What is social ecology?

1. Ogburn and Nimkoff define Social Ecology as a study of relationship between communities and environment.

2. Ecology is a special branch of biology. It is the study of relationship between living things (i.e., human beings, animals and plants) and their environment.

3. Environment means both biological and geographical conditions.

4. Since the time of Charles Darwin (1859) environment has been interpreted as the total web of life where both plants and animals are related with one another as well as with the physical features of a region. A meaning of ecology is 'adaptation to environment.'

5. The concept of ecology has naturally included the human beings as a part of the total web of life on the earth.

6. The inter-relationship of physical, biological and cultural features of a region is the concept or subject matter of Social Ecology : Sociology is, thus influenced by biology.

7. Human beings try to adapt themselves in the specific geographical and cultural environment on the one hand, and also make effort to control the environment according to their needs, on the other.

8. People try to learn to live comfartably under different ecological situations of cold and hot climate or on hills or plains or at the sea shore, in forests or plain in desert of heavy rains, valley regions. This constant process of adjustment to the environment started along with influence of human beings on the earth and this led to their cultural development.

9. Social ecology is concerned with both rural and urban societies in respect of their adjustment to the environment.