Ecology
Field · 1866 onward; a field science from the 1920s · Biology, stage 2: Map the fields
Ecology studies the interactions between organisms and between organisms and their surroundings, at scales from a single population to the whole biosphere. It works with population sizes, energy flow, and material cycles, and it relies more on statistical models and long-term observation than on controlled experiment, because its systems are usually too large to put in a laboratory. From the 1960s it became the science most directly involved in public argument about pollution and land use.
What it claims
- Where a species lives is set by its tolerances and by the other species present, not by its tolerances alone.
- Energy flows through a system and is dissipated; matter cycles within it.
- Populations are regulated by limits and by feedback, so growth cannot continue indefinitely.
Key ideas
People
Sources
- Ecology Wikipedia
- Ecology Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Ecological Society of America Ecological Society of America
