Final answer:
Ecology is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environments, which includes living and nonliving components.
Step-by-step explanation:
Ecology is broadly the study of how living organisms interact with their environment, encompassing both biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) factors. Integral to the field are the levels of biological organization: organism, population, community, and ecosystem.
Ecologists work to understand the distribution and abundance of organisms, how species interact among themselves and with their habitats, and how ecosystems function and change over time. This scientific discipline draws from various fields, including biology, geography, geology, climatology, and even employs mathematical models to conduct research and interpret data.
The student's question is a. the study of interactions between organisms and their environments.