3.1 WHAT IS ECOLOGY
Ecology is the scientific study of interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment, or surroundings. The biosphere contains the combined portions of the planet in which all of life exists, including land, water, and air, or the atmosphere.
Ecologists ask questions about events and organisms that range in complexity from a single individual to the entire biosphere. A species is a group of organism so similar to one another that they can breed and produce a fertile offspring. Population is where a group of individuals that belong to the same species that live in the same area. Communities is where different populations that live together in an area. The ecosystem is a collection of all organism that live in a place (with their nonliving environment). A biome is a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar dominant communities.
Scientist use three basic approaches for ecological research: observing, experimenting, and modeling. Observing is when ecologists ask questions and develop an hypothesis. Experimenting can be use to test a hypothesis. Modeling is when ecologists make models consist of mathematical formulas based on data collected through observation and experimentation.
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