4: Unit 4 - Ecology

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Ecology is the study of the interactions of living organisms with their environment. One core goal of ecology is to understand the distribution and abundance of living things in the physical environment. Attainment of this goal requires the integration of scientific disciplines inside and outside of biology, such as biochemistry, physiology, evolution, biodiversity, molecular biology, geology, and climatology.

Unit 4 introduces students to the general concepts of ecology including population ecology, community ecology, and ecosystem ecology, and biogeography. Vignettes on Indigenous Science and the ecology of British Columbia are included.

Thumbnail: Bee pollinating Aquilegia vulgaris. (CC BY-SA 3.0 / cropped from original; Roo72 via Wikimedia Commons).