List of basic ecology topics

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For a more comprehensive list, see the List of ecology topics.

Ecology, or ecological science, is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how the distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both physical properties, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as solar insolation, climate and geology, as well as the other organisms that share its habitat. Basic topics in ecology include:

Contents 1 Nature of ecology 2 Branches of ecology 2.1 Subdisciplines of ecology 3 History of ecology 4 Basic ecology concepts 5 Ecology scholars 6 Ecology lists 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Nature of ecology

Main article: Ecology

[edit] Branches of ecology

• Behavioral ecology - studies the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior, focusing largely at the level of the individual;
• Population ecology (or autecology) - deals with the dynamics of populations within species, and the interactions of these populations with environmental factors;
• Community ecology (or synecology) - studies the interactions between species within an ecological community;
• Ecosystem ecology - which studies how flows of energy and matter interact with biotic elements of ecosystems;

[edit] Subdisciplines of ecology

• Applied ecology - the practice of employing ecological principles and understanding to solve real world problems (includes agroecology and conservation biology);
• Biogeochemistry - effect of biota on global chemistry, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's chemical components in time and space.
• Biogeography - the study of the geographic distributions of species ;
• Chemical ecology - which deals with the ecological role of biological chemicals used in a wide range of areas including defense against predators and attraction of mates;
• Conservation ecology - which studies how to reduce the risk of species extinction;
• Desert ecology -
• Ecological Economics -
• Ecological succession - which focuses on understanding directed vegetation change;
• Ecophysiology - which studies the interaction of physiological traits with the abiotic environment;
• Ecotoxicology - which looks at the ecological role of toxic chemicals (often pollutants, but also naturally occurring compounds);
• Evolutionary ecology - or ecoevolution which looks at evolutionary changes in the context of the populations and communities in which the organisms exist;
• Fire ecology - which looks at the role of fire in the environment of plants and animals and its effect on ecological communities;
• Forest ecology -
• Functional ecology - the study of the roles, or functions, that certain species (or groups thereof) play in an ecosystem;
• Global ecology - which examines ecological phenomena at the largest possible scale, addressing macroecological questions;
• Landscape ecology - which studies the interactions between discrete elements of a landscape;
• Macroecology - the study of large scale phenomena;
• Marine ecology - and aquatic ecology, where the dominant environmental milieu is water;
• Microbial ecology - the ecology of micro-organisms;
• Microecology - the study of small scale phenomena;
• Molecular ecology -
• Paleoecology - which seeks to understand the relationships between species in fossil assemblages;
• Restoration ecology - which attempts to understand the ecological basis needed to restore impaired or damaged ecosystems;
• Soil ecology - the ecology of the pedosphere;
• Theoretical ecology - the development of ecological theory, usually with mathematical, statistical and/or computer modeling tools;
• Urban ecology - the study of ecosystems in urban areas.

[edit] History of ecology

Main article: History of ecology

[edit] Basic ecology concepts

• Biomes
• Deep Ecology
• Ecology movement
• Ecosystem
• ELDIS, a database on ecological aspects of economical development.
• Environmental science
• Environmental technology
• Human ecology
• Inclusive Democracy
• Social ecology, a radical view of ecology and of social/political systems.

[edit] Ecology scholars

[edit] Ecology lists

Main article: List of ecology topics

[edit] See also

• Biology
  • List of basic biology topics
  • List of biology topics

[edit] External links

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