Ecology: A Web of Connections
Ecology, in relation to natural science, is the study of connections between organisms and the living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) elements of their surrounding environment. However, the field of ecology is not just limited to relationships between organisms. Ecology, looked at in a broader sense, is the study of relationships – the study of connections. Therefore, in taking an “ecological view” of the world, you are taking into account all of the possible connections that exist to make things the way that they are. This can be the connections that a species of fish has to its predators, its smaller prey species, the elements of its environment that shape its behavior, its responses to natural disturbance, its responses to man-made disturbance, etc. It can mean looking at the connections that a certain product, like a box of cereal, has – to its manufacturer, to the consumer, to the ingredients that contribute to its flavor, to the farms where those ingredients are grown, etc. Taking an ecological perspective means taking into consideration all of the factors that makes something what it is, and how that something then in turn has an impact on the world around it.
Taking this view can help us understand our own connections to the world around us. You may consider thinking of all of the people and events in your life that have contributed to who you are today, and you may also consider how you have had an impact on the lives of others so far. It is possible that something you have contributed in your ‘web’ of interactions, such as advice you had given a friend, has in fact travelled into someone else’s ‘web,’ by that advice being spread through different circles of people. You may have impacted other people that you haven’t even met, widening your own system of connections. Similarly, you have connections to industry by your choices in what products you purchase, and what foods you choose to eat, to show another example.
Ecology is more than just a discipline that is applied to help us understand how the natural world works. In adopting an ecological view, we are capable of unraveling the complexities of whatever sub-disciplines we wish to think of, from something as broad as political ecology, to something as personal and simple as the ‘ecology of my kitchen’ or the ‘ecology of my workplace.’ — Caitlin Drasher