Botnotes

  Ecosystem: Definition- No organism or a species lives alone; always there are associates influencing each other and organizing themselves into communities. The organisms of any community besides interacting among themselves always have functional relationship with the external world or the environment. This structural and functional system of communities and their environment is called an ecological system or the ecosystem. The term ecosystem was first proposed by A.G. Tansley ( 1935). Schulze et al. (2004) defined ‘’ecosystem are thus networks of interactions between organisms and their environment in defined space.’’ The size of an ecosystem is very flexible depending upon the nature of habitat and purpose of study. Types of ecosystem- The kind of organism which can live in a particular ecosystem depends upon their physical and metabolic adaptations to the environment of that place of ecosystem and on certain aspects of the history of our planet, which has determined w...

  Applications of ecology- Ecological applications are concerned broadly with the application of ecological science to environmental problems. Ecology is very important subject it has applications in major areas such as-       I.             Wild Life Management- Wild life ecology began as applied science discipline during the 1920s and 1930s. Wild life ecology is the science behind the practice of wild life management that seeks to manage wildlife populations for the benefit of humans. Early emphasis was on managing populations and habitats to support recreational hunting. Modern views are well characterised in Sinclair et al. 2006, still retaining the utilization values of wildlife but broadening to embrace the preservation of biodiversity, non consumption uses of wildlife, and ecosystem management.    II.             Soil Conser...

  Ecology: Definition Ecology is a branch of biology which deals with the interacting system of organisms and their environment. The term ecology was introduced by H. Reiter in 1868, but it was properly defined by Ernst Haeckel , a German Biologist in 1869 . The term ecology has been derived from Greek words Oikos meaning house and Logos meaning the study. Therefore, ecology is the study of organisms in their natural home or habitat. Ecology is generally defined as the study of plants and animals in reciprocal relationship with their environment or external world. Eugene P. Odum ( 1971) has defined ecology as ‘the study of structure and function of nature’ or simply ‘environmental biology’. F. E. Clements , known for his extensive contributions to plant ecology, has regarded ecology as the ‘science of community’. Branches of ecology On the basis of study of organism individually or in group, ecology may be divided mainly in two branches, which are (1) autecology,...