Portal:Ecology
Wikipedia portal for content related to Ecology / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ecology |
Ecology (from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos) 'house', and -λογία (-logía) 'study of') is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely related sciences of biogeography, evolutionary biology, genetics, ethology, and natural history. Ecology is a branch of biology, and is the study of abundance, biomass, and distribution of organisms in the context of the environment. It encompasses life processes, interactions, and adaptations; movement of materials and energy through living communities; successional development of ecosystems; cooperation, competition, and predation within and between species; and patterns of biodiversity and its effect on ecosystem processes. Ecology has practical applications in conservation biology, wetland management, natural resource management (agroecology, agriculture, forestry, agroforestry, fisheries, mining, tourism), urban planning (urban ecology), community health, economics, basic and applied science, and human social interaction (human ecology). The word ecology (German: Ökologie) was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst Haeckel. The science of ecology as we know it today began with a group of American botanists in the 1890s. Evolutionary concepts relating to adaptation and natural selection are cornerstones of modern ecological theory. Ecosystems are dynamically interacting systems of organisms, the communities they make up, and the non-living (abiotic) components of their environment. Ecosystem processes, such as primary production, nutrient cycling, and niche construction, regulate the flux of energy and matter through an environment. Ecosystems have biophysical feedback mechanisms that moderate processes acting on living (biotic) and abiotic components of the planet. Ecosystems sustain life-supporting functions and provide ecosystem services like biomass production (food, fuel, fiber, and medicine), the regulation of climate, global biogeochemical cycles, water filtration, soil formation, erosion control, flood protection, and many other natural features of scientific, historical, economic, or intrinsic value. (Full article...) Selected article - show anotherEcological economics, bioeconomics, ecolonomy, eco-economics, or ecol-econ is both a transdisciplinary and an interdisciplinary field of academic research addressing the interdependence and coevolution of human economies and natural ecosystems, both intertemporally and spatially. By treating the economy as a subsystem of Earth's larger ecosystem, and by emphasizing the preservation of natural capital, the field of ecological economics is differentiated from environmental economics, which is the mainstream economic analysis of the environment. One survey of German economists found that ecological and environmental economics are different schools of economic thought, with ecological economists emphasizing strong sustainability and rejecting the proposition that physical (human-made) capital can substitute for natural capital (see the section on weak versus strong sustainability below). Ecological economics was founded in the 1980s as a modern discipline on the works of and interactions between various European and American academics (see the section on History and development below). The related field of green economics is in general a more politically applied form of the subject. (Full article...)Selected image - show anotherDrawing of an American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula). Also called the Mississippi paddlefish or spoonbill, they live in slow-flowing waters of the Mississippi River drainage system and may grow to 7 feet (220 cm) and weigh up to 220 pounds (100 kg). They appear to have been extirpated from Lake Erie and its tributaries.
General imagesThe following are images from various ecology-related articles on Wikipedia.
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“ | Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we've been ignorant of their value. | ” |
— R. Buckminster Fuller |
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Ecology news
- April 23: European Union to reduce carbon emissions by 55% of 1990 levels by 2030
- November 27: Wikinews interviews Craig Farquharson, Liberal Democrat candidate for 2020 Groom by-election
- November 27: Wikinews interviews Sandra Jephcott, Sustainable Australia candidate for 2020 Groom by-election
- December 14: Greta Thunberg named 2019 Time Person of the Year
- November 23: Researchers break down deaths due to power plant pollution in the United States
- November 21: Slippery business: Materials scientists invent new coating for self-cleaning, water-efficient toilets
- October 19: Northern Arapaho Tribe welcomes buffalo herd in Wyoming, United States
- October 12: Scientists describe how 'upside-down rivers' of warm water break Antarctica's ice shelf
- October 5: Voracious fish defend coral reefs against warming, say scientists
- September 8: Scientists report skyrocketing phytoplankton population in aftermath of Kīlauea eruption
- November 5, 2009: "New ocean forming in African desert."
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- Biology and ecology of aquatic organisms,
- Biological, physical, chemical, and geological oceanography,
- Limnology,
- Coastal management,
- Fisheries biology,
- Aquatic ecosystem management,
- Aquaculture,
- and related areas. (Full article...)
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... soil ecology is the study of the interactions among soil organisms, and between biotic and abiotic aspects of the soil environment? It is particularly concerned with the cycling of nutrients, formation and stabilization of the pore structure, the spread and vitality of pathogens, and the biodiversity of this rich biological community. (Pictured left: a type of soil known as ultisol, common throughout the American South (especially near the piedmont), and colloquially known as "red clay soil". Photo taken in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.) |
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