Ecology, Relationships, and Communication

How living creatures can communicate with one another and interact with their environment is a very important concept to understand, especially as this topic ends up in holistic health, politics/policies, as well as in science education.

Through scientific discoveries, we have been able to see our natural world in great detail – through general observation as well as using tools of science such as microscopes, telescopes, scientific equipment, and imaging technologies.

People have been able to draw diagrams, do lab experiments, photograph, measure, graph, and calculate to find out more about interactions and then teach these things, both in textbook and lecture learning and in hands-on laboratory work.

Note: For the topic of “How Do Parts of My Body Communicate with Other Parts?” (cellular communication within an individual), please see my post on that here.

Our natural world has a remarkable design with great complexities! It has amazing functions and ways of working well or trying to compensate in times of dysfunction, working less-well.

This post will not cover all of the main topics that are studied in ecology but I wanted to highlight a handful of ideas –

• for the sake of my audience who did not learn much about environmental science in their schooldays (as it is a newer focus in education) and
• to help clarify, especially for my Christian readers, what a Biblical perspective is on the topic of our relationships to other parts of God’s creation.

‘Natural living’ is part of my tips for managing environmental sensitivities and I also design curriculum for science studies for students, from a Christian perspective. So I think this topic fits well within my website blog.

Welcome to learning more about ECOLOGY, RELATIONSHIPS, and COMMUNICATION!

What is Ecology?

Ecology is the study of the relationships in an ecosystem – that means between the populations in a community (the living things in an area) and their non-living environment (air, soil, water, light, etc.).

It involves biotic factors (things of life) and abiotic factors (non-living things in the environment).

• Abiotic: non-living factors in an ecosystem (e.g. climate change, soil type, pollution)

• Biotic: the living factors in an ecosystem (e.g. predators, decomposers, scavengers)

SCIENCE – what we observe with our five senses (with or without tools) – teaches that our natural world has two categories: LIVING and NON-LIVING.

This is important to remember especially in our culture which can talk of “everything” being “alive” spiritually. That concept does NOT come from science.

Types of Relationships

There are two major types of relationships: Dependence and Competition

• Dependence: Organisms can be dependent on other organisms to the extent that they need them in order to survive. Examples:
  • Babies often depend on parents to feed them.
  • Apple trees depend on bees to pollinate them; if bees aren’t there, there are no apples produced.
  • Koala bears depend on _____________ because they only eat that kind of food. (Do you know what word should go in that blank?!)
  • Symbiosis (There are so many interesting examples – Look up the keyword “symbiosis” online with the word “children” or “kids” or “education” if you’d like to learn about symbiosis!)
  • Food chains are involved in dependence of the organism on specific food. Food chains show the relationship between the organism, its food (prey) and its enemies (predators).
  • Interdependence (a type of dependence): Organisms of one species (plants, fish, birds, mammals, insects, etc.) sometimes have been designed to help organisms of another species in certain ways. Examples:
    • Cowbirds lay their eggs in nests that were built by other birds.
    • By burying lots of nuts before winter, the squirrels provide food for other animals.

• Competition: Organisms constantly compete with one another for food and space. Those which have more than one source of food, increases the chances for survival (e.g. bears eat insects, berries, fish and other small critters). Examples:
  • Plants need moisture, sunlight, and nutrients from the soil. The plants which get what they need, survive and grow. The plants which do not get enough will die. Weeds must be kept under control or they will “win” and the other plants will lose and be choked out.
  • Birds and animals stake out their territories and will defend it against others.
  • Both the ___________ and the ___________ will eat ______________. (Think of an example in YOUR community!)
  • Food webs are involved in competition for food. Food webs show the relationships between various food chains in a community – the prey and predators of many organisms, including those who eat the same things.

Ecologists/Environmental Scientists aim to work on observing sample sizes and then make decisions to try to conserve/support what they think is best for the area. They aren’t perfect people but this is at least a good goal of theirs… as long as they don’t interpret the data that they see really weird-like and panic when there isn’t reason to do so or as long as they don’t ignore things which should be given more attention.

Scientists often present their studies about population sizes on line graphs to show the changes over the years (long-term studies). Ecology isn’t usually a short-term science. They may make decisions about –

• about which populations should be protected more or which predators need to be introduced into that community from these studies.
• because of limiting factors – There is a limit to how many creatures can live in a community and thrive/survive due to the factors listed below. So now we should understand what ecologists mean by the term “carrying capacity”. Carrying capacity means ‘the biggest population that an area can support (provide for)’. The main “limiting factors” are –
  • Space – there has to be enough space to move around and to have their homes. Too little space will limit the population size (e.g. too little “elbow room” for trees).
  • Food and Water – there has to be enough food and water in the community or else organisms will starve or die of thirst.
  • Weather – amounts of rainfall (causing drought or flooding), extreme temperatures (hot or cold), and stormy winds – these all have an effect on population size and survival.

Question: “What is Natural Selection?”

(The main text in this section is reprinted from my book Science, Health, and Technology Level C)

In our world, many types of animals share the same geographic area. We say they live in populations.

• Animals can only mate with another animal of its same kind to reproduce more animals.

• Some animals hunt and eat other animals while some animals only eat plants.

• There is a competition for who survives, lives long, and reproduces babies for the next generation of each animal.

The strongest and healthiest animals tend to survive well if there is enough food available to eat and if there are no catastrophic changes such as local flooding, landslides, etc. to the environment they live in. The sickly, weaker, and mutated animals tend not to live as long. This can be called “survival of the fittest”.

Natural selection is the phrase to explain that certain animals will naturally live better, be able to adapt to changes in the environment, and produce offspring (babies) (in other words, be “selected” to grow in numbers) more than other animals. (This principle also applies to plant life.)

Natural selection is scientifically observable in our world.

Laws of Thermodynamics (Energy Laws)

Remember, a scientific theory is a scientist’s guess/hypothesis about what happens with something. But a scientific law has been proven to be true always. Examples: The Theory of Evolution, The Law of Gravity

There are two very important scientific laws about what happens to energy in our universe.

The First Law of Thermodynamics: ENERGY IS NOT CREATED OR DESTROYED, BUT IT MAY BE CONVERTED FROM ONE FORM INTO ANOTHER.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics: EACH TIME ENERGY IS CONVERTED TO ANOTHER FORM, SOME OF THAT ENERGY IS DEGRADED INTO LOWER-QUALITY ENERGY.   (Lower-quality energy is often “heat” or “sound” which are very difficult or impossible to recapture because that kind of flows easily out into the atmosphere and gets “lost”.)

These laws of energy continue to be scientifically observable in our world.

Interactions in Nature

Example – Tropisms

Tropism is “a growth or moving of a plant (or a virus) in response to an environmental stimulus”.

(Taxis describe the movement of an animal in response to an environmental stimulus, although that term is not as commonly-known, perhaps because of some cars being called that in society.)

‘Tropisms and Taxis’ is a topic that I studied in an independent science project in a senior elementary grade because it sounded pretty interesting to me.

The name for growth or movement of a PLANT in response to (a/an)…

Why do I spend time mentioning about tropism? Well, when I’ve learned about environmental sensitivities to chemicals and/or to emfs such as what are emitted by wireless technologies, we can see this topic apply there – with plants, animals, insects, as well as humans being affected and responding to their environment.

To learn more about that, please go to my post called, “Canaries in a Coal Mine – Living Things Which Indicate Something is Wrong in Their Environment” (linked here when it gets posted).

Example – Smell or Odour Communication

In university days, I took a course called, “Science of the Senses”. We studied the nose and the sense of smell in more detail than my human physiology course, including subtle communication involving chemicals, not yet well-understood. Pheromones emitted into the air from one person can affect another person.

This is one of the reasons why a gal might like to wear a sweater of her sweetheart! And also why a baby recognizes his/her own mother by smell (and vice versa). When I was yet undiagnosed of becoming low-vision by the wireless technology in my home and community severely burning my eyes, I got to a point where I could see shapes and colours, but not details such as the faces of my husband and children. One night, I closed my eyes and we had everyone line-up and come up to me, to see if I could actually identify my kids and husband correctly! The concept of pheromones and body scents is an interesting one to me.

Pheromones are also sometimes synthetically made in labs and added to products for marketing purposes (which adds to our concerns about synthetics in products).

• If you’re interested, you also can learn more about pheromones and what scientists know about detecting scents at these links:
  • An ABC News summary of how far research has come on studying pheromones here
  • A brief description of part of the nose here
  • A brief summary of part of the nose from AIG (a creation science website) here
  • A good article about the human sense of smell (from AIG) here and
  • A detailed medical science report about research studies on pheromones here from the National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Institute of Health (the NCBI.NLM.NIH website)

Question: Is the idea of telepathy scientific or good?

Answer: No. There is no scientific proof that thoughts from one person can jump through the air to another person, even though it’s a popular idea that’s promoted within some “alternative health care” that claim to bring health. From a Biblical point of view, telepathy fits in the category of evil spiritual forces deceiving people to think they have such powers in the air or in spells/charms/objects (Eph. 2:2, 1 Cor. 3:18-20, Mark 7:21-23, Deut. 18:9-12, Rev. 21:8). Read also Daniel chapter 2 to understand that God alone knows thoughts. There are other Bible verses I could mention about that but I think those are sufficient for my readers on this. Stay away from techniques and practitioners which claim you can get healed through sending/receiving “thoughts” or having their “thoughts” flow through you. This is not God’s method of healing nor is it science!

Question: Is the idea of being connected to the earth and nature scientific?

Answer: It depends on what is meant by that question.

• It IS scientific to be connected through physical touch, including grounding of electrons that are little particles in atoms and elements. It IS scientific to breathe in air which travelled from plant leaf surfaces to your lungs and vice versa. It IS scientific to affirm the force of gravity on our planet. It IS scientific to have a certain level of communication with other living creatures (e.g. dogs, wild cats) and that they can have memory and sometimes figure out your feelings through instinct of observing your behaviour including your facial expressions. But they can’t read your thoughts. And there is NO science to indicate that water, rocks, or trees have feelings that are affected our thoughts or “respect” of them. So the idea of “inter-connectedness” with all of nature has some flaws to it, in terms of science.

• What about spiritual connections? The Bible tells us of the special connectedness within the group of believers in Christ (e.g. 1 Cor. 12:25-26, Galatians 6:10). And also as human beings, we have a connection with all people in general (Romans 12:14-21). But God didn’t reveal to us in the Bible that there is any spiritual connection of people to the natural world itself. And I figure He should know and would have made it clear otherwise since, God does mention that pagan religions felt a strong connection to nature and worshipped it and that that was wrong in His view; nothing other than God is divine (e.g. Jer. 2:27-28, 10:2-5; Isaiah 45:5-6).

Why is inter-connectedness sometimes talked about in modern sciences such as ecology?

Confusion comes…

• when people think of the spiritual as science (for example, spirituality explained in terms of what is promoted in quantum theories of explaining god/God as “science”).
• and when people think that everything that is seen scientifically (e.g. rocks, water, earth, rats, amoeba) has spirituality. (This is sometimes known as seeing the world under the perspectives of pantheism or panentheism.)
  • Pantheism is the worldview that everything IS God (or “divine”). This short article from McGill University, written from the perspective of a modern-day pantheist, shows that worldview well (although I strongly disagree with the name of the title and obviously also disagree with the worldview itself). And also, I’ll mention that the Animism worldview shares many ideas with pantheism.
  • Panentheism is the worldview that God is IN (inside) everyone and everything.
    • Panentheism is a worldview that is held even by a number of people within Christianity. But it is not supported by the Bible, unless one twists a few verses out of context while ignoring other Bible verses.
      • The Bible teaches that God only indwells (lives inside) those who are trusting in Him for salvation from sin and eternal life,
      • even though God is indeed present everywhere in the universe. What the Bible teaches by “God being present everything” is that He knows and sees everything, seeing even the thoughts of everyone, while remaining different than anyone else.
      • Here are a few of the Bible verses about that – Romans 8:9, Daniel 2:22, Eccl. 12:14, John 3:18-20, Acts 15:18, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Psalm 139, 94:11, Proverbs 15:3, 26, Matthew 6:4, 12:25, Isaiah 55:6-9.
      • (If you want a more scholarly explanation on this worldview, you can go to this link for a short and fairly easy-to-read article.

Pantheism, animism, and panentheism worldviews seek to ignore or downplay the foundational truth that people are separated from God because of their own sinfulness and very much need the living and true God to provide salvation to them, in order for them to be able to have a reconciled/restored relationship with God. People who try to be their own savior or rely on their own efforts to be connected with ‘the divine’, do not have eternal life, according to the Bible. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 6:23, 1 Timothy 2:4-5, Romans 5:10, 1 John 5:11-12, John 8:36, 20:31, 1 John 5:20).

Both pantheism and panentheism worldviews have the application in their practices that the God/gods/sacred is a force or energy that can be controlled and manipulated by people to get desired results. (This is different than Biblical prayer, which I wrote about on another post.) However, the Bible does not teach us that God is a “force” or “energy” – it teaches us that He is personal. (To read more about Who God is, please go to my post “Choosing to Live with a Biblical Foundation” when that link gets posted, the Lord willing, very shortly.)

There are various books or websites which can give people an overview of what people involved in other religions believe in comparison to the Bible. One of the ones I have appreciated since my university days can be read for free online through Open Library here: The compact guide to world religions by Dean C. Halverson | Open Library. It contains shorter, easier-to-read summaries and charts than some. (You can look for just the chapter titles of interest to you instead of ‘reading it from cover to cover’ since it’s a reference book.)

A Biblical Perspective on Environmental Stewardship

God definitely gives instructions for people to care for the natural world, making wise decisions for our good and its good! Look at these verses as examples –

• Genesis 1:26, 2:15, Proverbs 12:10, , 20:19-20 (told to keep trees for food instead of cutting them down too soon for other uses), Lev. 19:9-10, 25:2-5 (leave some of the harvest), Eccl. 3:1-8 (a time for every purpose), 1 Peter 3:8 with Phil. 2:4, Prov. 1:19 (courteous not selfish or greedy), Prov. 27:23-27, 1 Thes. 4:11-12, 2 Thes. 3:7, 10-13.

God also cares for creation Himself, in provision and protection. He not only is loving; His character is also justice. Look at these verses as examples –

• Deut. 11:12; Psalms 104, 145, 147; Matthew 6:26-30; Luke 12:6; Romans 8:19-23; Rev. 11:18; Isaiah 65:25.

There are three main “Conservation Viewpoints”. I describe them in a comparison/contrast chart that you can see here (pdf). I especially encourage Christians to study this chart to recognize that the other two views are not the direction that we, as people who have chosen to serve the Living God, should be sliding towards. Conservation seems to not be a topic that is discussed or taught on within Christianity much at all for what the Bible teaches. I also think it is good for us Christians to learn the basics about the other viewpoints so that we can better understand people who make individual, community, national, and even international decisions. It is a good thing to understand people different from ourselves – it helps for better communication. I believe that we can (and should) respect people themselves, even when we disagree with their ideologies.

Symphony of Praise

I like to sometimes add a piece of music that I feel fits with the blog post. This time it’s a song that speaks of the beauty and rhythm of creation as it interacts under the direction of God the Creator and worships Him. God holds all things together by the power of His might. Everyone and everything will bow before Him, doing so now and/or in the future (Philippians 2:10-11, Psalms 145:10, 148:2-13)!

“The LORD upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.”
Psalms 145:14-18 NKJV

“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”
Revelation 4:11 NKJV

SONG is at this link: Symphony of Praise – sung by Ron and Gary Matthews (brothers)