Ecological Change Definition

Ecological change definition refers to any disturbance in the environment caused by human actions. It is occurring at such a rapid pace that it affects the health and threatens the existence of many of Earth’s inhabitants, including humans. 

ecological change definition
ecological change definition

Several factors have contributed to a collapse in biodiversity, threatening the integrity of the biophysical systems upon which all organisms depend. These factors include global warming, air, water, and soil contamination, and rampant deforestation.

Table of Contents

Ecological view

Ecological view is a concept in community psychology in which a community is seen in terms of the interrelationship between people, roles, organizations, local events, resources, and problems. As part of an introduction to ecology, this perspective describes reciprocal interactions between individuals and their environments. 

ecological view
ecological view

According to this principle of ecology, interventions must contribute to the development of the whole community. Three notions are particularly relevant in this perspective.

First, proximal settings are thought to be connected since events in one setting often impact behavior and development in another. Second, these proximal settings are viewed as embedded within broader institutional and community contexts that shape their structure and influence what occurs there. 

Lastly, the proximal settings of all levels of the environment are embedded in broader historical, social, economic, political, geographic, and cultural contexts that influence both the structure, function, organization, and impact of all levels of the environment.

Ecological view definition

Ecological view definition refers to studying organisms and their interactions with their environments. From an ecological viewpoint, researchers are interested in the impact of macro-systems on the settings they contain and, consequently, their rippling effects on individual behavior and development. 

Different types of ecology can benefit from this perspective. It provides a conceptual framework for exploring more complex interactions between people and environments.

To understand the ecological perspective, it is important to explore the extent to which different environments are interconnected, and how these links impact individual behavior.

The most important contribution made by the ecological school is

The most important contribution made by the ecological school is the claim that community influences behavior significantly.

important contribution made by the ecological school
important contribution made by the ecological school

The interaction between individual and community level variables in the onset and persistence of behaviors such as substance abuse, crime, and violence has been examined with increasing frequency.

Consequently, there are many ecology questions to ask regarding this interaction. 

Do we ever stop to consider the potential negative effects? How does your community affect your decisions? 

Community can influence our behavior in several ways: conformity, compliance, cooperation, and collective thinking.

Our opinions and actions often align with those of the people in our community. This is called conformity. We do this when we want to fit in or belong to a group.

When we comply with the community’s wishes, even if we disagree with them or do not find them comfortable, we follow their expectations. We want to be accepted by the group. When we do what they tell us, we are fitting in. This is called compliance.

Whenever the community has a shared goal, it works together to achieve it. Communities often work together through persuasion. This is called cooperation. Typically, it occurs in close-knit groups like families, teams, or clubs.

Collective thinking occurs when group members are so devoted to their goals that they refuse to listen objectively and critically. As a result, serious community problems may be overlooked. Leaders of any type of community-whether a family or a group-must avoid overemphasizing conformity.

Ecosystem sentences

Ecosystem sentences discuss the crucial role ecology plays in our lives. It’s not hard to see the examples of ecology in everyday life. Our crowded neighborhood, the water we wash our clothes in, skyscrapers and smoke stacks, and plants, animals, and other creatures share our home. 

It transforms ecology from a lofty romantic endeavor into daily labor of love.

As much as it is about protecting forests and green spaces, ecology is about offering daycare for parents who attend meetings and fight to save urban neighborhoods from road building and gentrification.

If we remove the idea of nature as a pristine and static display, we may realize why is ecology important and see nature more accurately as a dazzling and dynamic evolutionary process that continuously unfolds around us and within us. 

ecosystem sentences video

Consequently, we may also see capitalism as a voracious fire that consumes society and nature, reducing everything to ash.

By understanding that our minds, hands, bones, and hearts are part of an evolutionary heritage, we can become outraged at this fire, exhaling it into our lungs and transforming it into a moral outrage that will fuel revolutionary action.

What is an ecological process?

An ecological process maintains an ecology system. This could be a biological, physical, or chemical process.

ecological process
ecological process

The conversion of sunlight into organic matter (photosynthesis) and the cycling of carbon, nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus), hydrogen/oxygen, and other elements from the physical environment (air, water, land) through biological organisms and back are examples of these processes.

Collectively, ecological processes create organic matter, transfer carbon and nutrients, allow organisms to reproduce, and drive soil formation.

Additionally, they provide ecological services, such as providing natural resources, such as food, fiber, and timber, and regulating air and water quality. Primary production influences the distribution, extent, and biodiversity of ecological systems. 

Ecological processes definition

Ecological processes definition refers to the physical, chemical, and biological actions or events that connect organisms with their environment. Natural forces and human activities can impact ecological processes at different spatial and temporal scales.

Ecological processes are affected by both small-scale and large-scale natural forces, including seasonal changes in temperature, precipitation, and stream flows. 

One of the most important ecological processes is reproduction, which can be affected by many pesticides, industrial chemicals, pollutants, and waste products. 

Changing land use can alter the extent and distribution of ecological systems, changing primary production, nutrient cycling, erosion, and sediment transport in particular areas. 

ecological processes

List of ecological processes

List of ecological processes below illustrates the most important ones: 

  • Water cycle
  • Mineral cycle
  • Solar energy flow
  • Community dynamics (succession)

The rate of change of ecological processes such as primary production, respiration, energy, carbon, and nutrients in food webs, reproduction, and decomposition can be measured over time through repeated measurements.

For many ecosystems, this is a difficult goal to achieve locally and even more challenging at the national level. We can obtain “snapshots” of ecosystem conditions over time and infer ecological processes such as terrestrial net primary production using remote sensing imagery.

FAQ

What are ecological processes?

Ecological processes are the interactions between organisms and their environment on a physical, chemical, and biological level. Among them are biogeochemical and nutrient cycling, energy flow, and the dynamics of food webs. 

Which of these scenarios describes an ecosystem

A city park and the organisms in it can describe an ecosystem. Ecosystems consist of living organisms and the nonliving components of their environment that interact as a whole. Depending on the type of ecosystem, it can be divided into aquatic ecosystems, marine ecosystems, or freshwater ecosystems.