Portal:Ecology

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edit Ecology, also referred to as ecological science, is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how the distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both physical properties, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as solar insolation, climate and geology, as well as the other organisms that share its habitat. The term Ökologie was coined in 1866 by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel; the word is derived from the Greek οικος (oikos, "household") and λόγος (logos, "study"); therefore "ecology" means the "study of the household (of nature)". Ecology is also a human science. There are many practical applications of ecology in conservation biology, wetland management, natural resource management (agriculture, forestry, fisheries), city planning (urban ecology), community health, economics, basic and applied science and human social interaction (human ecology) (Pictured left: Unique plants in the Ruwenzori Mountains, SW Uganda, Bujuku Valley, at about 12,139 feet (3,700 metre) elevation) Read more... Pictured left: A White-spotted puffer being cleaned by a bluestreak cleaner wrasse Cleaner fish are fish that provide a service to other fish species by removing dead skin and ectoparasites. This is an example of mutualism, an ecological interaction that benefits both parties involved. A wide variety of fishes have been observed to display cleaning behaviors including wrasses, cichlids, catfish, and gobies, as well as by a number of different species of cleaner shrimp. There is also at least one predatory mimic, the sabre-toothed blenny, that mimics cleaner fish but in fact feeds on healthy scales and mucous. The best known cleaner fish are the cleaner wrasses of the genus Labroides found on coral reefs in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. These small fish maintain so-called cleaning stations where other fish, known as hosts, will congregate and perform specific movements to attract the attention of the cleaner fish. Remarkably, these small cleaner fish will safely clean large predatory fish that would otherwise eat small fish such as these. Cleaner wrasses appear to get almost all their nutrition through this cleaning service, and when maintained in aquaria rarely survive for long because they cannot obtain enough to eat. Cleaning behaviors have been observed in a number of other fish groups. Neon gobies of the genera Gobiosoma and Elacatinus provide a cleaning service similar to the cleaner wrasses, though this time on reefs in the Western Atlantic, providing a good example of convergent evolution. Unlike the cleaner wrasses, they also eat a variety of small animals as well being cleaner fish, and generally do well in aquaria. However, the Caribbean cleaning goby (Elacatinus evelynae) will gladly eat scales and mucus from the host when the ectoparasites it normally feeds on are scarce, making the relationship somewhat less than mutually beneficial. The symbiosis does not break down because the abundance of these parasites varies significantly seasonally and spacially, and the overall benefit to the larger fish outweighs any cheating on the part of the smaller A bee swarm of Apis mellifera ligustica (the Italian bee), a sub-species of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera), on a fallen log William Skinner Cooper (August 25, 1894 – October 8, 1978) was an American ecologist. Cooper received his B.S. in 1906 from Alma College in Michigan. In 1909, he entered graduate school at the University of Chicago, where he studied with Henry Chandler Cowles, and completed his Ph.D. in 1911. His first major publication, "The Climax Forest of Isle Royale, Lake Superior, and Its Development" appeared in 1913. Cooper served briefly in 1914-1915 as a lecturer in plant ecology at Stanford University before beginning his long career in the botany department at the University of Minnesota, where he taught from 1915 to 1951. Among his students at Minnesota was Frank Edwin Egler and Arnold M. Schultz; the latter went on to teach "Ecosystemology" at U.C. Berkeley, and received U.C. Berkeley's "Distinguished Teaching Award" in 1992. Cooper was the president of the Ecological Society of America in 1936 and the president of the Minnesota Academy of Science in 1937. Other professional accolades included receipt of the Botanical Society of America's Merit Award in 1956 and the Eminent Ecologist Award from the Ecological Society of America in 1963. From the Wikinews Environment portal May 1: 100 tons of ivory burned in Africa; estimated at $250 million on black market March 4: Gunmen murder Honduran indigenous leader Berta Cáceres November 4: Volkswagen emissions scandal may affect thousands more cars September 24: Volkswagen CEO resigns after emissions scandal September 22: Volkswagen engulfed by diesel emissions scandal September 3: Study estimates Earth has over three trillion trees April 24: Power outage at Fukushima poses radioactive risk February 14: University of Utah study finds suicide may be linked to air pollution January 31: Scottish gamekeeper jailed for bird crime in national first January 1: United Nations analyzes oil spill in Sundarbans, Bangladesh Additional News Highlights November 5, 2009: "New ocean forming in African desert." “ The key.. will be a new public awareness of how serious is the threat to the global environment. Those who have a vested interest in the status quo will probably continue to be able to stifle any meaningful change until enough citizens.. are willing to speak out. ” — Al Gore Boreasis a peer-reviewedacademic journalthat has been published since 1972. The journal covers all branches of quaternary research, including biological and non-biological aspects of the quaternary environment in both glaciated and non-glaciated areas. WikiProject Ecology WikiProject Environment WikiProject Ecoregions WikiProject Extinction WikiProject Biology WikiProject Protected areas WikiProject Forestry WikiProject Soil WikiProject Agriculture WikiProject Science Template:/box-footer Template:/box-header This list is transcluded from the tasks list page, to edit, click here Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Create any of the missing articles listed on the WikiProject Ecology page, Access and Benefit Sharing Agreements, Alkalai bees (Pollinator decline), Ecological unit (Ecosystem), Ecosystem function, Nutrient flow (Synecology), Seed crop (Pollinator decline) Cleanup : Ecological literacy, Wind power in the United Kingdom Expand : Articles listed in Ecology stubs, Alluvial river, Bedrock river, Evolutionary ecology, Jungle, Renewable resource Verify : Agroecosystem, Biologist, Botany, Ecological pyramid, Ecological selection, Ecological succession, Ecotone, Functional ecology, Macroecology, Microbial ecology, Molecular biology, Uncontacted peoples Wikify : Add {{Portal|Ecology}} to the See also sections of ecology-related articles.  – When a task is completed, please remove it from the list. Biology Earth sciences Environment Evolutionary biology Trees Plants Fungi Forestry Water Weather Volcanoes Agriculture and Agronomy Fishing Sustainable development Global warming Biotechnology Science Chemistry Wetlands The following Wikimedia sister projects provide more on this subject: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Ecology The Encyclopedia of Earth – Wilderness: Biology & Ecology The Nature Education Knowledge Project – Ecology Ecology Dictionary – Explanation of ecological terms Ecology Journals – List of ecological scientific journals What are portals? List of portals Featured portals ja:Portal:環境