Plant Ecology By Odum

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Odum, Eugene. American Ecologist 1913-Eugene Odum is an American ecologist who has worked to advance ecological awareness and research. Born in 1913 to an academic family, he spent most of the twentieth century promoting the ecosystem concept and warning of the impact humans have on the ecosystems in which we live.

Ecology: Meaning, Objectives and Classification of Ecology!

Meaning:

Ecology is a branch of science which deals with the study of inter­relationship between biotic and abiotic components of nature as well as relationship among the individuals of the biotic compo­nents. Ecology has been defined in a number of ways by different scientists and ecologists.

Ernest Haeckel (1866), a German biologist, for the first time defined ecology as “the body of knowledge is concerning the economy of the nature the investigation of the total relation of animal to its inorganic and organic environment including above all its friendly and animal relations with those animals and plants with which it comes directly or indirectly into contact.” The term Ecology’ was derived from two Greek words, OIKOS (means house) and LOGUS (means study of) to denote the relationship between the organisms and their environment.

According to Woodbury (1954), “Ecology is a science which investigates organisms in relation to their environment’. E.P. Odum (1969) defined ecology as “the study of structure and function of nature”. R Margalef (1968) treated ecology as “study of ecosystems”.

In 1985, Charles Krebs proposed the most accepted definition of ecology which may be defined as follows: “Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions that determine the dis­tribution and abundance of organisms”.

Thus, modern ecologists have broaden the definition of ecology considering all the fundamental aspects in the subject. Anyway, ecology is primarily a biological science in as much as it deals with the inter-relationships of organisms with their environ­ment.

Ecology plays a significant role in our day to day life. It is con­cerned with agriculture, horticulture, conservation of soil, wild­life, forest, water resources, etc. Its domain is so vast that it can­not be confined with limited discussion. However the study of ecological principles provides background knowledge for un­derstanding the problems of forests, soil, surface water etc.

Objectives of Ecology:

The importance of ecology lies in the comprehensive under­standing of its objectives.

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The important concepts discussed below throw light on various aspects of ecology:

(i) The local and geographical distribution and abundance of organisms (habitat niche, community, bio-geography).

(ii) Temporal changes in the occurrence, abundance and ac­tivities of organisms (seasonal, annual, successional, geo­logical).

(iii) The inter-relationship between organism in population and communities (population ecology).

Fundamentals Of Ecology By Odum

(iv) The structural adaptations and functional adjustment of organisms to their physical environment.

(v) The behaviour of organism under natural conditions (ethology).

(vi) The evolutionary development of all these inter-relations (evolutionary ecology).

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(vii) The biological productivity of nature and its relations with mankind.

(viii) The development of mathematical models to relate in­teraction of parameters and predict effects (systems analysis).

(ix) The conservation and management of natural resources and pollution (applied ecology).

Classification of Ecology:

Broadly speaking, the important sub-divisions of ecology are animal ecology and plant ecology. It is also classified as autecology and synecology. Autecology deals with the ecological study of one species of organism. Synecology deals with the ecological stud­ies of communities or entire eco-systems.

However, we can classify ecology into following branches:

(i) Habitat Ecology:

It deals with ecological study of differ­ent habitats on planet earth and their effects on the or­ganisms living there.

(ii) Community Ecology:

It deals with the study of the local distribution of animals in various habitats. Also, it is re­lated with the recognition and composition of commu­nity units, and succession.

(iii) Population Ecology:

This is also known as demonology. It deals with the study of the pattern of growth, structure and regulation of population organism. The population ecology also deals with interactions between populations of different species in a community.

(iv) Evolutionary Ecology:

It is concerned with the prob­lems of niche segregation, and speciation.

(v) Taxonomic Ecology:

It is related with the ecology of different taxonomic groups of living organisms.

(vi) Human Ecology:

It is mainly related to population ecol­ogy. It studies the inter-relationship between man and man along-with the environment. Effects of human be­ings on the biosphere and the implications of these ef­fects for mankind is the subject matter of human ecol­ogy.

(vii) Applied Ecology:

It is an important sub-division of ecol­ogy. It deals with the practical aspect of ecology. Mainly the application of ecological concept to human needs is the field of this study. We find wild-life management, forestry, conservation, insect control, animal husbandry, aqua-culture, agriculture, horticulture, land use, popula­tion ecology etc. as the application of ecology in practi­cal life.

(viii) Eco-system Dynamics:

It deals with the ecological study of the process of soil formation, energy flow, productiv­ity etc.

(ix) Production Ecology:

It examines the gross and net pro­duction of different eco-systems like fresh water, sea water, agriculture, horticulture etc. Production ecology attempts for the effective management of the eco-sys­tems so as to maximise the production.

(x) Ecological Energetics:

It deals with energy conserva­tion and its flow in the organisms within the eco-system.

(xi) Physiological Ecology (Eco-physiology):

The factors of environment have direct relation with the functional as­pects of the organism. The eco-physiology deals with the survival of the population as a result of functional ad­justment of organisms with different ecological condi­tions.

(xii) Chemical Ecology:

It is related with the adaptation of animals of preferences of particular organisms like in­sects to particular chemical substances.

(xiii) Ecological Genetics:

An ecologist recognised the kind of genetic plasticity in the case of every organism. In any environment only those organisms that are supported by the environment can survive. Thus, genecology deals with the study of variations of species based on their genetic potentialities.

(xiv) Palaeo Ecology:

It is the study of environmental condi­tions and life of the past ages.

(xv) Geographic Ecology (Eco-geography):

It focuses light on the study of geographical distribution of animals and plants.

(xvi) Space Ecology:

It is concerned with the development of partially or wholly regenerating eco-systems for sup­porting the life of man during long space flights.

(xvii) Pedology:

It deals with the study of soil, especially their acidity, human contents, mineral contents, soil types, etc. and their influence on their organism.

(xviii) Radiation Ecology:

It studies the gross effect of radia­tion and radio-active substances over the environment and living organisms.

(xix) Ethology:

It studies the animal behaviour under natu­ral conditions. /msts-west-coast-express.html.

(xx) Sociology:

Fundamentals

It is the study of ecology and ethology of mankind.

(xxi) System Ecology:

It deals with the analysis and under­standing of the function and structure of eco-system through the use of applied mathematics, advanced sta­tistical techniques, mathematical models etc.

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Ecology: Meaning, Objectives and Classification of Ecology!

Meaning:

Ecology is a branch of science which deals with the study of inter­relationship between biotic and abiotic components of nature as well as relationship among the individuals of the biotic compo­nents. Ecology has been defined in a number of ways by different scientists and ecologists.

Ernest Haeckel (1866), a German biologist, for the first time defined ecology as “the body of knowledge is concerning the economy of the nature the investigation of the total relation of animal to its inorganic and organic environment including above all its friendly and animal relations with those animals and plants with which it comes directly or indirectly into contact.” The term Ecology’ was derived from two Greek words, OIKOS (means house) and LOGUS (means study of) to denote the relationship between the organisms and their environment.

According to Woodbury (1954), “Ecology is a science which investigates organisms in relation to their environment’. E.P. Odum (1969) defined ecology as “the study of structure and function of nature”. R Margalef (1968) treated ecology as “study of ecosystems”.

In 1985, Charles Krebs proposed the most accepted definition of ecology which may be defined as follows: “Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions that determine the dis­tribution and abundance of organisms”.

Thus, modern ecologists have broaden the definition of ecology considering all the fundamental aspects in the subject. Anyway, ecology is primarily a biological science in as much as it deals with the inter-relationships of organisms with their environ­ment.

Ecology plays a significant role in our day to day life. It is con­cerned with agriculture, horticulture, conservation of soil, wild­life, forest, water resources, etc. Its domain is so vast that it can­not be confined with limited discussion. However the study of ecological principles provides background knowledge for un­derstanding the problems of forests, soil, surface water etc.

Objectives of Ecology:

The importance of ecology lies in the comprehensive under­standing of its objectives.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The important concepts discussed below throw light on various aspects of ecology:

(i) The local and geographical distribution and abundance of organisms (habitat niche, community, bio-geography).

(ii) Temporal changes in the occurrence, abundance and ac­tivities of organisms (seasonal, annual, successional, geo­logical).

(iii) The inter-relationship between organism in population and communities (population ecology).

(iv) The structural adaptations and functional adjustment of organisms to their physical environment.

(v) The behaviour of organism under natural conditions (ethology).

(vi) The evolutionary development of all these inter-relations (evolutionary ecology).

ADVERTISEMENTS:

(vii) The biological productivity of nature and its relations with mankind.

Plant Ecology By Shukla And Chandel Pdf

(viii) The development of mathematical models to relate in­teraction of parameters and predict effects (systems analysis).

(ix) The conservation and management of natural resources and pollution (applied ecology).

Classification of Ecology:

Broadly speaking, the important sub-divisions of ecology are animal ecology and plant ecology. It is also classified as autecology and synecology. Autecology deals with the ecological study of one species of organism. Synecology deals with the ecological stud­ies of communities or entire eco-systems.

However, we can classify ecology into following branches:

(i) Habitat Ecology:

Fundamentals Of Ecology Odum

It deals with ecological study of differ­ent habitats on planet earth and their effects on the or­ganisms living there.

(ii) Community Ecology:

It deals with the study of the local distribution of animals in various habitats. Also, it is re­lated with the recognition and composition of commu­nity units, and succession.

(iii) Population Ecology:

This is also known as demonology. It deals with the study of the pattern of growth, structure and regulation of population organism. The population ecology also deals with interactions between populations of different species in a community.

(iv) Evolutionary Ecology:

It is concerned with the prob­lems of niche segregation, and speciation.

(v) Taxonomic Ecology:

It is related with the ecology of different taxonomic groups of living organisms.

(vi) Human Ecology:

It is mainly related to population ecol­ogy. It studies the inter-relationship between man and man along-with the environment. Effects of human be­ings on the biosphere and the implications of these ef­fects for mankind is the subject matter of human ecol­ogy.

(vii) Applied Ecology:

It is an important sub-division of ecol­ogy. It deals with the practical aspect of ecology. Mainly the application of ecological concept to human needs is the field of this study. We find wild-life management, forestry, conservation, insect control, animal husbandry, aqua-culture, agriculture, horticulture, land use, popula­tion ecology etc. as the application of ecology in practi­cal life.

(viii) Eco-system Dynamics:

It deals with the ecological study of the process of soil formation, energy flow, productiv­ity etc.

(ix) Production Ecology:

It examines the gross and net pro­duction of different eco-systems like fresh water, sea water, agriculture, horticulture etc. Production ecology attempts for the effective management of the eco-sys­tems so as to maximise the production.

Plant Ecology Book

(x) Ecological Energetics:

It deals with energy conserva­tion and its flow in the organisms within the eco-system.

Plant Ecology Journal

(xi) Physiological Ecology (Eco-physiology):

The factors of environment have direct relation with the functional as­pects of the organism. The eco-physiology deals with the survival of the population as a result of functional ad­justment of organisms with different ecological condi­tions.

(xii) Chemical Ecology:

It is related with the adaptation of animals of preferences of particular organisms like in­sects to particular chemical substances.

(xiii) Ecological Genetics:

An ecologist recognised the kind of genetic plasticity in the case of every organism. In any environment only those organisms that are supported by the environment can survive. Thus, genecology deals with the study of variations of species based on their genetic potentialities.

(xiv) Palaeo Ecology:

It is the study of environmental condi­tions and life of the past ages.

(xv) Geographic Ecology (Eco-geography):

It focuses light on the study of geographical distribution of animals and plants.

(xvi) Space Ecology:

It is concerned with the development of partially or wholly regenerating eco-systems for sup­porting the life of man during long space flights.

(xvii) Pedology:

It deals with the study of soil, especially their acidity, human contents, mineral contents, soil types, etc. and their influence on their organism.

(xviii) Radiation Ecology:

It studies the gross effect of radia­tion and radio-active substances over the environment and living organisms.

(xix) Ethology:

It studies the animal behaviour under natu­ral conditions.

(xx) Sociology:

It is the study of ecology and ethology of mankind.

(xxi) System Ecology:

It deals with the analysis and under­standing of the function and structure of eco-system through the use of applied mathematics, advanced sta­tistical techniques, mathematical models etc.

Plant Ecology By Odum Georgia

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