Final answer:
Population ecology focuses on species populations within an environment, their interactions, and how they contribute to the community and ecosystem. A population consists of members of the same species living and interacting in the same area, and it is integral to understanding ecological relationships and diversity within a community.
Step-by-step explanation:
Population ecology is a subfield of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment. A population is a group of interbreeding organisms of the same species that are living in the same area at the same time. Interactions within a population could include competition and cooperation among members.
Populations interact with other populations within a shared habitat to form a community. This encompasses the concept of species diversity, which might be high in complex ecosystems like tropical rainforests or low in extreme environments such as glaciers. Ecology at the community level is essential for understanding the dynamics of population growth, the interactions between different species, and the overall health of the ecosystem.
Scientists use the principles of population ecology to study how populations, such as a forest of white pine trees, interact with other species in the same area. For instance, in a forest community, the population of white pine trees will interact with populations of flowering plants, insects, and microbial organisms. These interactions form the basis of an ecosystem, which includes both the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of the environment.