ECOLOGICAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does ecological mean? 

• ECOLOGICAL (adjective)
  The adjective ECOLOGICAL has 2 senses:

1. characterized by the interdependence of living organisms in an environment

2. of or relating to the science of ecology

  Familiarity information: ECOLOGICAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ECOLOGICAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characterized by the interdependence of living organisms in an environment

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

ecologic; ecological

Context example:

an ecological disaster

Pertainym:

ecology (the environment as it relates to living organisms)

Derivation:

ecology (the environment as it relates to living organisms)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to the science of ecology

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

bionomic; bionomical; ecologic; ecological

Context example:

ecological research

Domain category:

biological science; biology (the science that studies living organisms)

Pertainym:

ecology (the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment)

Derivation:

ecology (the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment)

 Context examples 

Each of the world's major regions has a unique ecological and evolutionary history, and these histories continue to strongly influence the distribution and diversity of mammalian life on Earth.

(Connecting the prehistoric past to the global future, National Science Foundation)

Knowing where, and in how many places, climate change breaks that pathway, she adds, will help us anticipate how it might affect broader ecological processes, like food-web and population dynamics.

(Study considers sensory impacts of environmental change on ocean species, National Science Foundation)

They then projected these ecological niche models onto palaeoclimate reconstructions to map potentially-suitable habitats over millions of years.

(Past climate change pushed birds from the northern hemisphere to the tropics, University of Cambridge)

An ecological theory that proposes there is an inverse relationship between environmental temperature and an organism's body size.

(Bergmann's Rule, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

It represents an ecological problem and health hazard.

(Industrial Waste, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program conducts ecological studies to collect information on cancer rates over time in certain parts of the United States.

(Ecological study, NCI Dictionary)

In 2011, some 15 years into a long-term study of the ecological importance of tiger sharks in Shark Bay, a heat wave struck the region.

(Sharks, the seagrass protectors, National Science Foundation)

Since that time, new scientific exploration and research has revealed new species and deep sea habitats as well as important ecological connections between the existing monument and the adjacent waters.

(National monument in Hawaii becomes world's largest marine protected area, NOAA)

And this study shows that those smaller animals just are not able to replicate the ecological role of the larger species.

(Thai Elephants Help Spread Jungle Fruit's Seeds, Sadie Witkowski/VOA)

But it's these very uses that are degrading the ecological, socioeconomic and scientific value of many ancient lakes.

(Ancient lakes: eyes into the past, and the future, National Science Foundation)