AUTECOLOGY

AUTECOLOGY

Autecology (Greek, 'auto: self ; "oikos': household and "logos': study or knowledge)

1s an older usage term which refers to roughly the same field of study as population

ecology. It is derived from the division of ecology into (a) autecology: the study of

individual speccies in relation to environment and (b) syneocology: the study ot groups

of organisms in relation to the environment or community ecology. However E.P. Odum

(1959) divided synecology into (1) population ecology, (2) community ecology and (3)

ecosystem ecology while defined autecology as 'species ecology'.

Important features of autecology:

1. Autecology is concerned with the study of the interrelations of individual organisms

with the environment.

2. It is experimental and inductive.

3. It deals with easily measured variables such as light, temperature, humidity, salinty,

available nutrients etc. which can be easily quantified and subjected to experimental

design both in the laboratory and in the field. These data give an idea to understand

the needs, life history and behaviour of the organism or species.

4. Autecology has borrowed techniques from physics and chemistry.

5. It has great significance for the following economic biological disciplines: economic

botany which includes agriculture, horticulture, silviculture and forestry and

economic zoology that includes pisciculture, prawn fishery, pearl culture, animal

husbandry, apiculture, sericulture etc.

6. Autecology is also important for soil conservation are wildlife conservation.

7. Before one proceeds to cultivate any organism of economic or any other

significance, one must be well aware of all the requirements of that species for

its best possible growth in the environment.

8. Further, autecology gives an idea of distribution, adaptation, speciation etc. of

a particular species. Some species are confined to imited areas due to limited

characteristics of adaptation, whereas others may grow in different habitat

conditions due to having a wide range of ecological adaptations.

between the individual organisms and

9There exists an intimate interrelationsh

its surrounding environment. For example, each stage in the life cycle of a plant

is greatly influenced by a number of factors and conversely, species does modify

the environment continuously.

10. By studying autecology, we can know the timing of various stages of growth

and devepment of plants like germination, growth, flowering, fruiting and

senescence. Due to this behaviour, plants are often termed as biological clocks

are ecological clocks.