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Microbiology
Ecological competence is the ability of an organism, often a pathogen, to survive and compete in new habitats. In the case of plant pathogens, it is also their ability to survive between growing seasons. For example, peanut clump virus can survive in the spores of its fungal vector until a new growing season begins and it can proceed to infect its primary host again. If a pathogen does not have ecological competence it is likely to become extinct. Bacteria and other pathogens can increase their ecological competence by creating a micro-niche, or a highly specialized environment that only they can survive in. This in turn will increase plasmid stability.

Sociology
Ecological competence in sociological sense is based around the relationship that humans have formed with the environment. It is often important in certain careers that will have a drastic impact on the surrounding ecosystem. An example is engineers working around and planning mining operations. The role ecological competence plays starts at the managerial position. If these relationships are not formed and strengthened through training, there could be detrimental and long lasting effects to the surrounding environment due to the inability of those who work under the managers to correctly identify and understand the processes going on.