What is ecology and biodiversity
Added on 24 January 2023
There are a number of ways of defining ecology. Here I define ecology by the definition given by ecologists Robert Ricklefs & Rick Relyea (2014) as ‘the scientific study of the abundance and distribution of organisms in relation to other organisms and environmental conditions.’ Or more simply the study of complex relationships between living organisms and their physical environment. In the garden setting the physical environment is what the soil structure is composed of such as minerals, organic matter and water levels together with the macro and micro climate; seasonal temperatures, air and light quality, wind, periods of snow etc. The living organisms within the soil, the soil surface and on and within other organisms make up biodiversity. Biodiversity also includes the genetic variation within these species on which their survival and evolution depend. Biodiversity globally and in the garden setting includes all living things from microscopic bacteria through hardly visible nematodes to insects, larger animals, fungi and plants.
A greater understanding of Garden biodiversity
Wildlife friendly gardening although practiced with an awareness of biodiversity tends to focus on the larger, more visible and often attractive animals such as bees and butterflies to birds and larger animals such as hedgehogs. Often ignored or given brief mention is the importance and abundance of generally microscopic decomposers. Decomposers are believed to make up 70% biomass of organisms globally. Considering that many traditional garden practices such as the use of chemicals to control weeds, pests & diseases and feed plants and can have a negative impact on the many organisms present in the garden habitat biodiversity is remarkably resilient, recovering quickly or at least maintaining a presence, most notable by the decomposition of organic matter. The importance of their essential presence and activity should be kept in mind when creating, maintaining and enjoying the garden.
Although there are a number of methods of organising the immense number of diverse organisms within the term biodiversity, to help understand their complex interactions, I find the five kingdoms proposed in 1969 by American plant ecologist Robert Whittaker a simple and helpful guide. The first Kingdom are the Monera; single celled organisms lacking a nucleus, scientifically known as prokaryotes. These include bacteria and archaea found in and around all living and non living things obtaining their energy and nutrients through photosynthesis or decomposing organic matter. The second kingdom are the Protists that also tend to be mainly microscopic single celled organisms, but also multicellular. They contain a nucleus in their cells, scientifically known as eukaryotes they also having specialised structures (organelles) that are found in the other three kingdoms; the animals, plants and fungi but not in a way that allows them to be placed in either of them. Examples of protists include amoeba and slime moulds. Fungi are placed in a separate kingdom from plants as they do not photosynthesise and contain chitin (a fibrous polysaccharide) in their cell walls. Interestingly chitin is also found in the exoskeleton of arthropods (spiders, insects and crustaceans) but these animals obviously don’t photosynthesis.