Ecology Research Paper Topics

Living relationships are also reciprocal relationships. The cactus may provide food, shelter, and shade for animals that live in or near it. But animals also contribute to the life of the cactus, by distributing its seeds, for example.

The Subject Matter of Ecology

Although mostly a biological subject, ecology also draws upon other sciences, including chemistry, physics, geology, earth science, mathematics, computer science, and others. As the impact of humans on the environment increases, the subject matter of ecology expands. Ecologists may be asked to decide whether a desert should be left in its natural state or opened to certain forms of human development. As a result, ecologists increasingly find themselves confronted with social, economic, political, and other nonscientific issues. Because it draws upon knowledge and information from so many disciplines, ecology is a highly interdisciplinary field.

That ecologists focus on biological subjects is apparent from the fact that most ecologists spend much of their time engaged in studies of organisms. Examples of common themes of ecological research include: (1) how organisms adapt to their environment, (2) how the numbers and distribution patterns of organisms in an area are influenced by environmental factors, and (3) changes in the number of organisms in a area over time and how the environment influenced these changes.

Energy and Productivity

One of the major areas of interest in ecology is the flow of energy through an ecosystem. (An ecosystem, or ecological system, is a collection of communities of organisms and the environment in which they live.) The source of almost all life on Earth is energy from the Sun, in the form of sunlight. That energy is captured by green plants in the process known as photosynthesis. When herbivorous (plant-eating) animals consume plants, they incorporate solar energy stored in those plants into their own bodies. Later, carnivorous (meat-eating) animals consume the herbivores, and solar energy is passed another step through the living world. Eventually, plants and animals die and are consumed by organisms known as decomposers. The complex of ecological relationships among all of the plants, animals, and decomposers is known as a food web.

The Ultimate Goal of Ecology

The ultimate goal of ecology is to understand the nature of environmental influences on individual organisms, their populations and communities, on landscapes and, ultimately, the biosphere (all life on Earth). If ecologists can achieve an understanding of these relationships, they will be able to contribute to the development of systems by which humans will be able to wisely use ecological resources, such as forests, agricultural soils, and hunted animals such as deer and fish. This goal is a very important one because humans are, after all, completely reliant on ecological goods and services as their only source of life support.

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