Ecology (from Greek Greek , an Indo-European language native to the southern Balkan peninsula, is the language of the Greeks. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European. It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical Ancient Greek literature: οἶκος, oikos, "house"; -λογία, -logia, "study of") is the interdisciplinary scientific Science refers to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome. In this sense, science may refer to a highly skilled technique or practice study of the distribution and abundance Abundance is an ecological concept referring to the relative representation of a species in a particular ecosystem. It is usually measured as the large number of individuals found per sample. How species abundances are distributed within an ecosystem is referred to as relative species abundances of organisms In biology, an organism is any living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole. An organism may either be unicellular (single-celled) or be composed of, as in humans, many billions of cells grouped into specialized and their interactions Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect. A closely related term is interconnectivity, which deals with the interactions of interactions within systems: combinations of many with their environment The biophysical environment is the symbiosis between the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables that comprise the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories: the natural environment and the built environment, with some overlap between the two.[1] The environment of an organism includes all external factors, including abiotic In biology, abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical factors in the environment. Despite being non-living, abiotic components can impact evolution. Things that were once living but now dead are usually considered biotic . However, depending upon the definition, components from living things that are no longer living can be ones such as climate Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time. Climate can be contrasted to weather, which is the present condition of these same elements over periods up to two weeks and geology, and biotic factors, including members of the same species (conspecifics) and other species that share a habitat.[2] If the general life science of biology Biology is the science that studies living organisms. Prior to the nineteenth century, biology came under the general study of all natural objects called natural history is viewed as a hierarchy of levels of organization, from molecular "[...]not so much a technique as an approach, an approach from the viewpoint of the so-called basic sciences with the leading idea of searching below the large-scale manifestations of classical biology for the corresponding molecular plan. It is concerned particularly with the forms of biological molecules and[...]is predominantly three- processes, to cells, tissues and organs In biology and anatomy, an organ is a tissue that performs a specific function or group of functions within an organism, and finally to the individual, the population and the ecosystem An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the physical (abiotic) factors of the environment. An ecosystem is a unit of interdependent organisms which share the same habitat. Ecosystems usually form a number of food webs which show the interdependence of the, then the study of the latter three levels belongs within the purview of ecology.
Examples of objects of ecological study include: Population processes, including reproductive behavior, mortality, bioenergetics Bioenergetics is the subject of a field of biochemistry that concerns energy flow through living systems. This is an active area of biological research that includes the study of thousands of different cellular processes such as cellular respiration and the many other metabolic processes that can lead to production and utilization of energy in and migrations, interspecific interactions such as predation In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey, (the organism that is attacked). Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey. The other main category of consumption is detritivory, the consumption of dead organic, competition Competition is a combat between individuals, groups, nations, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or allocation of resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For example, animals compete over water, parasitism Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between two different organisms where one organism, the parasite, takes favor from the host, sometimes for a prolonged time. In general, parasites are much smaller than their hosts, show a high degree of specialization for their mode of life, and reproduce more quickly and in greater numbers than and mutualism Mutualism is a biological interaction between two organisms, where each individual derives a fitness benefit, for example increased survivorship. Similar interactions within a species are known as co-operation. It can be contrasted with interspecific competition, in which each species experiences reduced fitness, and exploitation, in which one, plant and animal community structures and their function and resilience, and biogeochemical cycling. Because of its vast scope, ecological science is often closely related to other disciplines. Thus, molecular ecology addresses ecological questions using tools from genetics Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding. However, the modern science of genetics, which seeks to understand the process of, paleoecology Paleoecology uses data from fossils and subfossils to reconstruct the ecosystems of the past. It includes the study of fossil organisms and their bromalites and other trace fossils in terms of their life cycle, their living interactions, their natural environment, their manner of death and burial. Paleoecology's aim is therefore to build the most uses tools from archeology Archaeology, archeology, or archæology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, features, biofacts, and landscapes. Because archaeology's aim is to understand humankind, it is a humanistic endeavor, and theoretical ecologists Theoretical ecology refers to several intellectual traditions. The tradition pursued in universities and scientific journals under the rubric of theoretical ecology addresses the equations and probability distributions that govern the demography and biogeography of species. Common topics of theoretical ecology include population dynamics and the use often highly complex mathematical models A mathematical model uses mathematical language to describe a system. Mathematical models are used not only in the natural sciences and engineering disciplines but also in the social sciences (such as economics, psychology, sociology and political science); physicists, engineers, computer scientists, and economists use mathematical models most to explore how ecosystems and their elements function.
Aside from pure scientific inquiry, ecology is also a highly applied science Applied science is the application of knowledge from one or more natural scientific fields to solve practical problems. Fields of engineering are closely related to applied sciences. Applied science is important for technology development. Its use in industrial settings is usually referred to as research and development. Much of natural resource management Natural resource management refers to the management of natural resources such as land, water, soil, plants and animals, with a particular focus on how management affects the quality of life for both present and future generations. Natural resource management is congruent with the concept of sustainable development, a scientific principle that, such as forestry Forestry is the art and science of managing forests, tree plantations, and related natural resources. Silviculture, a related science, involves the growing and tending of trees and forests. Modern forestry generally concerns itself with: assisting forests to provide timber as raw material for wood products; wildlife habitat; natural water quality, fisheries Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising and/or harvesting fish, which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats, purpose of the activities or a, wildlife management Wildlife management is a general term for the process of keeping wild species at desirable levels which are determined by the wildlife managers. Wildlife management can include game keeping, wildlife conservation and pest control and habitat conservation Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology is directly related to ecological sciences and many problems in agriculture Agriculture encompasses a wide variety of specialties and techniques, including ways to expand the lands suitable for plant raising, by digging water-channels and other forms of irrigation. Cultivation of crops on arable land and the pastoral herding of livestock on rangeland remain at the foundation of agriculture. In the past century there has, urban development and public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." [citation needed] It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health are informed by ecological considerations.
The term "ecology" has also been appropriated for philosophical ideologies like social ecology It holds that present ecological problems are rooted in deep-seated social problems, particularly in dominatory hierarchical political and social systems. These have resulted in an uncritical acceptance of an overly competitive grow-or-die philosophy. It suggests that this cannot be resisted by individual action such as ethical consumerism but and deep ecology Deep ecology is a somewhat recent branch of ecological philosophy that considers humankind an integral part of its environment. It is a body of thought that places greater value on the life of human and non-human species alike, as well as on the ecosystem and processes in nature, and establishing environmental and green movements. Deep ecology has and is sometimes used as a synonym for the natural environment The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof or environmentalism Environmentalism, is a broad philosophy and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the state of the environment. Environmentalism and environmental concerns are often represented with the color green. An informal or derogatory label for environmentalists is the term "greenie". Likewise "ecological" is often taken in the sense of environmentally friendly Environmentally friendly are synonyms used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment. To make consumers aware, environmentally friendly goods and services often are marked with eco-labels. But because there is no single international standard for this concept, the International Organization for.
Contents |
EurekAlert (press release) (press release)
A longstanding and fruitful collaboration between researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and the University of Neuchatel in ...
and more »
300px x 224px | 19.00kB
[source page]
Whistler Summer Activities Ecology Tours
unknown
hu, 06 Aug 2009 08:10:00 GM
The Department of . Ecology. has ordered a company called "Green Power" in Pasco to shut down.
Q. I am looking to switch from business to Biology. I want to go into Ecology mostly but will look into the others. What kind of jobs could I look forward into going into?
Asked by Bill - Thu Apr 23 21:07:23 2009 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments
A. Honestly, if you're looking for a lucrative career, you will need to continue your education past a BS degree. You could use one of those majors to perhaps bolster your chances at getting into a related graduate program i.e. vet school (which is very competitive).
Answered by Prota5 - Thu Apr 23 21:20:56 2009
