Branches of Ecology

Ecology is broadly divided into two branches based on how many species are being studied at once. Autecology, also called species ecology, is the ecology of a single, individual species — how that one species responds to its environment, what its life-history and physiological tolerances are, and how it competes or cooperates with others. Synecology, also called community ecology, instead studies a population or an entire community made up of one or more interacting species, focusing on the relationships between species and how a whole assemblage of organisms functions together. Beyond this basic two-way split, decades of research have spun off several specialised sub-fields that apply ecological thinking to narrower problems — molecular ecology (studying ecological questions using DNA/genetic tools), eco-technology (applying ecological principles to engineering and restoration), statistical ecology (quantitative/mathematical modelling of ecological data), and environmental toxicology (studying how pollutants and toxins move through and affect ecosystems). Together …