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Definition

noun

(1) Ecological science: the science concerned with the interactions of living organisms with each other and with their environment, also called bionomics.

(2) A branch of biology that deals with the distribution, abundance and interactions of living organisms at the level of communities, populations, and ecosystems, as well as at the global scale.

(2) The system within the environment as it relates to organisms living in it.

(3) A branch of sociology that deals with the relations of human beings with their physical and social environment, also called as human ecology.

Supplement

Ecology is a broad science encompassing many fields. As such, ecology has various distinct subdisciplines; some of which are:

• Behavioural ecology
• Community ecology or synecology
• Ecophysiology
• Ecosystem ecology
• Evolutionary ecology
• Global ecology
• Human ecology
• Population ecology

Word origin: term coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, from the Greek oikos meaning "house" and logos meaning "science".
Related forms: ecological (adjective)

Synonyms:

• bionomics
• environmental science