Definition: The
scientific study of the processes influencing the distribution and abundance of
organisms, the interactions among organisms, and the interactions between
organisms and the transformation and flux of energy and matter.
Examples: Ecology is a synthetic science. Although it arose from the focus of 19th
century biology on organisms, as techniques, places studied, and other sciences
have changed, so too ecology has expanded its scope. Ecology now covers a gradient of topics,
ranging from integration with geology and Earth sciences on one extreme, to
genetics and physiology at the more biological extreme. In between, ecology studies ecosystems,
landscapes, populations, communities, and individuals. It focuses on the structure, function, and
change of the various entities it studies, and it highlights interactions
between physical and living components of systems.
 |
Ecology Figure 1. Ecology is a complex
discipline that combines a concern with abiotic, or physical, and biotic, or living
components. It overlaps with both physical science and biological science
disciplines, and within it, has many specialties that differ by their degree of
emphasis on the biological or the physical, and on the nature of their subject
matter.
|
Why important: Because ecology is fundamentally a synthesizing
science, it is well poised and suited to linking with the other disciplines and
professions needed to understand, design, and manage urban systems. The term ecology is sometimes used to
describe a particular model of ecological interactions or a network of
processes. The term has also been
appropriated by other disciplines, such as political ecology, social ecology,
and the like. When used in the plural,
as “ecologies” by certain disciplines, it is likely that different models,
scales of observation, or perspectives on a particular socio-ecological system
are indicated. In addition, the term is
used metaphorically in common speech to indicate connectedness or
equilibrium. These more poetic uses are
quite different from the implications of the term as a description for
scientific practice and the resulting knowledge, however.
For more information:
Likens, G.E. 1992. The ecosystem approach: its use
and abuse. Ecology Institute, Oldendorf/Luhe, Germany.
Pickett,
S.T.A., J. Kolasa, and C.G. Jones. 2007. Ecological understanding: the nature
of theory and the theory of nature, 2nd edition. Springer, New York.
