生态学是对生物与环境之间相互作用的科学研究。实际上，现代生态学远不止于此，它涵盖了有关个人，物种，种群，社区和生态系统的研究，包括行为，进化，生理学以及越来越多的分子生物学。在新西兰，生态学研究尤为重要。作为一小群与较大土地分开的岛屿，新西兰的动植物群在没有哺乳动物的情况下发展出独特的特征。人类及其所引入的生物体（包括哺乳动物）对新西兰的入侵极大地改变了其生态，导致原始动植物的数量急剧减少甚至灭绝。此外，全球气候变化正在影响新西兰的生态，改变了本地生物和引进生物的分布。
Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms and the environment. In reality, modern ecology is much broader than this, encompassing studies on individuals, species, populations, communities and ecosystems, and including behaviour, evolution, physiology and increasingly, molecular biology. In New Zealand, the study of ecology is especially important. As a small group of islands separated from larger land masses, the New Zealand flora and fauna evolved unique characteristics in the absence of mammals. The invasion of New Zealand by humans, and the organisms (including mammals) that they introduced has dramatically altered its ecology, leading to drastic reductions in numbers, or even extinctions, of the original animals and plants. In addition, global climate change is affecting the ecology of New Zealand, altering the distribution of both native and introduced organisms.