Ecology is the study of environmental systems, or as it is sometimes
called, the economy of nature. "Environmental" usually means relating to
the natural, versus human-made world; the "systems" means that ecology
is, by its very nature, not interested in just the components of nature
individually but especially in how the parts interact. Ecology is
technically an academic discipline, such as mathematics or physics,
although in public or media use, it is often used to connote some sort
of normative or evaluative issue as in something is “ecologically bad”
or is or is not “good for the ecology”. More properly ecology is used
only in the sense that it is an academic discipline, no more evaluative
than mathematics or physics. When a normative or evaluative term is
needed then it is more proper to use the term “environmental”, i.e.,
environmental quality or “environmentally degrading”. Most professional
ecologists are not terribly unhappy when ecology is used in the
normative sense, preferring the wider public awareness of environmental
issues today compared to the widespread ignorance of three decades ago.
The subject matter of ecology is normally divided onto four broad categories: physiological ecology, having to do with the response of single species to environmental conditions such as temperature or light; popolation ecology, usually focusing on the abundance and distribution of individual species and the factors that cause such distribution; community ecology, having to do with the number of species found at given location and their interactions; and ecosystems ecology, having to do with the structure and function of the entire suite of
microbes, plants, and animals, and their abiotic environment, and how
the parts interact to generate the whole. This branch of ecology often
focuses on the energy and nutrient flows of ecosystems, and when this approach is combined with computer analysis and simulation we often call it systems ecology. Evolutionary ecology,
which may operate at any of these levels but most commonly at the
physiological or population level, is a rich and dynamic area of ecology
focusing on attempting to understand how natural selection developed the structure and function of the organisms and ecosystems at any of these levels.
Ecology is usually considered from the
perspective of the specific geographic environment that is being studied
at the moment: tropical rain forest, temperate grassland, arctic tundra, benthic marine, the entire biosphere, and so on. Thus you might study the population ecology of lions in an
African savanna, an ecosystems study of a marine benthic environment,
global nutrient budgets, and so on. The subject matter of ecology is the
entire natural world, including both the living and the non living
parts. Biogeography focuses on the observed distribution of plants and
animals and the reasons behind it. More recently ecology has included
increasingly the human-dominated world of agriculture, grazing lands for domestic animals, cities, and even industrial parks. Industrial ecology is a discipline that has recently been developed, especially in Europe, where the objective is to follow the energy and material use throughout the process of, e.g., making an automobile
with the objective of attempting to improve the material and energy
efficiency of manufacturing. For any of these levels or approaches there
are some scientists that focus on theoretical ecology, which attempts
to derive or apply theoretical or sometimes mathematical reasons and
generalities for what is observed in nature, and empirical ecology,
which is concerned principally with measurement. Applied ecology takes
what is found from one or both of these approaches and uses it to
protect or manage nature in some way. Related to this discipline is
conservation biology. Plant ecology, animal ecology, and microbial
ecology have obvious foci.
There are usually four basic reasons given to study and as to why we
might want to understand ecology: first, since all of us live to some
degree in a natural or at least partly natural ecosystem, then considerable pleasure can be derived by studying the environment
around us. Just as one might learn to appreciate art better through an
art history course so too might one appreciate more the nature around us
with a better understanding of ecology. Second, human economies are in
large part based on the exploitation and management of nature. Applied
ecology is used every day in forestry, fisheries, range management, agriculture, and so on to provide us with the food and fiber we need. For example, in Argentina in many circles there is no difference between ecology and agriculture,
which is essentially the ecology of crops and pastures. Third, human
societies can often be understood very clearly from an ecological
perspectives as we study, for example, the population dynamics
(demography) of our own species, the food and fossil energy flowing
through our society. Fourth, humans appear to be changing aspects of the
global environment in many ways. Ecology can be very useful to help us
understand what these changes are, what the implications might be for
various ecosystems, and how we might intervene in either human economies
or in nature to try to mitigate or otherwise alter these changes. There
are many professional ecologists, who believe that these apparent
changes from human activities have the potential to generate enormous
harm to both natural ecosystems and human economies. Understanding,
predicting and adapting to these issues could be the most important of
all possible issue for humans to deal with. In this case ecology and
environmentalism can be the same.
Since ecology by its very nature is an integrative discipline,
science students preparing themselves professionally in the field are
encouraged to take a broad suite of courses, mostly in the natural
sciences and including physics, chemistry, and biology of many sorts but
certainly including evolution, meteorology, hydrology, geography, and so on. Ecologists interested in human ecology are encouraged to
take courses and undertake readings in agronomy, demography, human
geography, sociology, economics, and so on. Since ecology is so broad
there are many things that an ecologist might wish to do and to train
for. Today many ecology courses are taught in biology departments, where
the focus is often on population or community ecology and also
individual species.
Ecology should be more than just a set of ideas and principles that
one might learn in a classroom or book but rather more a way of looking
at the world which emphasizes the assessment and understanding of how
the pieces fit together, how each influences and is influenced by the
other pieces and how the whole operates in ways not really predictable
from the pieces. When we are lucky we are able to capture these
relations in conceptual, mathematical or, increasingly, computer models
that allow us some sense of truly understanding the great complexity of
nature, including as it is impacted by human activity. This is the goal
of most ecologists.
By
Bincy mol
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