Ecology
Ecology studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment.[63] Thehabitat of an organism can be described as the local abiotic factors such as climate and ecology, plus the other organisms and biotic factors that share its environment.[64]
Ecological systems are studied at several different levels, from individuals and populations to ecosystems and the biosphere. The termpopulation biology is often used interchangeably with population ecology, although population biology is more frequently used when studyingdiseases, viruses, and microbes, while population ecology is more commonly when studying plants and animals. As can be surmised, ecology is a science that draws on several disciplines.
Ethology studies animal behavior (particularly that of social animals such as primates and canids), and is sometimes considered a branch of zoology. Ethologists have been particularly concerned with the evolution of behavior and the understanding of behavior in terms of the theory ofnatural selection. In one sense, the first modern ethologist was Charles Darwin, whose book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, influenced many ethologists.[65]
Biogeography studies the spatial distribution of organisms on the Earth,[66] focusing on topics like plate tectonics, climate change, dispersaland migration, and cladistics.
Every living thing interacts with other organisms and its environment. One reason that biological systems can be difficult to study is that so many different interactions with other organisms and the environment are possible, even on the smallest of scales. A microscopic bacteriumresponding to a local sugar gradient is responding to its environment as much as a lion is responding to its environment when it searches for food in the African savanna.
For any given species, behaviors can be co-operative, aggressive, parasitic or symbiotic. Matters become more complex when two or more different species interact in an ecosystem. Studies of this type are within the province of ecology.
Ecology studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment.[63] Thehabitat of an organism can be described as the local abiotic factors such as climate and ecology, plus the other organisms and biotic factors that share its environment.[64]
Ecological systems are studied at several different levels, from individuals and populations to ecosystems and the biosphere. The termpopulation biology is often used interchangeably with population ecology, although population biology is more frequently used when studyingdiseases, viruses, and microbes, while population ecology is more commonly when studying plants and animals. As can be surmised, ecology is a science that draws on several disciplines.
Ethology studies animal behavior (particularly that of social animals such as primates and canids), and is sometimes considered a branch of zoology. Ethologists have been particularly concerned with the evolution of behavior and the understanding of behavior in terms of the theory ofnatural selection. In one sense, the first modern ethologist was Charles Darwin, whose book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, influenced many ethologists.[65]
Biogeography studies the spatial distribution of organisms on the Earth,[66] focusing on topics like plate tectonics, climate change, dispersaland migration, and cladistics.
Every living thing interacts with other organisms and its environment. One reason that biological systems can be difficult to study is that so many different interactions with other organisms and the environment are possible, even on the smallest of scales. A microscopic bacteriumresponding to a local sugar gradient is responding to its environment as much as a lion is responding to its environment when it searches for food in the African savanna.
For any given species, behaviors can be co-operative, aggressive, parasitic or symbiotic. Matters become more complex when two or more different species interact in an ecosystem. Studies of this type are within the province of ecology.
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