Ecology

• What is Ecology ?
Ecology (derived from greek word oikos , house or place to live and logos , study of) is the study of how living organisms interact with one another and with non- living environment .In fact it is the study of connections in nature.
• What are Organisms ?
An organism is any form of life .The cell is the basic unit of all living organisms . Organisms may conisists of single cell or many cells .On the basis of their cell structure, organisms can be classified as their eukaryotic an prokaryotic.
Each cell of eukaryotic organism
 Is surrounded by a membre
 Has a distinct nucleus ( a membrane- bounded structure containing genetice material in the form of DNA).
 Has several other internal parts called organelles. All organelles except bacteria are eukaryotic.
• What is Population?
A population consists of a group of interacting individuals of the same species that occupy a specific area at the same time.
• What are communities, Ecosystem and the Biosphere?
Populations of the different species occupying a particular place make up a community or biological community.
An ecosystem is a community of different species interacting with one another and with their non-living environment of matter and energy.
• What are species?
Organisms that resemble with one another in appearance, behaviour, chemistry and generic make up.
Asexual reproduction is common in species such as bacteria with only one cell, which divides to produce two identical cells that are clones or replicas of the original cell.
Sexual reproduction occurs in organisms that produce offsprings by combining sex cells or gametes( ovum & sperm) from both parents. This produce offsprings that have combinations of genetic traits from each parents. Sexual reproduction usually gives the species the greater chance of survival under changing environmental conditions than the genetic clones produced by asexual reproduction.
• Biosphere
All of the earth’s ecosystems together make up what we call the biosphere.
Or
The portion of the planet occupied by life where biotic organisms exists and interact with their non-living environment is called biosphere. It includes hydrosphere & the Parts of the lower atmosphere and upper Lithosphere.
The goal of ecology is to understand the interaction in this thin layer, life supporting global skin or membrane of air, water, soil and organisms.
• What sustains life on Earth?
Life on earth depends on three inter-connected factors:
 The one way flow of high quality energy from the sun through materials and living things in their feeding interactions, into the environment as low quality energy (mainly heat dispersed into air or water molecules at low temperature and eventually back into space as heat.
 The cycling of matter (atoms, ions or the molecules needed to survive the living organisms) through parts of the biosphere.The earth is closed to significant inputs of the matter from space. Thus, essentially all the nutrients used by organisms are again and again for life to continue.