Question

Define ecology.

Answer 1

The word ecology was given by a German zoologist Earnst Hackel. Ecology is the study of interaction of organisms with one another and with their surroundings including both the biotic and abiotic components.

Complete answer:
- The four most essential levels of ecology are organism, population, community and ecosystem. Ecology enhances the world and is critical for the well being and prosperity of human beings. It shows the relationship between people and nature that is essential for food production, maintaining clean water and air, and continuing the biodiversity in a climate which is changing regularly.
- Ecology can be divided into two major parts, namely autoecology and synecology. Autoecology deals with the ecology and ecosystem on a smaller scale where only one species is only involved.
On the other hand, synecology deals with the ecology based on a community at spatial and temporal levels.
- The basic aim of ecology is to get the knowledge of biotic and abiotic factors of living things in the environment. Biotic components implies the living factors of the ecosystem. Some examples are bacteria, animals, birds,etc. Abiotic components are non-living things in the environment. Some of the examples include soil, sunlight, air, etc.
- Ecology also teaches how we can use the natural resources without hampering them for future generations.

Note: Ecologists have also discovered some chemicals that are found in animals and plants which helps them from diseases. Ecosystem processes include the regulation of the environment. The best example of ecology is the food chain where every microorganism is related to lions and vice-versa.