It is important because through ecology, we'll know how we will relate each organism to each other in the environment regardless of characteristics. Therefore, if we'll have knowledge on it, we'll know each other's needs, we'll meet each other's demands, and we'll learn how to preserve life, for example, of the endangered animals.
Ecology is of utmost importance to all species including us. We, like all other animals depend on this earth for everything; food, water, shelter. Everything on this earth depends on something else but ecology is so dynamic that even the smallest perturbation can upset everything.

A good example is global warming. Many people think that 2 degrees over a decades is a small amount of time. NOTHING in Ecology is small, the repercussions are severe. Plants need a certain temperature to thrive, warming of the earth can upset this and also upset life and mating cycles. We depend on those animals to eat and certain animals also survive on those animals.

In addition, human interference with the ecology of certain places can also exacerbate the problem of natural disasters. When we log on mountainsides and hills, we destabilize soils and the topology of the landscape. Heavy rains which would originally cause some kind of erosion would now cause landslides that could engulf roads and cause hazards to villages or towns and people that live in those areas.

In addition, chapparal forests in California is a type of terrestrial biome. If we do not understand the fact that these trees will constantly be subjected to fires, then people will build luxurious houses in these areas (which they are already doing), and when wildfires rage through the area, they will want insurance and money to rebuild. The fact is, houses are not supposed to be built in those areas in the first place, and if they are, insurance companies should not be shelling out money to the rich and misinformed who choose to live in such a biome.

So you see, Ecology is important to us financially, aesthetically, and also for our simple survival on this planet. Hence, it should be taken with utmost importance not only for us but for our next generation.