Define ecology

Our definition of ecology The scientific study of the processes influencing the distribution and abundance of organisms, the interactions among organisms, and the interactions between organisms and the transformation and flux of energy and matter. Our definition is unique in that it emphasizes several things: • A starting focus on organisms, aggregations of organisms, or systems incorporating organisms or their by-products • The bounding of ecology by both the biological and physical sciences • The breadth of subject matters within ecology • The joint consideration of both biotic and abiotic aspects of nature • Depending on the ecological specialty, the focus can be on different proportions of biotic or abiotic aspects of nature • The relationships between organisms and the physical world can be bidirectional, although different specialties may emphasize the effect of the organisms (and systems containing them) on the physical world, or the effect of the physical world on the organisms • The boundary between the abiotic and the biotic aspects of ecology is blurry • The disciplinary focus is on "processes", "interactions" and "relations" rather than on the physical entities per se Ecology was originally defined in the mid-19th century, when biology was a vastly different discipline than it is today. The original definition is from Ernst Haeckel, who defined ecology as the study of the relationship of organisms with their environment. In the intervening century and a half, o...

Ecological succession is the process that describes how the structure of a At every stage there are certain species that have evolved life histories to exploit the particular conditions of the community. This situation imposes a partially predictable sequence of change in the physical environment and species composition of communities.

Have you ever hiked through a forest and noticed the incredible diversity of organisms living together, from ferns to trees to mushrooms the size of dinner plates? Or taken a road trip and watched the landscape change outside the window, shifting from oak forest to tall stands of pine to grassy plains? If so, you’ve gotten a classic taste of ecology, the branch of biology that examines how organisms interact with each other and with their physical environment. Ecology isn't just about species-rich forests, pristine wilderness, or scenic vistas, though. Have you, for instance, ever found cockroaches living under your bed, mold growing in your shower, or even fungus creeping in between your toes? If so, then you’ve seen equally valid examples of ecology in action. One core goal of ecology is to understand the distribution and abundance of living things in the physical environment. For instance, your backyard or neighborhood park probably has a very different set of plants, animals, and fungi than the backyard of a fellow Khan Academy learner on the opposite side of the globe. These patterns in nature are driven by interactions among organisms as well as between organisms and their physical environment. Let's apply the idea of biotic and abiotic factors to another organism, one that a field ecologist might be likely to study. Red pandas are distant relatives of raccoons and are found only in the eastern Himalayas. They spend most of their time in trees and eat a primarily veg...

[ "article:topic", "authorname:openstax", "dispersion", "population", "dispersal", "species", "abiotic", "biotic", "mark and recapture", "population density", "population size", "species dispersion pattern", "showtoc:no", "license:ccbyncsa", "transcluded:yes", "niche", "density", "population ecology", "distribution", "geographic range", "abundance", "occurrence", "occupancy", "population model", "complete census", "mark-recapture", "camera trap", "camera-trapping", "population index", "relative abundance", "habitat specialist", "Kirtland\'s Warbler", "lion", "uniform", "random", "clumped", "allelopathy", "fundamental geographic range", "realized geographic range", "habitat generalist", "Bald Eagle", "Golden Eagle", "Northern Spotted Owl", "restricted range", "home range", "historical range", "barnacle" ] \( \newcommand\) • • • • • • • • • • What is population ecology? Thousands of bird species breed and reproduce in North America. Some, like the American Robin ( Turdus migratorius), are widespread, and can be found building nests and raising their young in every state of the USA, several Canadian provinces, and many locations in Mexico. Others, like Kirtland's Warbler ( Setophaga kirtlandii) breed almost entirely within a single state (Fig. 9.1.1); a few, like the Cozumel thrasher ( Toxostoma guttatum) and Socorro mockingbird ( Mimus graysoni) are found only on single small islands. Population ecologists study what determines the occurrence and abundance of species in spac...

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