Five Levels of Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of life along with the interactions between different organisms and their natural environment. The name Ecology was derived from the Greek word, which refers to the house or the environment and is the branch of ecology. 

Biotic and Abiotic Factors of Ecology 

The basic motive of ecology is to understand the distribution of biotic and abiotic factors of living things in the environment. The biotic and abiotic factors can be defined as the involvement of the living and nonliving factors and their interaction with the environment.

• The living factors of an ecosystem are termed as the Biotic components. Bacteria, Animals, Birds, Fungi, Plants, etc are a few examples of biotic components 

• The non-living chemical and physical factors of an ecosystem are termed as the Abiotic components. These components could be taken from the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere. Some of the examples of abiotic components include sunlight, soil, air, moisture minerals, and more.

Types of Ecology 

There are different types of Ecology as mentioned below -  

• Global Ecology

The study of interactions among earth’s ecosystems, atmosphere, land, and oceans is termed as the Global Ecology. This ecology helps in understanding the large-scale interactions and their influence on the planet.

• Landscape Ecology

The study of the exchange of energy, organisms, materials, and other products of ecosystems is termed as the Landscape Ecology. This ecology throws light on the role of human impacts on the landscape structures and functions.

• Ecosystem Ecology

The study of the entire ecosystem which includes the study of living and nonliving components and their relationship with the environment is termed as the Ecosystem Ecology. This science researches how ecosystems work, their interactions, etc.

• Community Ecology

The study of how community structure is changed by interactions among living organisms is called the Community Ecology. This ecology is made up of two or more populations of different species living in a particular geographic area.

• Population Ecology

The study of factors that change and impact the size and genetic composition of the population of organisms is termed as the Population Ecology. Ecologists study the fluctuation in the size of a population, the growth of a population, and any other interactions with the population that may take place. 

A population can be defined as a set of individuals of the same species living in a given place at a given time in which births and immigration are the vital factors that increase the population and death and emigration are the factors that decrease the population.

Population ecology studies the distribution in population and its density. The number of individuals in a given volume or area is termed as the Population density. This helps in determining whether a particular species is endangered or its number is to be controlled and resources to be replenished.

• Organismal Ecology

When an individual organism’s behaviour, morphology, physiology, etc. in response to environmental challenges is studied, that is termed as the Organismal ecology. It studies the responses of how an individual organism interacts with biotic and abiotic components.

• Molecular Ecology

The study of ecology that focuses on the production of proteins and how these proteins affect the organisms and their environment can be termed as Molecular Ecology. This study takes place at the molecular level. DNA is the proteins that interact with each other as well as in the environment. These interactions then give rise to some complex organisms.

Five Levels of Ecology

There are five Levels of Organization, and all levels are listed according to their size in increasing order – from small to large.

• Organism

It is the lowest level of organization, which includes both unicellular and multicellular organisms. All the living species in this level exhibits all the characteristics required for the existence of life.

• Population

It describes a group of organisms of a single species living together within a particular geographic area by interbreeding and competing with each other for resources. It is larger than the organism.

• Community

It refers to the several interacting populations that inhabit a common environment and are interdependent. It is larger than the population.

• Ecosystem

It is the set of all living species, living together in a given area by interacting with both living and nonliving components of their environment.

• Biosphere

It is the highest level of organization. It is the global ecological system that consists of all the living organisms and other factors that support life. The biosphere mainly refers to the part of the earth’s crust.