Ecology

Ecology: It is defined as the study of interrelationship of different organisms with each other and with their environment. It is concerned with the general principles that apply to both animals and plants.

The meaning of the word ecology was given by German Biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1869. The term Ecology was derived from two Greek words, OIKOS, meaning house, and LOGUS meaning study of.

Classification of Ecology

Based on Study Area

1. Autecology: It deals with the study of an individual species of organisms and it’s population, It is also called the Species ecology.

2. Synecology: It deals with the study of communities, their composition, their behavior and relation with the environment. It is also called as Ecology of Communities and is further divided in to 3 types.

   1. Population Ecology

   2. Community Ecology

   3. Ecosystem Ecology

Based on Environment or habitat

1. Terrestrial Ecology : The study of interaction of organisms on land

   1. Grassland Ecology

   2. Forest Ecology

   3. Desert Ecology

2. Aquatic Ecology : The Study of interaction of organisms in the water

   1. Freshwater Ecology

      1. Lotic (Running Water)

         1. River

         2. Stream

         3. Spring

      2. Lentic (Standing Water)

         1. Pond

         2. Lake

   2. Marine Water Ecology

      1. Ocean

      2. Deep Sea

      3. Estuary

Based on Advancement in the field of Ecology

1. Productive Ecology

2. Population Ecology

3. Community Ecology

4. Ecosystem Ecology

5. Microbial Ecology

6. Radiation Ecology

7. Pollution Ecology

8. Space Ecology

Concept of Ecosystem

Ecosystem: It is defined as the living community of plants and animals in any area together with the non-living components of the environment such as soil, air and water.

Ecosystems are divided into terrestrial or land based ecosystems and aquatic ecosystems or water based. These form the two major habitat conditions for the Earth’s living organisms.

Types of Ecosystems

1) Natural Ecosystems

These ecosystems operate under natural conditions without any major interference by man.

1. Terrestrial Ecosystem : Forrest, grassland, desert, etc.

2. Aquatic Ecosystem

   1. Fresh Water: Lotic or Lentic

   2. Marine Water: Such as deep bodies such as ocean or shallow ones such as Sea or an estuary.

2) Artificial (Man Engineered) Ecosystems

These are ecosystems maintained artificially by humans where by addition of energy and planned manipulation, natural balance is disturbed regularly. eg crop land ecosystem.