Outline of ecology

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ecology:

Ecology – 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. Also called ecological science.

Essence of ecology

Nature – Natural physical or material world, or Natural environment – All living and non-living things occurring naturally, generally on Earth
Ecosystem – A community of living organisms together with the nonliving components of their environment, or Biome – Distinct biological communities that have formed in response to a shared physical climate
- Community (ecology) – Associated populations of species in a given area, or Biocoenosis – The interacting organisms living together in a habitat
  - Species – Basic unit of taxonomic classification
    - Population – All the organisms of a given species that live in the specified region
      - Organism – Any individual living physical entity
Biodiversity – Variety and variability of life forms
- Food web – Natural interconnection of food chains

Other criteria

Ecology can also be classified on the basis of:

the primary kinds of organism under study, e.g. animal ecology, plant ecology, insect ecology;
the biomes principally studied, e.g. forest ecology, grassland ecology, desert ecology, benthic ecology, marine ecology, urban ecology;
the geographic or climatic area, e.g. arctic ecology, tropical ecology
the spatial scale under consideration, e.g. macroecology, landscape ecology;
the philosophical approach, e.g. systems ecology which adopts a holistic approach;
the methods used, e.g. molecular ecology.

Subdisciplines of ecology, and subdiscipline classification

Ecology is a broad discipline comprising many sub-disciplines. The field of ecology can be sub-divided according to several classification schemes:

By level of complexity or scope

Arranged from lowest to highest complexity:

Ecophysiology – The study of adaptation of an organism's physiology to environmental conditions, or Behavioral ecology – Study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures
Population ecology, also known as autoecology – Study of the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment
Community ecology, also known as synecology – Associated populations of species in a given area
Ecosystem ecology – The study of living and non-living components of ecosystems and their interactions
Systems ecology – A holistic approach to the study of ecological systems
Landscape ecology – The science of relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems

By organisms under study

Animal ecology – Scientific study of the relationships between living animals and their environment
Behavioral ecology – Study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures
Biogeography – The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time
Insect ecology – The study of how insects interact with the surrounding environment
Microbial ecology – Study of the relationship of microorganisms with their environment
Paleoecology – The study of interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales
Plant ecology – The study of effect of the environment on the abundance and distribution of plants

By biome under study

Benthic ecology – The study of the interaction of sea-floor organisms with each other and with the environment
Desert ecology – The study of interactions between both biotic and abiotic components of desert environments
Forest ecology – The study of interactions between the biota and environment in forets
Grassland ecology
Marine ecology – The study of the interactions between organisms and environment in the sea
Aquatic ecology – The study of interactions between organisms and the environment in water
Urban ecology – The study of the relation of living organisms with each other and their surroundings in the context of an urban environment.

By geographic or climatic area under study

Arctic ecology – The study of the relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in the arctic
Polar ecology – The relationship between plants and animals and a polar environment
Tropical ecology – The study of the relationships between the biotic and abiotic components of the tropics

By spatial scale under study

Global ecology
Landscape ecology – The science of relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems
Landscape limnology – The spatially explicit study of lakes, streams, and wetlands as they interact with freshwater, terrestrial, and human landscapes to determine the effects of pattern on ecosystem processes across temporal and spatial scales
Spatial ecology – Study of the distribution or space occupied by species
Macroecology – The study of relationships between organisms and their environment at large spatial scales
Microecology – Microbial ecology or ecology of a microhabitat
Microbial ecology – Study of the relationship of microorganisms with their environment
Molecular ecology – A field of evolutionary biology that applies molecular population genetics, molecular phylogenetics, and genomics to traditional ecological questions

By ecological aspects or phenomena under investigation

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;
Ecophysiology – The study of adaptation of an organism's physiology to environmental conditions – 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 – Study of how interactions among species and between species and their environment affect species through selection and adaptation – 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;
Functional ecology – the study of the roles, or functions, that certain species (or groups thereof) play in an ecosystem;
Genetic ecology – Study of genetic material in the environment
Soil ecology – the ecology of the pedosphere;

By technique used for investigation

Field ecology
Quantitative ecology
Theoretical ecology – the development of ecological theory, usually with mathematical, statistical and/or computer modeling tools;

By environmental approach

Applied ecology – the practice of employing ecological principles and understanding to solve real world problems (includes agroecology and conservation biology);
Conservation ecology – The study of threats to biological diversity – which studies how to reduce the risk of species extinction;
Deep ecology – Ecological and environmental philosophy – an ecological and environmental philosophy promoting the inherent worth of living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, plus a radical restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas.
Ecosophy – Philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium as developed by Arne Næss or Félix Guattari – philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium.
Restoration ecology – which attempts to understand the ecological basis needed to restore impaired or damaged ecosystems.
Speciesism – Special consideration to individuals solely on the basis of their species membership – involves the assignment of different values, rights, or special consideration to individuals solely on the basis of their species membership.
Technocentrism – value system that is centered on technology and its ability to control and protect the environment.

Ecology-involved interdisciplinary fields

Agroecology – The study of ecological processes in agriculture
Biogeochemistry – The study of chemical cycles of the earth that are either driven by or influence biological activity
Ecological design – Design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes
Ecological economics
Ecological engineering – Use of ecology and engineering to predict, design, construct or restore, and manage ecosystems that integrate "human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both"
Festive ecology – Study of the relationships between the symbolism and the ecology of the plants, fungi and animals associated with cultural events
Human ecology – Study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments
Ecological anthropology – The study of cultural adaptations to environments
Social ecology – Study of relationships between people and their environment
Ecological health
Environmental psychology
Industrial ecology – study of matter and energy flow in industrial systems
Paleoecology – The study of interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales

Other subdisciplines

Other branches of ecology include:

ecological succession, which focuses on understanding directed vegetation change;
thermal ecology, the study of the relationship between temperature and organisms;

Ecology has also inspired (and lent its name to) other non-biological disciplines such as

Biogeographic regions

Map of six of the world's eight terrestrial realms

Nearctic

Palearctic

Afrotropic

Indomalaya

Australasia

Neotropic

Oceania and Antarctic realms not shown

Biosphere – The global sum of all ecosystems on Earth

Terrestrial realms

Ecozone The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) developed a system of eight biogeographic realms (ecozones):

Nearctic 22.9 mil. km² (including most of North America)
Palearctic 54.1 mil. km² (including the bulk of Eurasia and North Africa)
Afrotropical 22.1 mil. km² (including Sub-Saharan Africa)
Indomalayan 7.5 mil. km² (including the South Asian subcontinent and Southeast Asia)
Australasian 7.7 mil. km² (including Australia, New Guinea, and neighbouring islands). The northern boundary of this zone is known as the Wallace line.
Neotropical 19.0 mil. km² (including South America and the Caribbean)
Oceanian – terrestrial biogeographic realm 1.0 mil. km² (including Polynesia, Fiji and Micronesia)
Antarctic – One of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms 0.3 mil. km² (including Antarctica).

Ecoregions

Ecoregion – Ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion

The World has over 800 terrestrial ecoregions. See Lists of ecoregions by country.

History of ecology

History of ecology – Aspect of history covering the study of ecology

History of human ecology

General ecology concepts

Ecological succession – The process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time
- Primary succession – Gradual growth and change of an ecosystem on new substrate
  - Pioneer species
  - Ruderal species – A plant species that is first to colonize disturbed lands
  - Supertramp – Any type of animal which follows the strategy of high dispersion among many different habitats
- Secondary succession
Carrying capacity – The maximum population size of the species that the environment can support indefinitely
- Ecological collapse – A situation where an ecosystem suffers a drastic, possibly permanent, reduction in carrying capacity for all organisms
Competitive exclusion principle – A proposition that two species competing for the same limiting resource cannot coexist at constant population values
Ecological yield – Harvestable population growth in an ecosystem
Autotroph – Any organism that produces complex organic compounds from simple substances present in its surroundings, generally using energy from light or inorganic chemical reactions
Bacteria – Domain of prokaryotes
Bioinvader – Organism occurring in a new habitat
Biomass – Biological material used as a renewable energy source
Biotic material – Any material that originates from living organisms
Carbon cycle – Biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere
Climate – Statistics of weather conditions in a given region over long periods
Ecological selection – Natural selection without sexual selection
Gaia hypothesis – Hypothesis that living organisms interact with their surroundings in a self-regulating system
Natural resource – Resources that exist without actions of humankind
Monoculture – The agricultural practice of producing a single crop at a time
Decomposition – The process in which organic substances are broken down into simpler organic matter
- Organic matter – Matter composed of organic compounds
Inorganic substance – A substance lacking organic constituents
- Detritus – Dead particulate organic material
- Biodegradation – Decomposition by living organisms
Ecological crisis – Change to the environment that destabilizes the continued survival of a population
Ecological extinction – Reduction of a species' abundance to the point that, though still present, it stops interacting with other species
Ecophagy – The literal consumption of an ecosystem
Ecological niche – The fit of a species living under specific environmental conditions.
Biological interaction – Any process in which an organism has an effect on another organism
- Neutralism – A relationship between two species that interact but do not affect each other
- Amensalism – An asymmetric interaction where organisms of one species are harmed or killed by the other which are unaffected
- Ecological facilitation – Species interactions that benefit at least one of the participants and cause harm to neither
  - Mutualism – A relationship between organisms of different species in which each individual benefits from the activity of the other
  - Commensalism – An interaction between two organisms living together in more or less intimate association in a relationship in which one benefits and the other is unaffected.
- Competition – Interaction where the fitness of one organism is lowered by the presence of another organism
- Predation – A biological interaction where a predator kills and eats a prey organism
- Parasitism – relationship between species where one organism lives on or in another organism, causing it harm

External links

What is Ecology?
Fundamentals of Ecology Textbook-style investigation to the economy of nature, breaks down in 4 chapters from Population to Ecosystem.
Ecology (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

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