Autecology vs. Synecology

Autecologynoun

one of two broad subdivisions of ecology, which studies the individual organism or species.

Autecology

Autecology is an approach in ecology that seeks to explain the distribution and abundance of species by studying interactions of individual organisms with their environments. An autecological approach differs from both community ecology (synecology) and population ecology by greater recognition of the species-specific adaptations of individual animals, plants or other organisms, and of environmental over density-dependent influences on species distributions.

Synecologynoun

(ecology) One of two broad subdivisions of ecology (the other being autecology), meaning the study of groups of organisms associated as a unit (essentially a biological community).