Economic micropaleontology contributes to the search for hydrocarbons in two equally important ways: it provides the petroleum geologist with correlations and age determinations, and it is instrumental in the delimitation of fossil environments of deposition. This latter function involves the study of paleoecology, which deals with the relations between fossil taxa and (or) assemblages and their environments. Paleoecological studies depend heavily on a thorough knowledge of the ecology of living organisms, but the methods and terminologies used in each field are distinctly different. Because erroneous paleoecological information may influence seriously the geological interpretation of an area, a thorough knowledge of correct procedures and methods in paleoecology is essen ial, and the limitations in paleoecology also must be realized fully. These procedures are discussed and summarized briefly. Definitions are presented of a necessary set of pertinent ecological and paleoecological terms, some of which are introduced here for the first time. Certain erroneous procedures and misinterpretations common in applied paleoecological studies include the indiscriminate use of well cuttings, the evaluation of poor faunas, and the taxonomic misidentification of fossils.

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