What is Ecology?

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What is Ecology?
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Origin of the wordecology

• Greek origin
• OIKOS household
• LOGOS study of
• Study of the house/environment in which we
  live.

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Ecology is study of interactions between

• non-living components in the environment
• light
• water
• wind
• nutrients in soil
• heat
• solar radiation
• atmosphere, etc.
• AND

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• Living organisms
• Plants
• Animals
• microorganisms in soil, etc.

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To study Ecology involves

• For non-living (abiotic)
• Climatology
• Hydrology
• Oceanography
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Geology
• soil analysis, etc.

• For living (biotic)
• animal behavior
• Taxonomy
• Physiology
• mathematics (population studies)
• etc.

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Ecology

• views each locale as an integrated whole of
  interdependent parts that function as a unit.

caribou
tundra
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The interdependent parts are
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• Nonliving
• dead organic matter
• nutrients in the soil and water.
• Producers
• green plants

Tundra
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• Consumers
• herbivores and carnivores
• Decomposers
• fungi and bacteria

Tundra
Caribou
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ECOLOGY Levels of Organization

• - a hierarchy of organization
• in the environment

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Levels of organization - Terms

• Biosphere
• Surface of the earth
• Composed of many ecosystems
• Ecosystem
• Large or small as we decide
• Backyard, OMelveney Park, Hedge along Room 110,
  etc.

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Levels of organization - Terms

• Population one species live in one place at one
  time
• Community All populations (diff. species) that
  live in a particular area.

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Levels of organization - Terms

• Habitat physical location of community
• Organism simplest level of organization

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• Very complex
• Can contain 100s to 1000s of interacting
  species.

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THEN

• Ecology is an integrated and dynamic study of the
  environment.

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