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Article: Ecology, Religious and Philosophical Aspects
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Science and Religion
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Ecology, Religious and Philosophical Aspects
The word
ecology
has two meanings. It refers to a discipline within biology that studies ecosystems, and it refers to the ecosystems that biologists study. These ecosystems can include the local biotic communities with which, for example, indigenous peoples and farmers often have special bonds. But the concept of ecosystem can also apply to the whole of the Earth and the whole of the cosmos.
To call these larger wholes "ecosystems" is not to suggest that they are static or stable. Indeed, even local biotic communities are not static. Contemporary ecologists say that such communities are evolving and naturally subject to dramatic and sometimes ...