ECOLOGY

No living thing exist in isolation. It interacts with other living things and with its physical surroundings. The scientific study of these relationship is called ECOLOGY. Ecologists consider all the organisms that live in one area as inter-dependent community. All plants and animals rely on and influence vital factors in their environment, such as the supply of nutrients, food and water. A community and its environment is called an ECOSYSTEM.

ECOSYSTEM
The living community of plants and animals in any area together with the non-living components of the environment-such as soil, air and water-constitute the ecosystem. A system formed by the interaction of biotic and abiotic components with each other is called ecosystem. The study of Ecosystem is called ecology. An ecosystem is a complex set of relationship among the living resources, habitats and residents of an area. It includes plants, trees, animals, fish, birds, micro-organism, water, soil and people. Ecosystem vary greatly in size and elements that make them but each is a functioning unit of nature. Everything that lives in an ecosystem is dependent on the other species and elements that are also part of that ecological community. If one part of an ecosystem is damaged or disappears, it has an impact on everything else. When an ecosystem is healthy, scientist say it is sustainable. This means that all the elements live in balance and are capable of reproducing themselves. There is usually biodiversity, meaning that there are a variety of living organisms and species in that environment. An ecosystem is commonly a large area and can include many sq.km of land or water. It includes many interconnected habitats. The two most important things to emphasize about an ecosystem are that all the members (living and non-living) are connected and that changes in one habitat or organism cause changes in another.

Difference Between Ecology and Ecosystem An ecosystem is a natural unit comprising all living

and non living things in the

area and how biotic and abiotic components function together while influencing each other. Thus it talks about not just the living organisms but also abiotic factors that affect life inside the system.

Ecology is a comprehensive study of organisms and their relation with the environment they live in and interact with one another. It includes the amount and spread of organisms and how and why their distribution is affected by their relationship with the environment. An ecosystem on the other hand is a sub-set of ecology and mean all the complicated interactions that take place among living and non-living things in an area.

Ecology is the study of the relationship between living organisms and their environment. An ecosystem is a place, such as a rotting log, a forest, or even a schoolyard, where interactions between living and non-living things occur. All living organisms and non-living parts within this place are interacting all the time and adjustments must occur if the organisms are to survive. Living organisms make up the biotic components of the ecosystem, while non-living things make up the abiotic parts of the same ecosystem. Ecosystems vary in size and complexity.