Ecological competence is a term that has several different meanings that are dependent on the context it is used. The term "Ecological competence" can be used in a

microbial A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from antiquity, with an early attestation in ...

sense, and it can be used in a

sociological Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in ...

sense.

Microbiology

Ecological competence is the ability of an

organism An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...

, often a

pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

, to survive and compete in new habitats. In the case of plant pathogens, it is also their ability to survive between growing seasons. For example, peanut clump virus can survive in the spores of its fungal

vector Vector most often refers to: * Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction * Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics a ...

until a new growing season begins and it can proceed to infect its primary host again. If a pathogen does not have ecological competence it is likely to become extinct.

Bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

and other

s can increase their ecological competence by creating a micro- niche, or a highly specialized environment that only they can survive in. This in turn will increase

plasmid A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently. They are most commonly found as small circular, double-stranded DNA molecules in bacteria and ...

stability.McLoughlin, A. J. (1994)
Controlled release of immobilized cells as a strategy to regulate ecological competence of inocula
In ''Biotechnics/wastewater'' (pp. 1-45). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Increased plasmid stability leads to a higher ecological competence due to added spatial organization and regulated cell protection.

Sociology

Ecological competence in a sociological sense is based around the relationship that humans have formed with the environment. It is often important in certain careers that will have a drastic impact on the surrounding

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

.Perfilova, O., & Alizade, Y. (2011)
The role of ecological competence in manager's professional education
''Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences'', ''15'', 2293-2298. A specific example is engineers working around and planning mining operations, due to the possible negative effects it can have on the surrounding environment.Hryshchenko, S., & Morkun, V. (2015)
Using gis-technology in role-play as an effective means of ecological competence formation among the future engineers
''Metallurgical and Mining Industry'', ''4'', 139-142. Ecological competence is especially important at the managerial level so that managers may understand society's risk to nature. These risks are learned through specific ecological knowledge so that the environment can be better protected in the future.

References

{{Reflist Ecology

Microbiology

Sociology

See also

References