The document provides an overview of ecology, defining it as the study of interactions between living organisms and their environment, and describing its various levels of study such as individual organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere. It outlines the objectives and classifications of ecology, including synecology and autecology, and further categorizes ecology based on type of environment into terrestrial and aquatic. Additionally, it details the various subfields of ecology like global, landscape, ecosystem, community, population, and organismal ecology.

1. Course Code:
Course Name: Environmental Studies with focus
on Indian Practices
Unit No: 1 (PPT 2)
Unit Name: Introduction to Environmental
Studies
SEMESTER: 3 IMSc.IT
Prepared by: A/P Jheel Barad
Silver Oak College of Computer Applications
(SOCCA)

2. ECOLOGY

3. Branch of science studying organisms, the environment, and their interactions.
• Definition: Ecology is the study of the interactions of living organisms with one
another and with their physical environment
• Relationship between living things and environment
• It can also be defined as the study of ecosystem
Coined by ERNST HAECKEL in 1866
‘The comprehensive science of the relationship between organisms to the environment’
Ecology= Oikos (house or surrounding) + Logos ( study or knowledge)
It is studied at various levels, such as organism, population, community, biosphere and
ecosystem.
What is Ecology?

4. Objectives of Ecology Study
• To study the inter-relationship between single and species in communities.
• To study the behaviour of different species in natural environment.
• To study the adjustment of species (structurally and functionally) with
change in physical environment.
• To study development, productivity, energy and material flow in natural
system.
• To study the effects of temporal changes on the activities of different
species.
• To study the parameters which affect ecological balance (balancing between
production and consumption of each component in ecosystem which impart
stability to ecosystem) and functioning of ecosystem for performing
modeling

5. Classification of Ecology (On the Basis of aspect)
Ecology
Synecology
Autecology
It is a study of communities and their
behaviour and relations with abiotic
environment. It has three types – population
ecology, community
ecology and ecosystem ecology.
e.g., tribal belt, a pond, a forest
It is ecology of an individual species and
its population. It deals with study of inter
relationship between individual species
and its environment.
e.g., a fish in pond, a tree in a forest.
Classification of Ecology

6. Classification of Ecology (On the Basis of type of environment)
Ecology
Terrestrial
Ecology
Aquatic Ecology
It includes marine, fresh
water and stream ecology
It includes grassland, forest
and desert ecology

11. 1. Individual (Organism)
- Single living entity
e.g., a plant, animal, fungus, bacterium.
2. Population
- Group of individuals of the same species living in a specific area.
3. Community
- Different populations of various species interacting in a common location.
4. Ecosystem
- Community of living organisms and their physical environment interacting as a system.
5. Biome
- Large area characterized by its vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife (e.g., desert, forest).
6. Biosphere
- Global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships with the
environment.

13. Types of Ecology
Global Ecology:
• Focuses on interactions among Earth's ecosystems, land, atmosphere, and oceans.
• Helps understand large scale interactions and their influence on the planet.
Landscape Ecology:
• Studies the exchange of energy, materials, organisms, and other products among
ecosystems.
• Examines the role of human impacts on landscape structures and functions.
Ecosystem Ecology:
• Studies entire ecosystems, including living and nonliving components and their
relationships.
• Researches how ecosystems work and their interactions.

14. Community Ecology:
• Focuses on how community structure is modified by interactions among living organisms.
• Examines communities made up of two or more populations of different species in a
geographic area.
Population Ecology:
• Studies factors that alter and impact the genetic composition and size of populations.
• Investigates fluctuations in population size, growth, and interactions.
• Examines population distribution and density, determining species' status and resource
management.
• Population: Set of individuals of the same species in a given place at a given time.
• Factors Influencing Population: Births, immigration (increase); death, emigration
(decrease).
Organismal Ecology:
• Studies individual organism's’ behavior, morphology, and physiology in response to
environmental challenges.
• Researches how organisms interact with biotic and abiotic components and adapt to their
surroundings.