Ecology

Ecology (Greek: oikos = house and logos = teaching) is the study of the interrelationships between animate and inanimate environments. That means between the totality of microorganisms, plants, animals and humans and the inanimate components such as climate, soil, water and air. The animate and inanimate communities form an ecosystem.

Ecology is a subfield of biology. It is a system science in which knowledge from various scientific fields flow together.

The terms "ecological" or "eco" are often used colloquially without meaning these far-reaching scientific contexts. Ecological then means something like "environmentally friendly" or "environmentally friendly".