists also deal with human economics:
- Lynn Margulis says that economics studies how humans make a living, while ecology studies how every other animal makes a living.
- Mike Nickerson says that "economy is three-fifths of ecology", since ecosystems create resources and dispose of waste, which the economy assumes is done "for free".
Ecological
economics
and human development theory try to separate the economic questions from others, but it is difficult. Many people think economics is just part of ecology now, and that economics that ignores it is wrong. "Natural
capital
" is an example of one
theory
combining both.
Sometimes ecology is compared to
anthropology
. Anthropology includes how our bodies and minds are affected by our environment, while ecology includes how our
environment
is affected by our bodies and minds. There is even a type of anthropology called ecological anthropology, which studies how people interact with the environment.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery stated: "The earth teaches us more about ourselves than all the books. Because it resists us. Man discovers himself when he measures himself against the obstacle".
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Ecology
.
- ↑
Omerod S.J. Pienkowski M.W. & Watkinson A.R. 1999. Communicating the value of ecology.
Journal of Applied Ecology
36
, 847?855
- ↑
Phillipson J. Lowe P. & Bullock J.M. 2009. Navigating the social sciences: interdisciplinarity and ecology.
Journal of Applied Ecology
46
, 261?264
- ↑
Steward T.A.
et al.
2008. Beyond urban legends: an emerging framework of urban ecology, as illustrated by the Baltimore Ecosystem Study.
BioScience
58
139?150
- ↑
Aguirre, A.A. (2009). "Biodiversity and Human Health".
EcoHealth
.
6
: 153?156.
doi
:
10.1007/s10393-009-0242-0
.
S2CID
27553272
.
- ↑
5.0
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
Starr, Cecie (2006).
Biology : concepts and applications
. Christine A. Evers, Lisa Starr (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson, Brooks/Cole.
ISBN
0-534-46223-5
.
OCLC
57966041
.
- ↑
Freeman, Scott (2011).
Biological Science
(4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.
ISBN
978-0-321-59796-0
.
OCLC
472790415
.
- ↑
"Ecosystem Ecology | Learn Science at Scitable"
.
www.nature.com
. Retrieved
2021-03-12
.
- ↑
"Autotrophs - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics"
.
www.sciencedirect.com
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-03-12
. Retrieved
2021-03-12
.