ecology Hear it!

ecology Definition

ecol·ogy (ē käl′ə jē)

noun

    1. the branch of biology that deals with the relations between living organisms and their environment
    2. the complex of relations between a specific organism and its environment
  2. Sociology the study of the relationship and adjustment of human groups to their geographical and social environments

Etymology: Ger ökologie < Gr oikos (see eco-) + -logia, -logy

ecology Related Forms
e′co·log′i·cal (ē′kə läj′i kəl, ek′ə-) adjective or e′co·log′ic ec′·o·log′i·cally adverb ecol′o·gist noun
ecology Synonyms

ecology

n.

environmental science, environmental study, environmental engineering, ecological engineering, human ecology, human environment, antipollution projects, pollution control, survival studies, study of ecosystems, conservation of natural resources, environmental policy, environmental protection, earthly livability; see also biology, botany, environment, science 1, zoology.

ecology Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • epidemic: Avian flu - the ecology of an epidemic Bird flu has been raging through Asia for more than a decade.
  • species: What do you know about the ecology of these species in your part of the country?
  • organism: Apparently not a great deal is known about the ecology of this organism.
  • woodland: This research widened into an interest in the general ecology of woodlands.
  • insect: The journal publishes original research on systematics and ecology of aquatic insects.
  • specie: A lot of knowledge concerning the biology and ecology of the species was gained.

Converse of object

  • alter: For this reason, wild boar may not be expected to significantly alter the ecology.
  • breed: Compared to saving the rainforests, or helping pandas to breed, linguistic ecology can seem a bit tame.

Adjective modifier

  • microbial: The Director of Studies is Dr. Sarah Watkinson, researching on microbial ecology.
  • Behavioral: How Not To Murder Your Neighbor: Using Synthetic Behavioral Ecology to Study Aggressive Signaling.
  • behavioral: My second line of research concerns the behavioral ecology of social bees.
  • aquatic: Resource definitions like " fisheries " or " aquatic ecology " could encompass the entire globe.
  • evolutionary: This was part of a larger project on the evolutionary ecology of learning ( see all Cunningham papers below ).
  • terrestrial: Research Interests Research interests include African terrestrial ecology, particularly rain forest ecology.

Noun used with modifier

  • freshwater: This idea is used in freshwater ecology for instance where certain species are characteristic of organic pollution.
  • plankton: Research Interests: The use of molecular genetic methods to resolve questions in plankton ecology using CPR samples.
  • pollination: It combines the perspectives of molecular genetics, evolutionary biology and pollination ecology.
  • wetland: A mixture of water chemistry, wetland ecology and dynamics, environmental economics and agri-environmental policy!
  • forest: Research Interests Research interests include African terrestrial ecology, particularly rain forest ecology.
  • broadcasting: We believe that these three commitments, and therefore the channel itself, are crucial to the broadcasting ecology.