From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishecologye‧col‧o‧gy /ɪˈkɒlədʒi $ ɪˈkɑː-/ ●●○ noun [singular, uncountable] SGEthe way in which plants, animals, and people are related to each other and to their environment, or the scientific study of this → environment the natural ecology of the Earth plant ecologyCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + ecologyfragile (=weak or damaged, and in danger of being destroyed completely)Exploring for oil will damage the island’s fragile ecology.plant/animal ecology (=the animals, plants etc that live in a particular place)a new book about the plant ecology of this fascinating areamarine ecology (=in the sea)Not much is known about the marine ecology of the Red Sea.rainforest ecology (=in a tropical rain forest)a new study of rainforest ecology
Examples from the Corpus
ecology• They are aware of trade-offs between civilization and ecology.• She is giving a lecture about the natural history and ecology of the sea shore.• In most cases, ecology is to blame.• One definition of a coevolutionary ecology is a collection of organisms that serve as their own environment.• Plans to build a new airfield could threaten the delicate ecology of the island.• Human ecology includes a vast complexity of social elements, themselves functioning in relation to modes of economic exploitation in varying regional ecologies.• In 20 years or so, Frelich believes, restoration ecology will become far more acceptable among professional foresters.• Many graduate students and overseas visitors have worked on aspects of the ecology of this field.• the ecology of the Red Sea• Bell set out to catalog species according to their ecology and their sexuality.• I have gone further, and combined sociology with ecology in the science of socioecology.Origin ecology (1800-1900) Greek oikos “house, living place” 