# Ecology **Domain:** Biology / Systems / Environment **Doc Type:** Canonical Discipline Node **Maturity:** Foundational ## Definition **Ecology** is the study of relationships among organisms and between organisms and their physical environments across scales from individuals to the biosphere. ## Evolutionary Nexus Evolution describes change in inherited populations; ecology describes much of the selection environment in which that change occurs. The two are inseparable but not interchangeable. [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] routes ecology through serpentine soils, patch populations, Indigenous land management and human-built technical environments. For machine intelligence, ecology prevents the isolated-model fallacy. A model's behavior depends on data producers, operators, energy, institutions, interfaces and competing systems. For continuity, a reconstructed or post-biological person likewise occupies an ecology of custodians, substrates, jurisdictions and reciprocal claims. ## Key Insight **No intelligence is autonomous from the relations that supply its energy, information, correction and opportunities to act.** ## Sources / Provenance - Eugene P. Odum and Gary W. Barrett, _Fundamentals of Ecology_. - Nexus synthesis: [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]]. ## See Also [[wiki/Human Ecology|Human Ecology]], [[wiki/Systems Ecology|Systems Ecology]], [[wiki/Niche Construction|Niche Construction]], [[wiki/Energetic Sovereignty|Energetic Sovereignty]]