Ecology – Definition and Branches

September 25, 2016 December 8, 2023

Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and their environment. The word “ecology” comes from the Greek words “oikos” meaning “household” or “environment” and “logia” meaning “study of”. The term was first used by German Scientist Ernst Haeckel in 1866. In ecology, everything is connected to everything else and there is a constant interaction between organisms and their environment.

Autecology and Synecology

Autecology & Synecology are two main subfields of ecology , alongside branches like population ecology, biogeography, landscape ecology etc.

Autecology is the study of individual organism or individual species. It is also known as population ecology.
Synecology is the study of group of organisms of different species which are associated together as a unit in form of a community. Also known as community ecology..

Autecology and Synecology – Examples

Autecology

One example of autecology is to study the habitat requirements of the giant panda in order to understand why its population numbers are declining. This includes examining its need for ample bamboo as a food source.
Similarly, looking at the breeding behaviors of Atlantic salmon to understand how environmental variables like temperature and stream flow influence the success of their reproduction is also autecology.
Another example is testing different soil conditions like moisture, pH, and mineral content to determine how they affect the growth rate of black cherry trees.

Synecology

Analysing how seasonal changes impact the complex interactions between plant and animal species in a tropical rainforest over time.
Understanding influences on predator-prey dynamics in a National Park by examining connected changes in populations of tigers, deer, and grass.
Looking at detrital food webs in streams – the breakdown of leaves by shredders which become food sources for many aquatic insect species and how this process is affected by factors like pollution.

Thus, while autecology helps us to understand the relationships between individual plants and environment. Synecology helps us to understand the relationships between communities and environment.

Besides these major ecological divisions, there are following specialized branches of ecology:

Branch	Focus area
Community Ecology	Examines the local distribution of organisms in habitats, the composition of ecological communities, and community succession patterns over time.
Population Ecology	Studies the growth, structure, and regulation of populations.
Taxonomic Ecology	Analyzes the ecology of different taxonomic groups such as microbial, mammalian, avian, insect, and parasite ecology. Includes subfields like human ecology and agroecology.
Human Ecology	Involves the interrelations between humans and their environments, especially human impacts on the biosphere.
Applied Ecology	Utilizes ecological concepts for human needs in areas like wildlife conservation, forestry, insect control, epidemiology, aquaculture, agriculture, land use planning, and pollution control.
Ecosystem Dynamics	Analyzes ecological processes like soil formation, nutrient cycling, energy flow, and ecosystem productivity.
Ecological Energetics	Focuses on energy conservation and transfer between organisms.
Physiological Ecology	Examines how environmental factors influence the functional aspects of organisms.
Ecological Genetics	Studies genetic variability in species in relation to environmental adaptation.
Paleoecology	Reconstructs ancestral environments and ecosystems using evidence from pollen, fossils, and radioactive dating.
Biogeography	Examines the geographic distributions of plant and animal species and their changes over time.
Pedology	Analyzes soils, their properties, types, and influences on organisms.
Ethology	Involves studying animal behavior under natural conditions.
Systems Ecology	Uses mathematical models, statistics, and computer simulations to understand ecosystem structure and function.