Ecology
- Ecology is a branch of science, including human science, population, community, ecosystem and biosphere.
- Ecology is the study of organisms, the environment and how the organisms interact with each other and their environment.
- It is studied at various levels, such as organism, population, community, biosphere and ecosystem.
- An ecologist’s primary goal is to improve their understanding of life processes, adaptations and habitats, interactions and biodiversity of organisms.
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
- The biotic and abiotic factors include the living and non-living factors and their interaction with the environment.
Biotic components
- Biotic components are living factors of an ecosystem. A few examples of biotic components include bacteria, animals, birds, fungi, plants, etc.
Abiotic components
- Abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical factors of an ecosystem.
- These components could be acquired from the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere.
- A few examples of abiotic components include sunlight, soil, air, moisture minerals and more.
- Living organisms are grouped into biotic components, whereas non-living components like sunlight, water, topography are listed under abiotic components.
Levels of Organization
Individual, Species, Organism
- Organism in this level has the ability to act or function independently
- Individuals do not breed with individuals from other groups
Population
- A group of individuals of a given species that live in a specific geographic area at a given time
- Populations include individuals of the same species, but may have different genetic makeup such as hair/eye/skin colour and size between themselves and other populations
Community
- It includes all the populations in a specific area at a given time. A community includes populations of organisms of different species
- These are generally named after the dominant plant species
Ecosystem
- Ecosystems include more than a community of living organisms (biotic) interacting with the environment (abiotic)
- Everything that lives in an ecosystem is dependent on the other species and elements that are also a part of the ecological community
Biome
- A Biome is a set of ecosystems sharing similar characteristics with their abiotic factors adapted to their environments
Biosphere
- A biosphere is the sum of all the ecosystems established on planet Earth