Important Concepts of Ecology

1. Ecology: study of interactions between organisms and organisms with their environments

 

2. Biosphere (Ecosphere): all parts of planet Earth inhabited by living organisms. It stretches from the bottom of the ocean  to the upper atmosphere = all the communities and ecosystems in planet Earth

 

3. Biotic components: living components in the ecosystem, such as plants, animals, humans and microorganisms

 

4. Abiotic components: non-living components of the ecosystem such as water, soil, air, rocks, snow and others.

 

5. Environment: surrounding of an organism including all biotic and abiotic components. The environment of an  organism usually includes water, air, soil and living things.

 

6. Habitat: specific area(place) of the physical environment where an organism lives. Example: Forest as habitat of monkeys, Meadow as habitat of deers.

 

7. Microhabitat: particular place in the habitat where and organism lives. Microhabitat can be an area under a rock, for ants.

 

8. Community: all organisms living in the same habitat. Mangrove swamp community consists of mangrove trees, birds, crabs, monkeys, snakes, microorganisms...etc.

 

9. Biome: large community unit that extends over wide biogeographical area, determined by area. Hence, biome can be said as a climatically delineated assemblage of organisms that have a characteristic appearance and is distribute over a wide geographical area. This community is usually complex and its animals and plants have certain characteristics. Example: Terrestrial biome are tropical forest, Mediterranean forest, deciduous forests, savanna, tundra, desert and prairie. Ocean is a single biome.

 

10. Bion: independant individual organism living in any ecological system.