ABSTRACT
The discipline of ecology poses an array of questions that include the most ancient, the most modern, the most theoretical, and the most relevant to understand the living things and their roles on our planet. The ways of ecological knowing have been useful to document the distribution and abundance of living things, and how people can use Earth’s resources in ways that leave the environment healthy for future generations. The term “ecology”, derived from the Greek οἶκος, meaning household, family, or home. It is the scientific study of living things and their homes – including humans – and their past, present, and future environments, including the ways they respond to their surrounds, interactions among species, and the processing of energy and materials in ecosystems (Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies 2016).
