Outline of ecology

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See also: Glossary of ecology

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ecology:

habitat
. Also called ecological science.

Essence of ecology

  • Nature – Natural, physical, or material world and its phenomena, or Natural environment – Living and non-living things on Earth
  • Ecosystem – Community of living organisms together with the nonliving components of their environment, or Biome – Biogeographical unit with a particular biological community
    • Community (ecology) – Associated populations of species in a given area, or Biocoenosis – Interacting organisms living together in a habitat
      • Species – Basic unit of taxonomic classification, below genus
        • Population – All the organisms of a given species that live in a specified region
  • Biodiversity – Variety and variability of life forms
    • Food web – Natural interconnection of food chains

Other criteria

Ecology can also be classified on the basis of:

Subdisciplines of ecology, and subdiscipline classification

Ecology is a broad discipline comprising many subdisciplines. The field of ecology can be subdivided according to several classification schemes:

By methodology used for investigation

  • Field ecology – Collection of information outside a laboratory, library or workplace setting –
  • Quantitative ecology – application of advanced mathematical and statistical tools to perform ecological research –
  • Theoretical ecology – scientific discipline devoted to the study of ecological systems using theoretical methods – the development of ecological theory, usually with mathematical, statistical and/or computer modeling tools.

By spatial scale of ecological system under study

  • Global ecology – Global sum of all ecosystems on Earth –
  • Macroecology – Study of relationships between organisms and their environment at large spatial scales –
  • Microecology – Microbial ecology or ecology of a microhabitat.

By level of organisation or scope

Arranged from lowest to highest level of organisation:[1]

  • Autecology – ecological study of a single individual, population, or species – the study of individual organisms of a single species in relation to their environment;
  • Synecology
     – Associated populations of species in a given area – the study of homogenous or heterogenous groups of organisms in relation to their environment;
    • Population ecology – Study of the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment – the study of homogenous groups of organisms related as a single species;
    • Community ecology – Associated populations of species in a given area – the study of heterogenous groups of organisms of multiple associated species;
    • Ecosystem ecology – Study of living and non-living components of ecosystems and their interactions.

By biological classification or taxon under study

  • Human ecology – Study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments –
  • Animal ecology
     – Scientific study of the relationships between living animals and their environment –
  • Insect ecology – The study of how insects interact with the surrounding environment –
  • Microbial ecology – Study of the relationship of microorganisms with their environment –
  • Plant ecology – The study of effect of the environment on the abundance and distribution of plants.

By biome under study

  • Benthic ecology
     – The study of the interaction of sea-floor organisms with each other and with the environment –
  • Desert ecology – The study of interactions between both biotic and abiotic components of desert environments –
  • Forest ecology – Study of interactions between the biota and environment in forests. –
  • Grassland ecology – Area with vegetation dominated by grasses –
  • Marine ecology
     – The study of the interactions between organisms and environment in the sea –
  • Aquatic ecology
     – The study of interactions between organisms and the environment in water –
  • Urban ecology – Scientific study of living organisms.

By biogeographic realm or climatic area under study

  • Arctic ecology – Study of the relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in the arctic –
  • Polar ecology – Relationship between plants and animals and a polar environment –
  • Tropical ecology – Study of the relationships between the biotic and abiotic components of the tropics.

By ecological aspects or phenomena under investigation

  • Behavioral ecology – Study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures –
  • Chemical ecology – Study of chemically-mediated interactions between living organisms – which deals with the ecological role of biological chemicals used in a wide range of areas including defense against predators and attraction of mates;
  • Disease ecology – Sub-discipline of ecology – which studies host-pathogen interactions, particularly those of infectious diseases, within the context of environmental factors;
  • Ecophysiology – Study of adaptation of an organism's physiology to environmental conditions – which studies the interaction of physiological traits with the abiotic environment;
  • Ecotoxicology – study of effects of released pollutants on the environment and biota – which looks at the ecological role of toxic chemicals (often pollutants, but also naturally occurring compounds);
  • ecoevolution
    which looks at evolutionary changes in the context of the populations and communities in which the organisms exist;
  • Fire ecology – Study of fire in ecosystems – which looks at the role of fire in the environment of plants and animals and its effect on ecological communities;
  • Functional ecology – branch of ecology – the study of the roles, or functions, that certain species (or groups thereof) play in an ecosystem;
  • Genetic ecology – Study of genetic material in the environment –
  • Landscape ecology – Science of relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems –
    • Landscape limnology – Spatially explicit study of lakes, streams, and wetlands as they interact with landscapes –
  • Molecular ecology – Field of evolutionary biology –
  • Paleoecology – Study of interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales –
  • Social ecology – Study of relationships between people and their environment –
  • Soil ecology – Study of the interaction of soil and life – the ecology of the pedosphere –
  • Sensory ecology – study of how organisms acquire, process, and respond to information from their environment –
  • Spatial ecology – Study of the distribution or space occupied by species –
  • Thermal ecology – study of the interactions between temperature and organisms – the study of the relationship between temperature and organisms.

Ecology-involved interdisciplinary fields

  • Agroecology – Study of ecological processes in agriculture –
  • Applied ecology – sub-field within ecology that considers the application of the science of ecology to real-world (usually management) questions – the practice of employing ecological principles and understanding to solve real world problems (includes agroecology and conservation biology);
    • Conservation ecology – Study of threats to biological diversity – which studies how to reduce the risk of species extinction;
    • Restoration ecology
       – Scientific study of renewing and restoring ecosystems – which attempts to understand the ecological basis needed to restore impaired or damaged ecosystems;
  • Biogeochemistry – Study of chemical cycles of the earth that are either driven by or influence biological activity –
  • Biogeography – Study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time –
  • Ecological design – Design approach sensitive to environmental impacts –
  • Ecological economics – Interdependence of human economies and natural ecosystems –
  • Ecological engineering – Environmental engineering –
  • Ecological anthropology – Study of cultural adaptations to environments –
  • Ecological health – term in medicine about management of environmental factors that may reduce the risk of unhealthy behavior –
  • Ecosophy – Philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium as developed by Arne Næss or Félix Guattari –
  • Environmental psychology – Academic study of the mind's relationship to one's immediate surroundings –
  • Natural history – Study of organisms including plants or animals in their environment –
  • Systems ecology – Holistic approach to the study of ecological systems –

Other disciplines

Ecology has also inspired (and lent its name to) other non-biological disciplines such as:

Biogeographic regions

Neotropic
  Oceania and Antarctic
realms not shown
  • Biosphere – Global sum of all ecosystems on Earth

Terrestrial realms

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) developed a system of eight biogeographic realms
(ecozones):

Ecoregions

Ecoregion – Ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion

The World has over 800

terrestrial ecoregions. See Lists of ecoregions by country
.

History of ecology

History of ecology

General ecology concepts

  • Ecological succession – Process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time
    • Primary succession – Gradual growth and change of an ecosystem on new substrate
      • Pioneer species – First species to colonize or inhabit damaged ecosystems
      • Ruderal species – Plant species that is first to colonize disturbed lands
      • Supertramp – Any type of animal which follows the strategy of high dispersion among many different habitats
    • Secondary succession – Redevelopment of an encology after an event that changes it radically
  • Carrying capacity – Maximum population size of a species that an environment can support indefinitely
    • Ecological collapse
       – Ecological communities abruptly losing biodiversity, often irreversibly
  • Competitive exclusion principle – Ecology proposition
  • Ecological yield – Harvestable population growth in an ecosystem
  • Autotroph – Organism type
  • Bacteria – Domain of microorganisms
  • Bioinvader
     – Organism occurring in a new habitat
  • Biomass – Biological material from either living (see ecology) or recently living organisms (see bioenergy)
  • Biotic material – Any material that originates from living organisms
  • Carbon cycle – Natural processes of carbon exchange
  • Climate – Statistics of weather conditions in a given region over long periods
  • Ecological selection – Natural selection without sexual selection
  • Gaia hypothesis – Paradigm that living organisms interact with their surroundings in a self-regulating system
  • Natural resource – Resources that exist without actions of humankind.
  • Monoculture – Farms producing only one crop at a time
  • Decomposition – Process in which organic substances are broken down into simpler organic matter
  • Inorganic substance
     – A substance lacking organic constituents
  • Ecological crisis – Change to the environment that destabilizes the continued survival of a population
  • Ecological extinction – Ecology term
  • Ecophagy – The literal consumption of an ecosystem
  • Ecological niche – Fit of a species living under specific environmental conditions
  • Niche differentiation
    – The process by which competing species use the environment differently in a way that helps them to coexist.
  • Biological interaction – Effect that organisms have on other organisms
    • Neutralism
       – A relationship between two species that interact but do not affect each other
    • Amensalism
       – Close, long-term biological interaction between distinct organisms (usually species)
    • Ecological facilitation – Species interactions that benefit at least one of the participants and cause harm to neither
      • Mutualism – Mutually beneficial interaction between species
      • Commensalism – Beneficial symbiosis between species
    • competitively excluding
      each other
    • Competition – Interaction where the fitness of one organism is lowered by the presence of another organism
    • Predation – Biological interaction where a predator kills and eats a prey organism
    • Parasitism – Relationship between species where one organism lives on or in another organism, causing it harm
  • Sexecology – Activism based around ecofetishism

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-90-481-9743-9
    .

External links
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