PART SIX

Ecology

Imagine yourself outside, relaxing under a tree, reading your biology book. Without even making an effort, you are interacting with your ecological surroundings. Ecology is an important subject because it takes a large-scale view of biology. Instead of focusing on the systems contained within a single organism, ecology considers how the organism interacts with its surroundings. Nothing lives in true solitude! You are constantly sharing your environment with other life-forms, whether they’re obvious (other humans, swaying trees, that pesky mosquito that is buzzing in your ear) or not so obvious (mutualistic bacteria colonizing your digestive tract, or that annoying athlete’s foot infection).