The concept of ecological hierarchy encompasses various levels, each examining different aspects of life and interaction within the environment. At the most fundamental level, the organism level, the focus is on individual organisms and their interactions with their immediate environment.
The living organisms in an ecosystem interact with one another and with the nonliving factors in the environment.
The Sahara Desert
Ecological Hierarchy Levels
The community level focuses on the relationship between different species in a community. Predator and prey relationships play a large role in community-level analyses.
The lion and gazelle
Level 3: Community
Level 2: Population
A populatin contains a group of individual contains a group of individualsbelonging to one species an living in a specific geographical area, which interact with one another.
Pride of Lions
Level 1: Organism
The first level of the ecological hierarchy. This level examines how one organism interacts with its environment.
Example:
A Lion
Level 3: Ecosystem
Level 4: Biosphere
The biosphere represents the totality of all things on Earth, including their interactions. The biosphere includes all ecosystems on Earth and how they interact together.