Organization is a key feature in any ecology. It makes it possible for individuals to coordinate their activities to accomplish common purposes. In a healthy ecology, groups of people (and occasionally animals) coexist alongside one another without causing conflict over limited resources. Organizational scale refers to the number of times that two or more individuals interact in a natural setting; it is a function of social complexity. The main levels of organization in ecology are-
- Individual
- Population
- Community
- Ecosystem
- Biome
- Biosphere
Now, Let’s discuss about all of them properly.
Individual
The individual is a living thing, an organism that can breathe and feed on its own waste. It has its roots deep in the earth and has survived countless evolutions of its kinds. For all its evolution and variety, however, it still remains an organism. It is organisms that make up organic systems with cells locked within each other’s bodies, tissues woven by cells, and chemicals produced by cells.
Population
Populations are groups of organisms living together in a specified area, normally a territory. Populations include individuals, or individuals and their offspring; related groups; isolated groups; socially combined populations; and genetically variable populations. Populations can be either genetically stable or genetically variable. Genetic stability means that there is little or no drift in the population at any given time, usually because there are protective aspects to the environment (natural barriers preserve populations). Genetic variable means that there is either one or more genetic changes within a population that can alter the phenotypic appearance of the population over time.
Community
The word “community” can be a very broad and vague concept. We can often feel as though we are part of some large group of friends but when actually speaking to others they can seem to be any individuals, business or organization with known members. Too often I have found nature publications to have a very one-sided approach to communicating with those outside the group. This is particularly true for magazine content. A community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, or life assemblage. The term community has a variety of uses.
Ecosystem
Ecosystem is a major concept that has been popularized by ecologist, Edward O Wilson. The term refers to a community of organisms that has co-evolved and co-modified in a manner which enables them to function as a single system. In this sense, ecosystems are not merely collections of objects but are also communities of life forms. They include processes, beings (individuals) and patterns of understanding. A well-functioning ecosystem includes living things that operate together in a delicate balance; they are strongly embedded in the physical world around them. Ecosystems are great creatures. We talk about them, we admire them, and even like to see them around us. But what exactly does the word ‘ecosystem’ mean? Well, I’m a firm believer that it isn’t a word that’s used in the natural sciences very often. Instead, we use the term “ecosystem” more like “biosphere”. It is more of a spiritual concept rather than a geographical one.
Biome
Biome in biology is a unifying concept. Time and again biologists have used it to explain the principles of living systems from the smallest bacterial cells to major species. Biome encompasses all life forms whose existence is considered legitimate because they have been identified and described in sufficient detail to be stable in the earth’s crust. Biome is an interconnected network of properties: structure, energy, chemistry, metabolic processes and population. Each biome has an ecosystem program and functions in an interrelated manner with its neighbouring ecosystems.
Biosphere
The Biosphere is a geographic arrangement of living organisms and their ecosystems: the physical boundaries separating the various units of the biosphere, with their own container within. The term “”biosphere”” refers to the entire Earth-atmosphere system everywhere in space. It encompasses both living organisms and their physical environments, as well as living areas and their physical environments. The Biosphere is a proposed encapsulated cometary habitat in which an ecosystem of life would be maintained. A biosphere is a self-sufficient ecosystem for all living things; an ecosystem is the sum total of all life forms in a region. The proposed structure would consist of a series of domes, connected by pathways and interspersed with artificial habitats. These artificial habitats would be furnished with the appropriate components and services and would serve to provide an area inside the dome where all forms of life could exist and develop mutually dependent relationships
Distinguish the different levels of organization
So how do you distinguish the different levels of organization within ecology? For each level, there are specific criteria, each different in structure, shape, and potential for identity.
Level 1 – Order
Level 1 is made up of domains of biology and ecology. These are biology and ecology organizations, both physically and ecologically defined and determined to a large degree by functions that can be considered as a function of natural selection. Of course, there is also adaptation, but this is not necessarily the rule. Often there is an extreme lack of structure to form a hierarchy. Most other levels have a clear separation between lower-level structures of an organism that are a form of organization, based upon ecology, and the structures of higher level that could be called a domain of biology. Thus biology and ecology organizations are to be separated into levels of the organization.
Level 1: Systems
Systems are made up of domains. Primarily these are physical objects, material or informational, often organized into hierarchies of domains. Generally, these systems do not have consciousness or consciousness-level identity. Even the ecology domain, which is often considered as a level of organization (i.e., a domain of ecology that is a product of biology, chemistry, ecology), has a complexity and depth of identity and systems of classification and organization at a variety of scales, creating much more complexity at the ecological level than higher levels. The reason is that these systems often have dimensions and levels, which can create sharp boundaries between boundaries of other levels. The scale of scale is also defined by a function of ecology, and the ecology domain is often defined as consisting of layers (e.g., plants in soil, soil in soil, plants in soil, plants in soil).
Level 1: Life and Inorganic
Another level is life. A level of organization that may be composed of many entities, processes, functions, or functions. It is often based upon living systems, so of course, it is an organization that has a life. A system of organization, life, may also be composed of organisms with, yet not the same function of life. This is a level that is a characteristic of life, in that it is often in constant evolution and change. Life can also be a unit that has multiple levels or levels of organization (of information, energy, organization) or function. Of course, systems that are not alive, and for this reason do not change and evolve, often do not have a level of organization within a level of organization (such as organisms in soil), and are said to be inorganic.
Level 2: Organization
Organizations within a level of organization are organized into more layers. Often these will have similar functions and allow self-organization at their most basic level (organization at a tissue level). This allows a level of organization but is not able to change, maintain and change as a function of biology (life) in any manner of physical structure. The foundation of the ecology level is an organization that can keep a more functional form in a landscape than other levels. Organizational-level structures are not nearly as dense, dense and change-able. Generally structures are made of a variety of functions that function to create and maintain a landscape. This can be viewed in many ways, however an ecological organization would often be categorized as an ecology in terms of ecology and ecology (life) organization.
Level 3: Organization
Level 3 is in a completely different category. Organizational levels are made up of different levels of organization that do not change their structure, based upon the nature of the environment. One of the goals of ecology is to study and organize these levels of the organization so they can help establish goals and boundaries for how these processes should be maintained and regulated in the environment. This level is not highly complex or delicate. It does not have a wealth of processes or processes of its own, but can create its own levels of organization in response to a context, and can potentially result in a complex system of processes that can change or interconnect as part of a larger system. Generally, if a system can create its own organizational level it is considered a field of the organization. This field of organization can be highly complex, and a level of organization that has distinct boundaries, processes, functions, and levels.
Level 4: Organizations
A higher level of organization that does not create its own organizational structure or boundaries, but still has an organization of levels and levels of the organization. It is a complex and much more complex environment (of organizing systems) and should be studied. This level of organization may be of any of the three organizational levels above, or it may be a combination of the two. There can be very significant changes at the level of an organization, and without strong biological control systems, it may not be able to contain such changes. As ecosystems, and systems in general, increase in complexity so can the ecological organization that surrounds it.
Categories: Environment and Ecology
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