In population ecology, we learn about how groups of living things interact with each other and their surroundings. We study how many animals or plants there are in an area, where they live, and why their numbers change. Think of it like counting how many fish there are in a pond or how many birds live in a forest. We also try to understand why some animals stay in one place while others move around. It’s like figuring out why some people prefer to live in the city and others like the countryside.