Introduction to Ecology

Ecology is a biological science that scrutinizes the connections in nature. Long years ago the concept of ecology came into existence, which was much more before we are aware of environment and development. 19^th century is the transition time where several ecologists and biologists denoted these relationships between individuals and its surrounding environment into different definitions.

Isodore Geoffroy was the zoologist, 1859, termed “ethology” while St. George J. Mivart, a naturalist proposed “hexicology” as terms to define these relationships.

Ecology came from two Greek words, oikos meaning “habitat or home” and logos mean “study” to explain the interacting organism with its environment. Environment is the sum total of surroundings around an organism which includes both biotic and abiotic factors. Ernst Haeckel defined environment based on two conditions inorganic and organic, later known as abiotic and biotic factors. Biotic factors involves other living interacting organisms, plants, bacteria etc. of same species or different species while abiotic factors are composed of non living things which can be the physical (climate, geology) and chemical (pH, salinity) agents in surroundings. These two factors are interdependent on each other and function as a unit to define environment.

Several ecologists, philosopher ecologists, zoologists and botanists defined the term “ecology” in different definitions of their own understandings but concluding lines remains that ecology is the biological study of interrelationships between organisms and natural environment at different levels of organization.