These brilliant red “feathers” are actually animals called tube worms. They live in an extreme environment on the deep ocean floor, thousands of meters below the water’s surface. Their world is always very cold and completely dark. Without sunlight, photosynthesis is not possible. So what do organisms eat at these depths? Tube worms depend on chemosynthetic microorganisms that live inside them for food. In this and other ways, tube worms have adapted to the extreme conditions of their environment.

All organisms must adapt to their environment in order to survive. This is true whether they live in water or on land. Most environments are not as extreme as the deep ocean where tube worms live. But they all have conditions that require adaptations. In this chapter, you will read about a wide variety of environments and the organisms that live in them.

The Science of Ecology

Introduction

Ecology is the study of how living things interact with each other and with their environment. It is a major branch of biology, but has areas of overlap with geography, geology, climatology, and other sciences. This lesson introduces fundamental concepts in ecology, beginning with organisms and the environment.

CK-12 Foundation, Biology. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/