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: Animated global map of monthly long term mean surface air temperature (Mollweide projection) Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods. Climate can be contrasted to weather, which is the present condition of these elements and their variations over shorter periods. A region's climate is generated by the climate system, which has five components: Atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, land surface, and biosphere. The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain, and altitude, as well as nearby water bodies and their currents. Climates can be classified according to the average and the typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used classification scheme was originally developed by Wladimir Köppen. The Thornthwaite system, in use since 1948, incorporates evapotranspiration along with temperature and precipitation information and is used in studying animal species diversity and potential effects of climate changes. The Bergeron and Spatial Synoptic Classification systems focus on the origin of air masses that define the climate of a region. There are several ways to classify climates into similar regimes. Modern climate classification methods can be broadly divided into genetic methods, which focus on the causes of climate, and empiric methods, which focus on the effects of climate. Examples of genetic classification include methods based on the relative frequency of different air mass types or locations within synoptic weather disturbances. Examples of empiric classifications include climate zones defined by plant hardiness, evapotranspiration, or more generally the Köppen climate classification which was originally designed to identify the climates associated with certain biomes. A common shortcoming of these classification schemes is that they produce distinct boundaries between the zones they define, rather than the gradual transition of climate properties more common in nature. An animation of the Earth's hypothesized Pangaea separation. Pangaea is hypothesized as a supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration. Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American author, scientist ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949), which has sold over two million copies. He was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation. His ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement, with his biocentric or holistic ethics regarding land. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management. Early on Leopold was assigned to hunt and kill bears, wolves, and mountain lions in New Mexico. Local ranchers hated these predators because of livestock losses. However, Leopold came to respect the animals. He developed an ecological ethic that replaced the earlier wilderness ethic that stressed the need for human dominance. Rethinking the importance of predators in the balance of nature resulted in the return of bears and mountain lions to New Mexico wilderness areas. By the 1930s Leopold was the nation's foremost expert on wildlife management. He advocated the scientific management of wildlife habitats by both public and private landholders rather than a reliance on game refuges, hunting laws, and other methods intended to protect specific species of desired game. Leopold viewed wildlife management as a technique for restoring and maintaining diversity in the environment rather than primarily as a means of producing a shootable surplus. 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." “ Everything is connected to everything else. Everything must go somewhere. Nature knows best. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you don't put something in the ecology, it's not there. ” — Barry Commoner Koedoe, subtitled African Protected Area Conservation and Science, is a peer-reviewedopen-accessscientific journalcovering biology, ecology, and biodiversityconservation in Africa. It was established in 1958. 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