[i-kol-uh-jee] 
| 1. | the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment, including other organisms. |
| 2. | Also called human ecology. the branch of sociology concerned with the spacing and interdependence of people and institutions. |
| e·col·o·gy (ĭ-kŏl'ə-jē) n. pl. e·col·o·gies
[German Ökologie : Greek oikos, house; see weik-1 in Indo-European roots + German -logie, study (from Greek -logiā, -logy).] ec'o·log'i·cal (ěk'ə-lŏj'ĭ-kəl, ē'kə-), ec'o·log'ic (-ĭk) adj., ec'o·log'i·cal·ly adv., e·col'o·gist n. |
| human ecology n. See ecology. |
The study of living things, their environment, and the relation between the two.
ecology e·col·o·gy (ĭ-kŏl'ə-jē)
n.
The branch of science that is concerned with the relationships between organisms and their environments.
The relationship between organisms and their environments.
The study of the detrimental effects of modern civilization on the environment, with a view toward their prevention or reversal through conservation.
human ecology
man's collective interaction with his environment. Influenced by the work of biologists on the interaction of organisms within their environments, social scientists undertook to study human groups in a similar way. Thus, ecology in the social sciences is the study of the ways in which the social structure adapts to the quality of natural resources and to the existence of other human groups. When this study is limited to the development and variation of cultural properties, it is called cultural ecology.
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