ECOLOGY
-Ecology is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans,
and their physical environment; it seeks to understand the vital connections between
plants and animals and the world around them.
DIFFERENT TYPE OF ECOLOGY
Aquatic Ecology
It deals with the study of ecosystems found in water bodies such as estuarine,
freshwater and marine. In particular, it deals with the interactions of living entities and a
particular aquatic habitat which affects environmental factors such as temperature,
predation etc.
Microbial Ecology
It studies how microorganisms communicate with their abiotic counterparts and how
these interactions are brought about in such organizations.
Terrestrial Ecology
It deals with the study of land entities and their interactions with each other to adapt to
their immediate surroundings. It is also concerned with diversity and distribution of
various entities across the habitat.
Taxonomic Ecology
It is a relatively new field that incorporates two branches. It uses taxonomic data to
improve ecosystem study by detecting key entities in a particular area. It also helps in
the simpler classification of entities at the community level.
Systems Ecology
It deals with different abiotic factors such as physical processes(biogeochemical cycle
and carbon cycle), allocation of energy budget etc. It integrates computer systems and
applied mathematics to predict and study functions in a certain ecosystem.
Evolutionary Ecology
It is a field that merges ecology with evolution to study the genetic and physical changes
that took place in entities and the repercussions of these alterations in the ecosystem. It
involves predation, competition, parasitism, mutualism and other forces of the
community.
Behavioural Ecology
It combines the study of the interactions between the behaviour of entities and their
offsprings and between the survival value of entities which is associated with the
evolution process to understand how an entity changes its behaviour to survive and
perpetuate.
Population Ecology
It is concerned with the study of population structures and associated relationships
instead of analyzing behavioural patterns of individuals. It studies factors affecting
population size, density, growth and mortality rate etc.
Conservation Ecology
It deals with biodiversity management via restoration and conservation methods.
Recently it has evolved to approach these issues – a decrease in the biodiversity and
destruction of natural resources.
Applied Ecology
It aims at applying all the significant information, technical advancements and findings
obtained from all concepts and principles of ecology to be able to comprehend real-
world situations affecting ecosystems. For instance, epidemiology, wildlife and natural
resource management, risk reduction and management due to natural disasters etc. It
also incorporates principles of biotechnology to understand its effects on the biosphere.
COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM
Biotic components are the living things that have a direct or indirect influence on other
organisms in an environment. For example plants, animals, and microorganisms and
their waste materials.
Abiotic components of an ecosystem include all chemical and physical elements i.e.
non-living components. Abiotic components can vary from region to region, from one
ecosystem to another. They mainly take up the role of life supporter. They determine
and restrict the population growth, number, and diversity of biotic factors in an
ecosystem. Hence, they are called limiting factors.
A terrestrial ecosystem consists of abiotic factors like climate, type of soil or rock,
altitude, temperature, nutrients, and minerals, whereas abiotic components in an
aquatic ecosystem include dissolved gases, depth of water, salinity, pH of water, light
intensity etc.
