| | ECOLOGY STATION 2: LEVELS of ECOLOGY Ecologist divide the environment up into different levels based on what they are looking at. Organism/Individual At this of organization the scientists would be looking – at a single individual. This level is usually used by biologists to study anatomy and physiology. Ecologists rarely focus on this level due to lack of interaction possible. Population At this level of organization Ecologists will be looking at a group of – the same species living in the same defined area. Usually this level is used to study the interactions occurring between the individuals of a population. This level shows us the social organization of a given species and allows us to determine mating rituals, pecking orders, population structure, and how much social impacts the population. Community At this level of organization, Ecologists are looking at multiple – populations of species and how they interact within a given area. This level contains food chains, food webs, and many of the interactions that ecologists can study for their entire lives without needing to look beyond this layer. Ecosystem- At this level of organization, Ecologists focus on everything (living and NONLIVING) in a given area. Though they can look at all the interactions that are in all the levels below, the ecosystem level is usually the focus on resource allocation. Whether species are competing over a resource or sharing it in unique ways this is where these interactions are studies. Localized disasters and human
| | ECOLOGY STATION 2: LEVELS of ECOLOGY Ecologist divide the environment up into different levels based on what they are looking at. Organism/Individual – At this of organization the scientists would be looking at a single individual. This level is usually used by biologists to study anatomy and physiology. Ecologists rarely focus on this level due to lack of interaction possible. Population – At this level of organization Ecologists will be looking at a group of the same species living in the same defined area. Usually this level is used to study the interactions occurring between the individuals of a population. This level shows us the social organization of a given species and allows us to determine mating rituals, pecking orders, population structure, and how much social impacts the population. Community – At this level of organization, Ecologists are looking at multiple populations of species and how they interact within a given area. This level contains food chains, food webs, and many of the interactions that ecologists can study for their entire lives without needing to look beyond this layer. Ecosystem- At this level of organization, Ecologists focus on everything (living and NONLIVING) in a given area. Though they can look at all the interactions that are in all the levels below, the ecosystem level is usually the focus on resource allocation. Whether species are competing over a resource or sharing it in unique ways this is where these interactions are studies. Localized disasters and human
ECOLOGY%20STATIONS%20and%20Activities.docx