ECOLOGICAL CONCEPT

After knowing about life, living organisms, biosphere and environment, we wili now

Come to ecology. Ecology is the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms

to one another and to their physical surrounding or environment. It is also the SCientific

analysis and study of interactions among organisms and their environment, particularly

of the abiotic components. Ecology in an interdisciplinary field that includes biology

(botany and zoology), geography, genetics, earth science and environmental science.

Definition of Ecology

The term 'oekologie' (ecology), coined in 1866 by the German biologist, Ernst Haeckel

Was from the Greekk oikos meaning "house or "dwelling", and logos meaning "Science or

"study". Thus, ecology is the "study of the house of nature". Haeckel intended it to

encompass the study of an animał in relation to both the physical environment and other

plants and animals with which it interacted. Haeckel first described 'ecology' as a separate

field of knowledge According to him ecology is the study of reciprocal relationships

between organisms and their environment. A contemporary definition of ecology is: The

scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and their interactions with

the environment that determine their distribution and abundance.

This definition encompasses not only the plants and animals that Haeckel recognized

but also encompasses the mircoscopiC organisms such as bacteria, archaea and protozoa as

well. The interactions that determine an organism's distribution and abundance are

processes that include energy flow, growth, reproduction, predation, competition ana

many others.