1 ECOLOGY WHAT IS ECOLOGY? Answer these questions. a. Have you seen any TV programmes about Ecology or the Environment recently? What programme was that? b. Do you know the name of any non-profit organizations that deal with environmental issues? c. Are you interested in the environment and ecology? Do you think that environmental conservation is essential for the future of our planet? Why? behaviour: comportamento comprehensive: (qui) globale forestry: silvicoltura scope: (qui) ambito to share: condividere well-being: benessere wildlife: flora e fauna selvatiche 14 Ecology as a scientific discipline is relatively young, reaching importance mainly in the second half of the 20th century. Several well-known 19th century scientists such as Alexander Humboldt (1769-1859), Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Alfred Russel Wallace (18231913) and Karl M bius (1825-1908) made many important contributions to environmental studies. The word Ecology (from Greek o kos, house and logos, study of ) was first coined by the German biologist Ernst Haekel in 1866, who defined it as the comprehensive science of the relationship of the organism to the environment . The environment of an organism consists of abiotic factors, such as climate and geology, and biotic factors, such as members of the same species and other species that share a habitat. Scientists who study these relationships are called ecologists. The study of Ecology increases man s understanding of the world and all its creatures because man s survival and well-being depend on relationships that exist on a world-wide basis. The main goal of ecologists is to intelligently manage and control the living and non-living things in the world. Examples of objects of ecological study include: population processes, such as reproductive behaviour, mortality and migration; interspecific relations such as predation, competition, parasitism and mutualism; plant and animal community structures; biogeochemical cycles (water, carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen) Because of its vast scope, ecological science is often closely related to other disciplines. Ecologists use knowledge from many different fields of study including Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science. They also depend on other sciences such as Climatology, Meteorology, Geology and Oceanography to learn about air, land and water environment. Ecology is an applied science. Much of natural resource management, such as forestry, wildlife management and habitat conservation, is directly related to ecological sciences and many problems in agriculture, urban development and public health are dealt with from an ecological point of view. The term ecology has also been assumed for philosophical ideologies, such as social ecology and human ecology, and it is often used as a synonym for the natural environment or environmentalism. Module 1 FOUNDATIONS A Hawaiian sea turtle Galapagos sea lions