What is ecology and why is it important to our understanding of the world around us? This unit looks at how we can study ecosystems to explore the effect that humans are having on the environment. This study unit is just one of many that can be found on LearningSpace, part of OpenLearn, a collection of open educational resources from The Open University. Published in ePub 2.0.1 format, some feature such as audio, video and linked PDF are not supported by all ePub readers.