Noun

Singular ecology

Plural countable and uncountable; plural ecologies

ecology (countable and uncountable; plural ecologies)

1. The branch of biology dealing with the relationships of organisms with their environment and with each other.
   • 1949 - Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart Earth Abides

     As a graduate student, he was working on a thesis: The Ecology of the Black Creek Area. He had to investigate the relationships, past and present, of men and plants and animals in this region.

Related terms

• eco-
• ecological
• ecologist
• ecosystem
• ecotribe

Ecology (from Greek: οἶκος, "house" ; -λογία, "study of") is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the interactions of these organisms with their environment. Ecology is the study of ecosystems. As such, it is concerned with the web or network of relations among organisms at different scales of organization ranging from tiny organisms to the entire biosphere. Ecology is a well established natural science and is not synonymous with environment, environmentalism, or environmental science.

Like many of the natural sciences, a conceptual understanding of ecology is found in the broader details of study, including:

• life processes explaining adaptations
• distribution and abundance of organisms
• the movement of materials and energy through living communities
• the successional development of ecosystems, and
• the abundance and distribution of biodiversity in context of the environment.

Ecology is distinguished from natural history, which deals primarily with the descriptive study of organisms. It is also distinct from traditional biology, which deals primarily with understanding single organisms and the general properties of life.

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, basic & applied science and it provides a conceptual framework for understanding and researching human social interaction (human ecology).

Quotes regarding ecology:

• "A Healthy Ecology is the Basis for a Healthy Economy"
  • Claudine Schneider, U.S. Representative in The Green Lifestyle Handbook.

• "To halt the decline of an ecosystem, it is necessary to think like an ecosystem."
  • Douglas P. Wheeler, EPA Journal, September-October 1990

• "The thing the ecologically illiterate don't realize about an ecosystem is that it's a system. A system! A system maintains a certain fluid stability that can be destroyed by a misstep in just one niche. A system has order, a flowing from point to point. If something dams the flow, order collapses. The untrained miss the collapse until too late. That's why the highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences."
  • Frank Herbert, in Dune ("Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune")

• "Un jour l'homme se réveiller d'un mauvais rêve. Ce jour-là, il sera trop tard..."

See also

• Environment
• Conservation