ECOLOGY

Why study ecology? Perhaps you are interested in learning about the natural world and how living things have adapted to the
physical conditions of their environment. Or, perhaps youre a future physician seeking to understand the connection between
human health and ecology.
Humans are a part of the ecological landscape, and human health is one important part of human interaction with our physical
and living environment. Lyme disease, for instance, serves as one modern-day example of the connection between our health
and the natural world ([link]). More formally known as Lyme borreliosis, Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be
transmitted to humans when they are bitten by the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), which is the primary vector for this disease.
However, not all deer ticks carry the bacteria that will cause Lyme disease in humans, and I. scapularis can have other hosts
besides deer. In fact, it turns out that the probability of infection depends on the type of host upon which the tick develops: a
higher proportion of ticks that live on white-footed mice carry the bacterium than do ticks that live on deer. Knowledge about
the environments and population densities in which the host species is abundant would help a physician or an epidemiologist
better understand how Lyme disease is transmitted and how its incidence could be reduced.

Ecology is the study of the interactions of living organisms with their environment. One core goal of ecology is to
understand the distribution and abundance of living things in the physical environment. Attainment of this goal
requires the integration of scientific disciplines inside and outside of biology, such as biochemistry, physiology,
evolution, biodiversity, molecular biology, geology, and climatology. Some ecological research also applies
aspects of chemistry and physics, and it frequently uses mathematical models.
Existence in the world is made up of living and non living things. The two groups have to coexist in
order to share the resources that are available within the environmental ecosystem. To understand
about this mutual co relationship we need to study and understand ecology.
Ecology is defined as the scientific study of interactions of organisms (both biotic and abiotic) with one another within
the physical and chemical environment. Ecology involves use of scientific methodology via lab experiments to
understands how the different organisms grow, populate, how they interact with other organisms either as
parasites ,predators, how the organisms die out as well as how they evolve or adapt to changing climatic and
environmental situations.

Ecology is a wide field that encompasses all life forms in the earth thus their are different types of ecology. These
include:

Organism ecology: This studies how different living organisms respond to stimuli caused by physical environment.
The organisms adapt to the environment by either embracing or shying away from its effect. A change in the physical
environment will show a change in behavior or physical attributes e.g. an animal physically will escape an unfriendly
environment and a plant will grow away or halt germination in an unfriendly territory.

Population: All Organisms grow and die. How they will populate will be influenced by factors such as size of the
colony, birth and death rate, population growth rate as well as survival for the fittest. Thus the most dominant

species will always reign supreme on the weaker species.

Community: All organisms dwell in a common ecology having both flora and fauna. In this ecology, either a food web
or food chain their exists a strata detailing the type of species and the role it plays in the ecosystem. Whether a
Parasite, a predator or a food source, each plays a key role to create harmony in the ecology. Competition,
mutualisms are key to establishing and maintaining a community.

Ecosystem: Living and non living things interact with the atmosphere, energy sources, temperature, water in a
capacity to recycle, regenerate, consumption or production. This ensures the energy flow cycle is kept in

harmony.Ecology is featuring as the key talk in world forums as the world tries to mitigate the destruction that is
already rife in the ecosystem. Talks and forums are held to push for the world to embrace ecology, reserve and
conserve the ecosystem. Kyoto protocol, green energy, Energy star appliances, Renewable energy, animal and
energy conservation, anti poaching, equitable mineral allocation, good and ethical mining practices have become
norm in the current ecosystem.

Ecology is important for us to understand for a number of reasons. For one,

ecology is the science of determining how species within an environment relate
to one another and looks at how species are distributed (where they are) and how
abundant (how many) they are in a particular area. This is really important in
understanding how healthy our ecosystems are around us, and ecologists can
measure if the species are abundant/can determine the population growth of
species, which can help us to see if a change in a certain species population is
due to an environmental factor such as pollution. This is beneficial to humans
because by measuring animal abundance it basically gives us an idea of how
healthy our surroundings are in which we live as well. Also certain species in
ecology may be observed that can directly affect humans as well, such as
measuring population growth and finding that an area has invasive species that
can damage our own crops etc. Invasive species or diseases can cause other
animals in an area to be affected and can have a negative affect on our lives too.
Almost like a domino effect. Ecology is also VERYYY important in understanding
agriculture and fisheries, and ecological data/knowledge can help us in
researching diseases that can spread to humans from animal/plant sources (like
malaria).Ecology helps us to understand how these things relate, and carefully using the
principles of ecology, we can learn to anticipate, mitigate, offset and prevent potentially
negative impacts we might have on the world around us, as well as to maximize the positive
efforts we undertake.
It brings together learnings from the various fields of biology, geology, plant science, forestry,
mycology, animal biology, conservation biology, wetlands science, atmospheric science, and
all the other natural sciences, and seeks to put those things to use together.
Ecology is vitally important in the effort of humans to understand how we fit into the world
around us, and how we can use our own energies to get what we need from the earth while
contributing to its health and stability in the process. In terms of learning to life sustainably,
it is the foundational science.