Ecology is the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment.

Ecosystems

An ecosystem is a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment.  

In ecosystems animals relate differently to each other:  prey run and hide from predators, most animals have symbiotic relationships.  A symbiotic is a relationship is a close, prolonged association between two or more different organisms of different species that may, but does not necessarily, benefit each member.  The different kinds of symbiotic relationships are: mutualism, parastism, and commensalism.  
 
Mutualism is where both organisms benefit; like a clown fish and a sea anemone.   Parasitism is where one organism benefits and one is harmed; like ticks on humans, the ticks benefit by getting the human blood, but the humans are harmed by the ticks sucking their blood.  Commensalism is where one organism benefits and the other is not harmed; like pilot fish and a shark, the shark is not affected and just swims normal but the pilot fish swim in front of it and feed off the sharks leftovers. 
 
Another thing that is very important in ecosystems is the diversity of animals.  Because if you only had a few species of animals they would eat all of whatever they eat and then they would be forced to leave.  Another thing is that if you're the only prey you will die out eventually.  Also if you have different types of animals humans and animals alike get to eat more so that there are different kinds of animals.

 Something else that affects ecosystems and ecology are limiting factors.  A limiting factor is an environmental factor that limits population size.  One limiting factor is predators, if there are a lot of predators then they might eat so much that they will make their prey endangered.   Another thing is habitat, if a species does not have enough space, they can't breed very much.  Plus, if the plant or animal does not have enough food or water, they might have to move or they might become endangered.  

Abiotic and biotic factors are the living and non-living factors in ecosystems.  For instance, a tree, a lion, a fish, and a beetle are all biotic organisms.  The wind, soil, rocks, and water are all non-living factors.  Also they can affect each other.  For example, if the temperature was too hot for some organism, they would have to find a way to live or they would have to move to another habitat.  If the soil was not fertile, the plants and animals inside the soil would die.  Another thing would be if it did not rain enough, the plants and animals could die, or they might move.

Another thing is the adaptations that animals have to make to survive in their ecosystem.  For instance, a polar bear has to have thick fur and a lot of fat so they don't freeze.  Adaptations are really important for animals because if they couldn't adapt to things like the weather, the other animals, and their habitat, they would probably die.  They might get hunted by humans or eaten by other animals.

There are many different ecosystems that animals can be in.  A frog lives in a pond, and a deer lives in the woodlands.  The animals probably would pick the best ecosystem that would fit their body type and how they live.  Their niche in the ecosystem should fit with all the others.  All the other animals should be in the right ecosystem because then they could have the right relationships.


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