What is ecology?
Q: What is ecology?
A: Ecology is the branch of biology that studies the biota (living things), the environment, and their interactions. It comes from the Greek oikos = house; logos = study, and is the study of ecosystems.
Q: Who are ecologists?
A: Ecologists are scientists who study the interactions between living things and their environment.
Q: What areas do ecologists focus on?
A: Ecologists now focus on terrestrial ecoregion and climate change research.
Q: What practical applications does ecology have?
A: Ecology has many practical applications in conservation biology, wetland management, natural resource management (agriculture, forestry, fisheries), city planning (urban ecology), community health, economics, and applied science. It also provides a framework for understanding and researching human social interaction.
Q: What does "ecoregion" mean?
A: An ecoregion is a large area with similar environmental characteristics such as climate, soil type or vegetation type that can be used to define an ecological region or unit for conservation purposes.
Q: How does ecology relate to biodiversity?
A: Since ecology refers to any form of biodiversity, ecologists research everything from tiny bacteria in nutrient recycling to the effects of tropical rain forests on the Earth's atmosphere.
Search within the encyclopedia