unit1introductiontobiology（31页）.docVIP

SAN DIEGO MESA COLLEGE SCHOOL OF NATURAL SCIENCES General Biology Lecture (BIOL107); Instructor: Elmar Schmid, Ph.D. PAGE PAGE 31 Chapter 36: Ecology, Communities Populations - Part I - “… ecology is the sub-discipline of biology, which scientifically studies the interaction of biological organisms with its environment.” 1. Introduction to Ecology Earth is home to a tremendous variety of living organisms, from simple bacteria, inconspicuous amoeba and fungi to very sophisticated and complex organisms such as plants, animals and our own species Homo sapiens sapiens It is a deeply rooted human, almost subconscious, understanding of humans, that none of these biological organisms are capable to live alone or independently of each other Each form of life rather depends in some way upon other living or non-living things in its surroundings (or to use a more contemporary term: in its environment); each form of life is inter-dependent in some way with its environment Ecology is the sub-discipline of biological science which scientifically studies the intricate relationships living organisms have to each other and to their environment the term “Ecology” is derived from two Greek word “Oikos”, which means “house” and “Logos” which means knowledge; literally translated, ecology therefore means the “knowledge about the house” ecology is the scientific study of the processes and complex connections or inter-actions within our “ultimate house”, the planet Earth the study of ecology increases our understanding of the world and its diverse forms of life; ecological studies are important because our survival and well-being as one of these species on this planet, will depend on a better understanding of the ecological relationships and balances throughout the world due to the increasing impact and influence of human activities, such as industrialization, motorization, global tourism and population growth, ecology is becoming an ever more important, dynamic sub-discipline of