Nature

Refers to the concept of the physical world, including the forces at work in it and the nonhuman life inhabiting it, perceived by human beings as separate and independent from themselves, their activities, and civilization. For aggregates of physical things, conditions, and influences surrounding and affecting given organisms or communities of organisms at any time, use "environments (object groupings)." For the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their habitat, use "ecology."