Ecology

Ecology is basically the study of the environment. There are many factors in the environment, such as non-living factors like temperature, moisture, and pH, as well as living factors like predators, prey, and competition with other species. Because there are so many factors to study, ecology can easily become a long and complicated field of research. So, most ecologists break up the environment into smaller pieces, which are easier to maintain.

In this exercise, you will study plant communities. A plant community is basically all of the plants that live in a given area. In many ways, this is this most important aspect of ecology because plants are the producers of chemical energy that will fuel the other organisms in the ecosystem.

In ecology, the non-living environment (temperature, moisture, and soil composition) dictates the size, number, and types of plants that can live that area. The types of plants dictate the size, number, and types of herbivores that can be supported by the environment. This in turn, dictates the size, number, and types of carnivores that can be supported by the ecosystem. Because it is much easier to study plant communities, many biologists and geologists will look at the plants to gain an impression of the other factors in the ecosystem.