Ecology as a Science. 1. When looking into the study of ecology what comes to mind?

1. When looking into the study of ecology what comes to mind? Fields of green? The ocean? Rich soil on a farm? The varied ecosystems? Well, all of these elements and more define the field of ecology. And each of these elements will be a part of the symbol for ecology.

Who created it?

The symbol for ecology was created by Ron Cobb and published for the first time on November 7th, 1969, in the Los Angeles Free Press. The symbol was a combination of the letters "E" and "O" taken from the words "Environment" and "Organism”.

The icon gained popularity before the founding of Earth Day. The symbol became wildly popular and found its way onto flyers, posters, buttons, and banners.

2. It's difficult to think and talk “green” without thinking about ecology and our ecosystem. But how do we define ecology? What is the history of ecology? How about ecology trends and the problems associated with ecology? All these questions and more are important if one wants to venture into living green and help the environment. So if this describes at least one of your life goals, you are at the right place.

Ecology is defined as “the interdisciplinary scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms and their interactions with their environment”.

An organism’s external environment includes abiotic factors such as climate and geology, and biotic factors, including the species that share a territory.

Ecological study includes several objects, from population processes to biochemical cycling. It is usually considered as a branch of Biology which generally studies living organisms and is linked with the maximum levels of biological organization.

Ecology is a multidisciplinary science that represents on many other branches. It is also interrelated to other disciplines such as molecular ecology, paleoecology, and theoretical ecology. Aside from pure scientific inquiry, ecology is considered a highly applied science.

The fundamental principles of ecology can be studied at several levels ranging from large to small scale. These levels comprise the population level, the community level, the ecosystem level, and the biosphere level.

3. Ecology has been around since the 4th century B.C. but it was on the 2nd half of the 20th century that it achieved public prominence and became known as a distinct discipline.

Throughout the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, large maritime expeditions were organized to extend maritime commerce and discover new natural resources. The expeditions were joined by many scientists. One of them was Alexander von Humbodt, the one who is often considered the Father of Ecology. He was the first to analyze the association among organisms and their environment.

The growth of ecological thought happened early in the 20th century. Ecology had developed due to the discoveries of new chemistry also known as the nitrogen cycle.

Ecology as a modern science has been traced to Darwin’s and Haeckel’s publications.The term "ecology" (German: Oekologie) was first coined by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel in his book “Generelle Morpologie der Organismen” (1866).

It was in 1971, when Ecology became an essential and fundamental part of the world’s politics, when UNESCO launched a research program with the idea of increasing familiarity about the mutual relationship between humans and nature. Ecological Society of America (ESA) has been involved in a conservation perspective.

It is the danger in biosphere that made a big recognition of Ecology from an international point of view at a conference leading to the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, highlighting the increasing dangers of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere leading to global climatic changes. The world recognized the importance of Ecology, taking into account the impact of humans on Earth’s environment.

1. Grammar Revision. Find in the text and translate the sentences:

a) in which the predicate is in Past Simple Passive

b) in which there is the construction “It is (was) … that (who, when)”