ecologiei

Ecology is the branch of biology that studies the relationships between organisms and their environment. It investigates how living beings interact with each other and with their physical surroundings, how energy flows through ecosystems, and how nutrients cycle to sustain life.

Key concepts include ecosystems, populations, communities, and landscapes; biodiversity; food webs and trophic levels; and processes such as predation, competition, symbiosis, succession, and resilience to disturbance. These elements create dynamic systems with emergent properties that are not predictable from single-species studies.

Subfields encompass population ecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, landscape ecology, behavioral ecology, microbial ecology, and conservation ecology. Applied branches address real-world problems in biodiversity preservation, restoration, sustainable resource use, and climate-related changes.

Researchers use field observations, controlled experiments, mathematical and computational models, and tools such as remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to measure patterns, test hypotheses, and forecast ecological responses to management actions or environmental change.

Ecology informs environmental policy and practice by identifying ecosystem services—such as food, water purification, pollination, carbon storage, and cultural values—and by guiding conservation, land-use planning, and restoration projects that aim to maintain or enhance the resilience of natural systems.