Discuss how the concept of time applies to ecological situations and evolutionary changes.

Ecological change leads to biological change, so the two time-lines match perfectly for various ecosystems. Basically, ecological time has to do with an ecosystem and how long it exists for. Evolutionary time has to do with all living organisms and how long each species existed.

The various ecological processes taking place in the Earth have taken tens, hundreds or even thousands of years to evolve. The span of time over which these processes take place is known as ecological time. The ecological time is an important factor that helps in studying important processes such as toxic algal blooms, eutrophication and ecological succession. In an ecological timescale certain constraints, factors that retard a set of population from reaching its adaptive peak, are analysed. The timescale helps biologists study the processes of selection over a given period of time.

Ecological time varies with evolutionary time in that the former gives insight into the changes of an ecosystem within a span of time; whereas evolutionary time deals with the entire universe. For every species there is a required environmental condition which allows them to grow and reproduce in the most desirable way. Over a span of indefinite years, these thriving species have a direct impact on ecosystems in which they survive becoming a cause of gradual or drastic ecosystem change. The original environment may have been suitable for the pioneer species, but the new alteration due to continuous species activity becomes optimal for other newer species.

Under the new conditions, previously dominant species may fail and a new species may become dominant. This process is known as ecological succession and takes place over tens or hundred of years. Certain man-made or natural disturbances can speed the process of ecological succession, such as wild fires and animal extinction. An example of ecological succession is the colonisation of trees in fields that are left uncultivated. The fluctuation of species interactions and recurring events are periodic changes that lead to ecological successions.

The discipline of time series is an important subject in all branches of ecology. The ecological quantities are expressed as a direct function of time, and hence making it imperative to study ecology with respect to timescale or series data.

Examples: Recent studies have documented rates of evolution of ecologically important phenotypes sufficiently fast that they have the potential to impact the outcome of ecological interactions while they are underway. For Darwin's finches evolving in response to fluctuating rainfall the estimate is that evolutionary change has been more rapid than ecological change.