ECOLOGY WHAT IS ECOLOGY? WARM UP • Are you interested in the environment and ecology? • Do you think that environmental conservation is essential for the future of our planet? Why? Definition Ecology is a scientific discipline which began to have importance in the second half of the 20 century. Several well-known 19 century scientists, such as Alexander Humboldt (1769-1859), Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) and Karl Mobius (1825-1908), made many significant contributions to environmental studies. The word (from Greek , “house” and , “study of”) was first coined by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866. He defined it as “ ”. 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. th th ecology oikos logos the science of the relationship of the organism to the environment comprehensive 1 Ernst Haeckel Objects of ecological studies The main goal of ecologists is to manage and control the living and non-living things in the world because man’s and depend on relationships that exist on a world-wide basis. Ecological studies generally include: survival well-being , such as reproductive behaviour, mortality and migrations; population processes , such as predation, competition, parasitism and ; interspecific relations mutualism plant and animal ; community structures (water, carbon, oxygen, phosphorus, nitrogen). biogeochemical cycles MORE An abiotic factor is a non-living part of an ecosystem (e.g., temperature, light), while biotic factors are living organisms that are part of an ecosystem. 1 DO is the study of how groups of people interact with and adapt to their environment. It is linked to ....... . mathematics anthropology literature medicine 1 Cultural ecology a. b. c. d. Relations with other disciplines Ecological science is often closely related to other disciplines, such as physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer science. Ecologists also depend on other sciences such as climatology, meteorology, geology and oceanography to learn about air, land and water environment. Ecology is an . Natural resource management, such as , management and habitat conservation, is directly related to ecological sciences and many problems in agriculture, urban development and public health are influenced by ecological considerations. The term has also been assumed for philosophical ideologies like cultural ecology and it is often used as a synonym for . applied science forestry wildlife ecology environmentalism