Define Ecology. Explain the Different levels of Organization in Ecology

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

 

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