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Ecology
Ecology, or ecological science, is the branch of
biology that studies the relationship of plants and animals to their
physical and biological environment. The physical environment includes
light and heat or solar radiation, moisture, wind, oxygen, carbon
dioxide, nutrients in soil, water and atmosphere. The biological
environment includes organisms of the same kind as well as other
types of plants and animals.
Ecology can be considered a subfield
of environmental science, for which it often is confused. Although
both are multidisciplinary sciences that focus on the interactions
of populations of organisms, environmental science also addresses
interactions of purely physical parameters that do not involve biological
systems. Ecology also is confused with environmentalism, which focuses
on human-caused damage to the natural environment. Likewise, ecologic
or ecological are used as synonyms for “environmentally friendly.”
Although ecology is considered one of the newer sciences, having
only become prominent in the second half of the 20th century, studies
of animal populations and their environments can be traced back to
the Greek philosopher Aristotle and his student Theophrastus. Theophrastus
described interrelationships among animals and between animals and
their environment as early as the fourth century B.C.E. The field
began to blossom with the 1850 publication of Charles
Darwin’s The Origin
of Species and the work of his contemporary and competitor
Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace recognized the interdependence of
animal and plant species and grouped them into communities of living
beings, or biocoenosis. In 1875, Austrian geologist Eduard
Suess proposed the term biosphere to
encompass the variety of conditions that together promote life on
Earth.
Since the 19th century, environmentalists and other conservationists
have used ecology and other sciences to support their advocacy positions.
Environmentalist views often are controversial for political or economic
reasons. As a result, some scientific work in ecology directly influences
policy and political debate; these in turn often direct ecological
research. An example of an influential conservationist advocacy organization
is the National Audubon Society, whose public policy office is in
Washington, D.C., and deals with Congress, the executive branch of
the federal government and the media to try to promote environmental
conservation.
The primary principle of ecology is that each living
organism has an ongoing and continual relationship with every other
element that makes up its environment. An ecosystem can be defined
as any situation where there is interaction between organisms and
their environment. Within the ecosystem, species are connected by
food chains or food webs. Energy from the sun, captured by primary
producers (plants) via photosynthesis, flows upward through the chain
to primary consumers (plant-eating animals, or herbivores) and then
to secondary and tertiary consumers (meat-eating animals, or carnivores),
before ultimately being lost to the system as waste heat. In the
process, matter is incorporated into the decomposers (such
as mushrooms and bacteria), which degrade nutrients and return them
to the ecosystem.
The concept of an ecosystem can apply to units of
variable size, such as a pond, a field or a piece of deadwood. A
unit of smaller size is called a microecosystem. For example, an
ecosystem can be a stone and all the life under it. A mesoecosystem could be a forest, and a macroecosystem a
whole ecoregion.
An ecological crisis can occur when the environment
of a species or a population evolves in a way unfavorable to that
species’ survival.
The crisis may begin with a change in the climate (such as increased
temperature or decreased rainfall), an extraordinary event (such
as an oil spill), increased activity of predators feeding on prey
(such as overfishing) or explosive growth in the population of the
species that can’t be supported by the ecosystem. Over the
last few centuries, the actions of humans seriously has affected
many ecosystems by reducing the amount of the Earth’s forests
(deforestation), by increasing the amount of land devoted to agriculture
as well as to buildings and roads and by polluting ecosystems.
Subdisciplines of Ecology
Physiological ecology (or ecophysiology)
and behavioral ecology: These examine adaptations of the individual
to its environment.
Population ecology (or autecology): This
studies the dynamics of populations of a single species or a related
group of species (such as animal, plant or insect ecology).
Community
ecology (or synecology): This focuses on the interactions between
species within an ecological community.
Ecosystem ecology: This studies
the flows of energy and matter through the components of ecosystems.
Landscape
ecology: This examines processes and relationship across multiple
ecosystems or very large geographic areas (for example, Arctic or
polar ecology, desert ecology, tropical ecology and marine ecology).
Human
ecology: This considers the relations of individual people and of
human communities with their particular environment.
The type of career
one could expect as an ecologist is as wide and varied as the habitats
and animals you study. Basically, any situation where research is
needed on the interaction between species and the environment requires
an ecologist. Ecologists study oceans, deserts, forests, cities,
grasslands, rivers and every other corner of the world. More and
more, ecologists are teaming with physical scientists, social scientists,
policy-makers and computer programmers to understand better how organisms
interact with each other and with the environment in which they live.
Ecologists can be educators, technicians, field scientists, administrators,
consultants and writers.
Related Links
http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/articles/education/resources
Ecology poster search, British Ecological Society
http://www.doi.gov/teachers/index.html
Teacher resources, Department of the Interior
http://www.ecology.com
Ecology.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology
Ecology, Wikipedia
http://www.esa.org/education/career_funding/careers_undergraduate.php
Careers in Ecology, Education: Career & Funding
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ls/infosources/EcologyInfo.html
Ecology: Web Information Sources for Educators
http://www.ieem.org.uk/Rooting%20For%20A%20Career.pdf
Rooting for a Career in Ecology or Environmental Management?
http://www.ncsu.edu/imse/1/ecology.htm
Ecology WWW Resources, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Education, North Carolina State University
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