Changes

'''Ecology''' is 'the study a field of [[biology]] that studies "the interrelationships between distribution and abundance of [[organism|organisms ]] and their natural environment, both living the interactions that determine distribution and non-living'abundance."<ref>MartinBegon, EM. and Hine, Harper, J. L., &amp; Townsend, C. R. (20082006) 'A Dictionary of Biology' Oxford University Press. Introduction: Ecology and its Domain. In Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems (4th ed., Oxford, Upp.Kxi-xii). introduction, Blackwell.</ref>These interactions include both biotic (occurring between living individuals) and abiotic interactions (occurring between and individual and its environment). There are several subdisciplines of ecology that focus on different [[Ecology#Organizational Complexity|levels of organization]] and different types of interactions, such behavioral, disease, sensory, and functional ecology.

A popular aspect of ecology Ecology is the relationship often confused with [[environmentalism]]. While familiarity of the relative proportions of predator and prey. When more predators are introduced to an environment, they eat more prey animals. This tends to increase term "ecology" emerged with the population growing environmental concerns of predators, since they get more food and can thus live longer to reproduce more. But it also reduces the food supply of the predators, which contrariwise causes the predators to live shorter lives [[The Sixties|1960s]] and to reproduce less. However, since predators tend to eat herbivores, increased predation of herbivores will allow [[plantsThe Seventies|primary producers'70s]] , the two have separate meanings and goals. Ecology seeks to increase understand natural phenomena in popularion, creating the environment whereas environmentalism is a phenomenon called a Trophic Cascade social and political movement.<ref>Estes, James A. Institute of Food and Terborgh, John, ''Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature''Agricultural Sciences. Island Press, 2010(n. ISBN 10597264873d.) Confusing Ecology with Environmentalism. Fort Lauderdale. University of Florida Extension.</ref> In some ecosystemsEven though they are separate, the populations of predator two are closely related, as environmentalism relies on data and prey cycle up evidence from ecologists to support their [[Environmental Issues|goals]] and down wildly, but usually they reach an equilibrium.<ref>Rockwood, Larry L. ''Introduction ecologists apply their findings to Population Ecology''[[conservation]] efforts and management strategies. Wiley Blackwell, 2006. ISBN 9781405132633. Chapter 10.</ref>

Ecology ==Organizational Complexity==  The discipline of ecology is split up into several subfields, ranging in order of organizational complexity. The smallest field of ecology, is organismal ecology, focusing on the the [[adaptation|adaptations]] and [[physiology]] of an established individual. [[Population]] ecology is focused on the interactions that individuals of the same [[species]] have, affecting their population dynamics. [[Community]] ecology investigates how populations of different species interact and affect community composition. [[Ecosystem]] ecology incorporates the abiotic factors that influence individuals, populations, and communities. The largest scale of ecology studies the entire [[biosphere]], specifically the processes that occur in it, how changes in climate and organismal abundance affect it, and reconstruct previous climates and ecosystems on [[Earth]]. Though [[evolution|evolutionary biology]] is a separate field of biology, the two are tightly linked, each not fully explaining phenomena without the other. G. E. Hutchinson combined the two topics through the metaphor of an "evolutionary play in an ecological theater,"<ref>Hutchinson, G. E. (1973). The Ecological Theater and the evolutionary play. Yale Univ. Press.</ref> and as T. G. Dobzhansky states, "nothing in evolution makes sense except in the light of evolution."<ref>Dobzhansky, T. (1973). Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of Evolution. The American Biology Teacher, 35(3), 125–129. https://doi.org/10.2307/4444260.</ref> While evolution is still heavilly debated and studied, it is important to take it into account when studying each of the levels of organization and to make sense of adaptations, distributions, and life histories.  ==Population Ecology==  Population ecology is concerned with the interactions between members of a single species. A population is defined as a group of potentially interacting individuals of the same species that occupy the same area and can interbreed, for [[Reproduction|sexually reproducing]] species.<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Population ecology. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 9, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/science/population-ecology </ref> The geographic area that defines a population can be distinct, such as an isolated lake or mountain peak, or it can be subjective, based upon the goal of the scientist studying the population.<ref>Begon, M., &amp; Harper, J. L. (2006). Life, Death and Life Histories. In C. R. Townsend (Ed.), Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems (4th ed., pp. 89–131). chapter, Blackwell.</ref> Interactions that occur in populations are said to be interspecific. The most prominent of these interactions is competition for resources, such as water, food, shelter, and mates. Competition can be strong, where individuals control large territories to secure resources, or it can be less strong, such as in eusocial species like [[humans]]and [[wolves]].  =====Modeling===== Population dynamics is an important aspect of population ecology that studies how populations change in size and density. Two important growth models are the exponential and logistic growth curves. The exponential growth equation is as follows: ''N_t = N₀e^rt'', where ''N'' is the population size at time ''t'', ''e'' is Euler's number, and ''r'' is the intrinsic growth rate. This model predicts a population continually growing faster and faster without bound. Exponential growth is rare in nature, but examples include [[bacteria]] and [[humans]]. Most populations in nature do not grow exponentially, they reach a certain density threshold that limits growth, called the term carrying capacity. [[Thomas Malthus]] described how at some point in time an expanding population must exceed supply of prerequisite [[natural resources]], i.e., population increases exponentially resulting in increasing competition for means of subsistence, food, shelter, etc. This concept has been termed the "Struggle for Existence". Resources may be plentiful at small population sizes, so initially a population will appear to grow exponentially, however, as resources become less available due to competition, the population growth rate slows down. This is described the by the logistic growth model as follows: ''dN/dt = rN[(K - N) / K]'', where ''K'' is the carrying capacity. Once a population has reached its carrying capacity, it will often confused with or used interchangeably remain at that population size, with stochastic fluctuations. Most populations follow this model. =====Metapopulations===== Modern approaches to population ecology have incorporated the concept of metapopulations. Inspired by the work of E. O. Wilson and R. H. Macarthur's work on island biogeography, metapopulations are important for discussing smaller populations that are connected to other nearby populations through colonization, [[environmentalismemigration]], and [[extinction]]. Certain populations can act as sources for the metapopulations whereas others act as sinks and cannot sustain their own populations. Metapopulations have important conservation concerns, as increased habitat fragmentation increases the liklihood of local extinction of a species. Prioritizing which "islands" in a metapopulation should be protected can help to preserve and maintain healthy populations of charismatic species, such as butterflies and birds.