Table of Contents
WHAT DOES ECOLOGY MEAN?
Ecology is derived from two Greek words “oikos_home” and fogos_ study”. Ecology is all about how nature is connected and studying Biotic factors. These Biotic factors are plants and animals, as well as the weather and geography.
Ecology has real-world impacts in conservation and habitat management and restoration. Study of the interaction between organism and their environment. Ecology helps us to understand how organisms live with each other in unique physical environments.
Every organism experiences complex relationships with other organisms of its species, and organisms of different species. These complex interactions lead to different selective pressures on organisms.
Ecology is the study of these forces, which produce them, and the complex relationships between organisms and each other, and organisms and their non-living environment.
IMPORTANCE OF ECOLOGY:
CONSERVATION OF ENVIRONMENT:
Ecology helps us to understand how our actions affect the environment. It shows the individuals the extent of damage we cause to the environment.
Lack of knowledge of ecology has led to the degradation of land and the environment. It has also led to the extinction and endangerment of certain species.
Thus, the study of the environment and organisms helps us to protect them from any danger and damage.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION:
With the help of ecology, we are able to know which resources are necessary for the survival of different organisms. Lack of ecological knowledge has led to scarcity and deprivation of these resources, leading to competition.
An example is a human dependency on fossil fuels that has led to the increase of carbon footprint in the ecosystem. moreover, It is an ecology that allows humans to see these problems which then calls for the need to make informed decisions on how to adjust our resource demands to ensure that we do not burden the environment with demands that are unsustainable.
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY:
All organisms need energy for their growth and development. Lack of ecological knowledge leads to the over-exploitation of energy resources for instance such as light, nutrition, and radiation, leading to its depletion.
Proper understanding of ecological requirements prevents the unnecessary wastage of energy resources, thereby, conserving energy for future purposes.
ECO-FRIENDLINESS:
Ecology helps harmonious living within the species and the adoption of a lifestyle that protects the ecology of life.
AIDS IN DISEASE AND PEST CONTROL:
A great number of diseases are spread by vectors. The study of ecology offers the world novel ways of understanding how pests and vectors behave thereby equipping humans with knowledge and techniques on how to manage pests and diseases.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Malaria which is one of the leading killer diseases is spread by the female Anopheles mosquito. In a bid to control malaria, humans must first understand how the insect interacts with its environment in terms of competition, and breeding preferences.
The same applies to other diseases and pests. By understanding the life cycles and preferred methods of propagation of different organisms in the ecosystem, it has created impressive ways to device controls measures.
COMPONENTS OF ECOLOGY:
Following are the components of ecology,
- HABITAT – Habitat is the place where an organism lives. A habitat meets all the environmental conditions an organism needs to survive.
- NICHE – Niche is how organisms relate to their physical and biological environment.
- SPECIES – Species are a group of organisms that can reproduce naturally with one another and create fertile offspring.
- POPULATION – A population is a group of species or group of individuals within species that have the opportunity to breed with one another because they live in the same area at the same time.
- COMMUNITY – A community is a group of species that live together in a common habitat or environment.
BRANCHES OF ECOLOGY:
Autecology – Aut means self. Autecology is the study of an individual organism. It includes the study of the life history and behavior of a particular species in relation to the environmental conditions that influence its activities and distribution.
Synecology – Syn means together. Synecology is the study of group of organisms associated together as a unit. This can include many different things, including distribution, structure, demography and interactions that occur between organisms in a same area.
Demecology – Demecology deals with the study of ecology of population. Therefore, the branches of ecology are according to the level of organizations, kind of environment or habitat and taxonomic position. These branches are listed as under.
Habitat ecology – Habitat ecology is the ecology of aquatic or terrestrial conditions.
Ecosystem ecology – Ecosystem ecology deals with the analysis of ecosystem from structural and functional point of view including physical and biological components of environment.
Conservation ecology – Conservation ecology deals with the paper management of natural resources such as land, forest, sea water, mines etc. for the benefit of human.
Production ecology – Production ecology deals with the gross and net production of ecosystem.
Radiation ecology – Radiation ecology deals with the study of cross production of radiation at radioactive substances on environment and living organisms.
Taxonomic ecology – Taxonomic ecology deals with the division of different taxonomic group and includes plant ecology, insect ecology, vertebrate ecology etc.
Human ecology – Human ecology is the relationship of man with its environment.
System ecology – System ecology is the understanding of structure and function of statistical techniques, mathematical model and computer sciences.
RELATIONSHIP OF ECOLOGY WITH ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY:
Environment refers to the surrounding. This may also referred to as natural environment that is all living and non-living things that occur naturally on earth. So we relate our surrounding with our living.
- Built environment – The built environment is the constructive surrounding that provides the setting for human activity ranging from large-scale surrounding to personal scale.
- Biophysical environment – Biophysical environment is the physical or biological factors along with their chemical interaction that affect an organism.
- System environment – The surrounding of a physical system that may interact with the system by exchanging mass, energy and other properties.
- Social environment – Social environment is the culture that an individual lives and people and institutions with whom they interact.
Ecology is derived from two Greek words “oikos_home” and fogos_ study”. Ecology is all about how nature is connected and studying biotic factors. These Biotic factors are plants and animals, as well as the weather and geography.
Ecology helps us to understand how our actions affect the environment. It shows the individuals the extent of damage we cause to the environment.
Article is written by: Zehrish from Attock | MSC, B.Ed.
PixaBay Image Tags: Ecology Science Environment Green Nature Earth Biology Globe PlanetHope
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