Chapter 49, Problem 1TYK

Name the five main levels of study in ecology and explain why they are said to have a hierarchical relationship.

Summary Introduction

To review:

The five main levels of the ecological hierarchy and the reason why these levels are said to have a hierarchical relationship.

Introduction:

The five-level ecological hierarchy can be divided according to the increasing complexity: (1) organisms, (2) populations, (3) communities, (4) ecosystems, and (5) the biosphere. These levels are present in a hierarchical pattern because each level is the subset of the level above it.

Explanation of Solution

The biological hierarchy is represented as the hierarchy of the complex biological structures and system. The five levels of the hierarchy are organismal level, population level, community level, ecosystem level, and the global or biosphere level.

1. Organismal ecology: The organismal ecology deals with the study of morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations that allow organisms to live in a particular habitat.

2. Population ecology: A population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area at the same time. The population ecology deals with the study of population growth and density changes over time.

3. Community ecology: The term community refers to interaction of populations of different species with each other within a particular area. The community ecology deals with the study of predation, parasitism, and competition, and interactions between coexisting populations.

4. Ecosystem ecology: An ecosystem consists of all the living organisms and nonliving components in a particular area. The ecosystem ecology deals with the study of nutrients and energy and their movement between organisms and surrounding atmosphere.

5. Global ecology: Biosphere is a thin zone extending from 10 km deep down in the sea up to 10 km above into the atmosphere and consists of all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

The biosphere or the globe consists of all the ecosystems on Earth. The ecosystem consists of many communities. The communities consist of many populations. The population consists of many organisms. Each level is the subset of the above level, so they are said to be in hierarchy hierarchical relationship.

Conclusion

Thus, five-level ecological hierarchy is present based on the complexity, so the ecological levels are said to be in a hierarchical relationship.