Copyright ? 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. - 1 - Name_____________________________Period___________ Chapter 52: An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere Overview 1. What is ecology? Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment. 2. Study Figure 52.2 in your text. It shows the different levels of the biological hierarchy studied by ecologists. Notice also the different types of questions that might be studied by an ecologist at each level of study. Use this figure to define or explain the following terms: organismal ecology: Organismal ecology, which includes the subdisciplines of physiological, evolutionary, and behavioral ecology, is concerned with how an organism?s