Ecology and Environment Study Material

Introduction to Ecology and Environment

Ecology and environment are not the same, therefore, ecology refers to the overall study and knowledge of the biosphere. However, an environment is formed due to the interconnections and links among the living beings and the physical world around them in their surroundings such as land, water as well as air. In addition, an ecosystem requires a source of energy like sunlight that lets them work properly and efficiently. The study of ecology is essential to understand our mother earth as well as we have to know our responsibilities towards our planet and environment so that we can contribute to the development and conservation of the environment.

Definition of Ecology

Ecology can also be called bionomics, environmental biology, or bioecology at the same time. It is said to be a relationship among the living beings on this planet and their surrounding environment. Some of the most common and usually occurring issues among human beings like expansion of the population, shortage of food, pollution in the environment, plants and animal species getting extinct, global warming, and many others are to a huge degree ecological.

The term ecology came from Ernst Haeckel, a German zoologist who mixed the word oekologie with the “relationship of the animal to its organic as well as its inorganic environment at the same time.” The term is derived from the Greek ‘oikos’ that refers to a shelter, or a place to live. Therefore, ecology deals with the environment and the living organisms in it.

Historical Background of Ecology and Environment

Initially, the ecology had no firm openings. It developed from the pure history of the ancient Greeks, specifically Theophrastus, a friend and companion of Aristotle. Theophrastus initially defined the interrelationships amid organisms and among the living organisms and their nonliving environment. After some time, foundations for modern time ecology were positioned in the early work of the physiologists of plants as well as animals. In the starting and middle of the 1900s, 2 groups of botanists, one in Europe and the other one in the USA, studied and researched the plant communities from 2 dissimilar points of view.

The botanists from the US then studied the development of plant communities or progression. Both plants, as well as animal ecology, were developing individually until the American biologists highlighted the interrelation between both the communities as a biotic whole. In the same era, interest in population dynamics became advanced. The learning of population dynamics received superior impetus in the initial 19th century, after the English economist, Thomas Malthus called attention to the battle between expansion in the populations and the capability of our planet to supply food for the living beings.

Definition of Environment

Environment, the mixture of the physical, biotic, and chemical factors that act upon a living organism or an ecological community as well as determines its survival and form ultimately. The environment of our planet is treated in multiple amounts of articles. The primary, as well as main components of the physical environment, are mentioned in the articles atmosphere, continental landform, climate, and the ocean. The relation among the components of our environment, principal systems, and the major ecosystems of our planet are treated in the article biosphere.

The important and essential environmental alterations that have happened during the history of our planet are surveyed in the article geochronology. Moreover, the pollution present in our environment and the conservation of the natural resources of the environment are treated in the article conservation. Threats to life in the biosphere are mentioned in the articles disease, death, and immune system.

Importance of Our Environment

We get to know about the threats to our environment every single day. Whether it’s the damages due to the change in climate, pollution, or deforestation, the apocalyptic-sounding events fill the news columns. It can be overwhelming as well as hard to discern what accurately it all means. Our environment which comprises everything from the ocean to the jungles – affects every area of life.

Here are some genuine and researched reasons why our environment is important for us:

•       People depend on the environment for their sustainability and livelihoods.
•       Caring for the environment provides more employment to the people.
•       Varied environments build up food security.
•       Multiple cures of different diseases come from our environment.
•       Trees in the environment make the air clean as well as fresh.
•       A healthy environment results in good air.

Conclusion

Ecology and environment study material conclude that ecology is a scientific approach to the knowledge, research, and study of the biosphere. Moreover, the environment consists of various living beings and organisms, and through them and their relationship with the environment, an environment is formed.