The third definition of ecology is:

The third definition of ecology emerges more from use than its original statement. Odum (1971) began with the Haeckelian definition, but his desire to establish a new kind of ecology -- ecosystem ecology -- led him further from that cornerstone than most. He provided several statements of the scope of ecology, including the difficult-to-interpret statement that ecology was simply environmental biology. Truest to his brand of ecosystem thinking was his definition of ecology as the study of the structure and function of nature. Although Odum's extreme reliance on emergent properties and resuscitation of superorganismic thinking have proven problematic to many ecologists, his loosening of the bonds of Haeckel's focus on the organism is useful.

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