autoecology

It is known as autoecology to the analysis of links that establishes a species with the environment. It is a branch of the ecology: science focused on living beings as members of an environment, dedicated to the study of the relationships that organisms develop with each other and with said environment.

The term autoecology began to be used in 1910. It can be said that it constitutes the elementary level of ecology, since it examines the species from their interaction with what is around them.

Autoecology, in this framework, observes how species adapt to biotic factors already abiotic factors of the environment. This process implies a successive modification, with the different generations, of the ethological, morphological and physiological characteristics of the specimens.

These adaptations investigated by autoecology can be seen in multiple situations and cases. The hibernating marmots it's an example. These animals They spend several months in their burrows during the coldest time of the year, thus minimizing the use of resources and can survive in adverse weather conditions.

Temperature, the arrival of solar rays to the surface, wind and pollution, among many other variables, affect the autoecology of a species. These issues force living beings to change (or, more precisely, to evolve) to be able to survive, develop and reproduce. Without a successful adaptation to the environment, a process can be triggered that leads to the extinction of the species.