Ecology: The Delicate Balance of Life on Earth

Ecology: The Delicate Balance of Life on Earth — page 5
THE NATURE OF ECOLOGY he study of the ways in which organ isms interact with their environment is called ecology The word ecology was coined in 1869 by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel who derived it from the Greek oikos which means household Economics is derived from the same word However eco nomics deals with human housekeeping while ecology concerns the housekeeping of the natural world For many years most people did not con sider ecology to be an important or even a real science By the late 20th century how ever ecology had emerged as one of the most popular and important areas of biology The effect of the environment on the organisms that inhabit it and vice versa is now acknowl edged as a key element in a wide range of issues including population growth climate change environmental pollution species extinction and human health and medicine Many public health specialists are incorporating an ecological component in IO