Ecology Overview Quiz

Ecology Overview

• Ecology is the scientific analysis and study of interactions among organisms and their environment, including abiotic factors.
• Ecology is interdisciplinary, encompassing biology and Earth science.
• The term "ecology" was coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866.
• Ecology studies interactions between organisms and their environment.

Ecological Development

• Ecology seeks to explain why certain organisms compose communities, how organisms interact, and how to maintain those communities.
• Ecological processes include the movement of materials and energy, ecosystem development, and organism distribution and biodiversity.
• Ecology highlights the interdependence between the natural world and human activities.

Objectives of Ecology

• A key objective is understanding how biotic elements of an ecosystem interact and depend on one another.
• Ecology also studies the interactions between biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.
• Other objectives include studying the relationships between organisms within ecosystems, the effects of environmental change on organisms, and changes in organism behavior and adaptations.

Importance of Ecology

• Ecology provides scientific foundations for agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, aiding understanding of resources and their distribution.
• It helps to determine organism distribution and abundance over earth's surface.
• Understanding the consequences of environmental interventions, like dams and river diversions, is crucial.
• It underpins biological conservation and helps predict, prevent, and remedy pollution.
• A better understanding of ecosystems aids in comprehending global and regional competition for resources.

Divisions of Ecology

• Autecology: Focuses on the ecology of a single species and its interaction with other organisms and its environment at different stages of its life cycle.
• Synecology: Deals with the ecology of communities. It includes the study of community structure, nature, organization, and development.

Basic Ecological Terms

• Population: A group of organisms of the same species in a given area.

• Community: A group of different species interacting in a particular area forming a complex web of relationships.

• Habitat: Physical place where an organism lives or is found.

• Ecosystem: A functional unit of ecology containing a self-sustaining community of interacting organisms with their non-living environment.

• Ecological Niche: Combines the spatial habitat and functional role of an organism in a community.

• Biosphere: All ecosystems on Earth and their interconnected relationships, the largest ecological scale.

• Biome: A large geographical area defined by distinct life forms, especially the dominant type of vegetation and adapted to a particular set of living conditions.

• Environment: Includes the physical, social (human), and built world influences affecting organisms.

• Biogeochemical Cycles: Cyclical movement of materials/nutrients through different points in an ecosystem. Energy is recycled and not lost.

• Ecological Interactions: Relationships among organisms (e.g., competition, predation, mutualism).

• Ecological Succession: Process of gradual change in an environment where organisms occupy the area and gradually change the conditions allowing other species to move in.

• Trophic Levels: Feeding levels in an ecosystem (e.g., producers, herbivores, carnivores)

Ecological History and Development

• Key figures and their contributions to ecological understanding are discussed, including their discoveries and developments in understanding natural processes.

Levels of Ecological Study

• Various levels of study, from global processes to organismal interactions, are examined. These include:
  • Global ecology
  • Landscape ecology
  • Ecosystem ecology
  • Community ecology
  • Population ecology
  • Organismal ecology
  • Molecular ecology

Hierarchical Structure of Ecological Systems

• Organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, biomes, and the biosphere are explained.
• Ecology focuses on these hierarchical relationships.