Ecology—The Science of Life

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Ecology 110 was an elective I chose as part of my under-graduate major in Biology. The year was 1960 and I like almost everyone else had never heard the term. I took the course primarily because it was the only one that fit in my schedule; besides the description looked interesting. As it turned out, it was one of the most important courses I took during my post high school education. It instilled in me a new and greater appreciation for life in all of its manifestations.  

Ecology is the science that studies the interrelationships between all life forms and non-living components of the environment in which they live. A primary driving force in the universe is homeostasis—the tendency toward a stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially as maintained by physiological processes. Disturb (unbalance) one element and all other related elements are affected in someway, often detrimentally. Today the emphasis is on global warming and the news is replete with reports of how this is affecting plant and animal life (including ours). Other ongoing concerns are destruction of the earth's rain forests, acid rain, air and water pollution, rising ocean temperatures among others.

Ecology is not a new science, however. One of the first ecologists whose writings survive may have been Aristotle or perhaps his student, Theophrastus, both of whom had interest in many species of animals. Theophrastus described interrelationships between animals and their environment as early as the 4th century BC.

Ecologists can cite thousands examples of this interrelationship—in every microsystem, the human body for instance, there is a point at which the system becomes unbalanced and nature's effort to correct this imbalance is often dramatic and life altering. The common cold is an example. A rhinovirus multiplies to a point that the immune system can no longer control it. The symptoms of this assault on our body are numerous, discomforting, and for the moment life altering. In the extreme, a cold can morph into pneumonia that may ultimately prove fatal. TBC