Which word means the study of relationships between organisms and their environment?

• A. Geography
• B. Ecology
• C. Environment
• D. Biology

Answer: (B)

Ecology is the study of how living things interact with one another and with their surroundings—the air, water, soil, climate, and other organisms. It looks at ecosystems, energy flow, food chains, and how factors like temperature or resources affect where organisms can live and how populations grow or decline. For example, in a pond ecosystem, ecology would explore how algae provide food for tiny organisms, which feed larger ones, and how changes in sunlight or oxygen affect which species survive. The other terms describe related ideas but not the study of these relationships: geography is about places and landscapes on Earth; the environment means the surroundings; biology is the broad science of life. The focus on interactions and relationships between organisms and their surroundings is what defines ecology.