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Introduction to Ecology
Introduction to Ecology
Ecology was traditionally defined as the ‘study of organisms in relation to the environment’ the environment was considered a sort of inert stage in which the actors that are the organist played the game of natural selection. Perceptions today have changed, wherein we now are cognizant of the fact that the ’stage’ and the ‘actors’ interact with each other constantly so that not only do organisms relate to the physical environment but they also change the environment, Not only are they shaped by the environment they live in but also shape it, thus when the first cyano-bacteria started putting oxygen in the environ they paved the way for the first aerobic organisms. Today everything outside a person-affecting him is considered an environment.
Environment refers to physical & social conditions in which people live, especially as they influence their feelings & development. The environment can be defined as the complex set of physical, chemical, biological factors & social factors in which a living organism or community exists. This includes factors which operate like air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans & interrelationships. The totality of surrounding conditions & circumstances affects growth 7 developments, atmosphere & ambience, happiness & quality of life. This results in survival, growth, development & quality of life in general. The social environment of an individual refers to his culture, family life, people, institutions & others with whom the person interacts. Children need a “happy home” environment. A well planned modern factory needs to offer a pleasant working environment. People need to survive; hence they need clean water, air and unpolluted space. Therefore, we can create certain beautiful environmental conditions and we need to preserve the natural environmental conditions. The scientific study of the patterns of relations of plants, animals & people to each other & their surroundings refer to ecology.
In addition to the physical sciences (including energetic, biogeochemical cycling and earth sciences in general), now more than ever we have to consider humans and the social sciences as part of the environment. So now we have a new discipline of ecology that is a three-way interface (Snow 1959). A new Culture would need to emerge to close the communication gap between Science and Humanities which was getting larger as science and humanities were getting more and more reductionistic, fragmented and specialized Ecology has emerged like a discipline increasing the scale of study to whole systems landscapes and up to ecosphere.
What we are learning from nature about youth to maturity or quantitative to qualitative growth patterns, food chain energetic, feedback cybernetics, carrying capacity, the evolution of competition to mutualism, diversity, networks and another ecosystem-level processes can help us build these culture bridges. In summary science and technology alone will not prevent global environmental deterioration because the problems and the solutions involve people and the non-science disciplines especially Psychology, economics, law, education, political science and the social sciences.
Landscape ecologists Zev Neveh (1982 ) gave the term ‘techno-ecosystems’ These utilize powerful energy sources (fossil as well as atomic and involve technology money and cities which have few if any parallels in nature. If the urban-industrial society is to survive in our finite world, it is important that techno-ecosystems coexist with natural ecosystems in a more positive, mutual manner that is now the case.
Prior to the industrial revolution, humans were parts of rather than apart from nature. We were hunters and gatherer omnivores acting as top predators in the food web. Early agricultural practices like those still used in small family farms in the pre-industrial parts of the world, were compatible with natural ecosystems. Indeed they often enriched the landscape in addition to providing food. The basic natural ecosystem model however is no longer adequate to take account of modern human activities that include: replacement of the less concentrated sunlight-based energy sources with fossil fuels; mushrooming growth of cities; rapidly expanding industrial agriculture and especially the increasing use of a money-based market economics as a basis for decision making, Thus we need to think and act in terms of new models that relate to two interdependent systems.
Reward- feedback refers to a process such as what parasites and predators and herbivores do to enhance the survival of their food supplies. e.g. when grazers such as grasshoppers antelopes or cows eat grass their saliva contains growth hormones that stimulate the grass to put up new shoots (Dyer et al 1993 95) We need to increase the reward feedback flow from techno ecosystems to natural ecosystems To accomplish reward feedback we need to ‘reconstruct’ economics to include life supporting goods and service (natural capital) as suggested by economists and ecologists (Lovins and Hawkins)
The environment generally means everything outside a person. The term ‘Ecology’ has its roots in the Greek word ‘Oakes’ which mean s household or living place. It came into use in the later of the 19th century in the works of zoologists and botanists to describe the study of ways in which organisms live their environment. Later two branches of ecology were distinguished. These are ‘Audiology’ and ‘Synecology’. Autecology’s is defined as being the study of the individual organism in their interaction with their environment and synecology is defined as being the study of the relationship between the organisms engaged together within the given unit of the environment (Encyclopedia of Social Science).
Understanding Ecology:
Ecology is the branch of science which studies the interactions between organisms & their environment. As discussed earlier, this interaction is with physical habitat, climate, geology & other aspects of surroundings. The environment of an organism includes both its physical habitat, which is described as the sum total of all local factors like climate and geology, as well as other organisms which share its habitat. The term “oekologie” was coined in 1866 by the German Biologist Ernst Haeckel, from the Greek word meaning “household”.
Ecology is the science of relationships between organisms and their environments. This branch of Social Sciences is concerned with studying the relationships between human groups and their physical and social environments, is called human ecology. The study of detrimental effects of modern civilization on the environment, with a view towards prevention or reversal through conservation is also a part of human ecology. Importance of understanding ecology is crucial to man’s future. An understanding of ecology provides the basis for substantial use of natural resources, for the conservation of habitats and species, and for the prediction of effects of man’s activities on the natural environment.
The science of ecology is thus concerned with relationships between living organisms: plants, animals, microorganisms and their environment. Ecologists study the way in which organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems function and in doing so draw on many other areas of knowledge. Ecology is thus a challenging and diverse subject. Ecology and applied ecology are covering a wide range including animal ecology, vegetation ecology, environmental science, soil science and microbial ecology. An ecologist works in very many different environments, natural and managed from tropics to the Arctic and from estuaries to mountain tops to man-made social environments.
Ecology is also defined as being the study of the spatial and temporal relation of human being affected by the selective, distributive and accommodative forces of the environment, (Kenzia 1924). Hawely (1950) defined ecology as ‘A study of the form and development of the human community.
Overview Of Ecology:
as discussed Ecology has relation to Other Sciences and there are many; Subdivisions of Ecology; General Ecological Considerations include Ecosystems and their Functioning; the Biosphere; factors Influencing Population Growth; Diversity versus Simplicity; Ecological Balances and Survival Thresholds, Preservation of Environmental Quality etc. Some of the subdivisions of ecology are given below:
COMMUNITY ECOLOGY: this refers to the dominance of Species in a Community; Hydrosphere; Plant; Animal; Bogs; Plant Bog ; Animal Life etc are included in this
ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY: this refers to Ecosystem Components; Productivity Concept; Eco modelling; Ecological Energies etc.
GEOGRAPHICAL ECOLOGY: this includes Dispersal Dynamics; Migration; Pale ecology and The Emergence of Man.
OCEANOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT AND MARINE ECOLOGY: as the name suggests this refers to Habitat; Tides; Substratum; Pressure; Temperature and Currents; Light; Salinity; Oxygen; Oceanic conditions; Composition and Characteristics; Food Chains; Productivity; Dominance and Succession. Succession to Land; Succession to Fresh Water; Applied Ecology; Oil Pollution etc
EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY: this refers to Characteristics of Competition; Competitive Exclusion Principle and Species Diversity.
POLITICAL ECOLOGY: this subject discusses Understanding; Contextual Sources of Environmental Change; Conflict Over Access; Political Ramifications of Environmental Change and related matters. Some ecosystems of the world are:
Ecology is an area that brings together issues of natural sciences in society and questions of ethics and values. For example, the Chipko movement and the Sardar Sarovar dam project are examples of how all these issues are interrelated. Therefore, the role of ecology is that serves as a platform for both the pure and the applied sciences as well as social sciences and humanities. It is important to understand how these environmental issues are not only a concern of social researchers but engineers as well for example problem such as the global warming issue, shortage of energy, the greenhouse gases, acid rain and water pollution concern all of us. The environmental crisis, as well as technological setbacks, makes us realise that we cannot consider ourselves outside or superior to the environment in which we exist but we have to strike a balance so that we can peacefully coexist.
CP snow in 1959 wrote a book named “The two cultures and the Scientific Revolution” in which he addressed the issue of “two cultures” the science and the literary. The same discrepancy can be seen as a chasm between the engineers and social scientists. The reason for such could be attributed to the lack of communication and extreme specialization gaining ground in both the disciplines. He felt that the only way out of this situation was “to rethink our educator. An Indian ecologist agrees with the view and states the reason for this discrepancy between sciences and the humanities is because the students lack the elementary understanding of basic natural processes as they are required to choose arts or science in early high school itself and thus losing out the opportunity to gain a better understanding of other fields.
When we look at today’s world, and the environmental/ecological crisis facing us, this issue needs to be resolved as early as possible. Problems such as the depletion of planetary resources, the pollution of the atmosphere and the oceans and the poisoning of the food supply need to be addressed especially in a third world country like India where about forty per cent of the people still live below the poverty line. The development of both agriculture and industry is equally dependent on the exploitation and management of ecological resources.
This is where the social scientist may be able to enter the world of the scientist or the technologist and engage in a discussion that can be beneficial for both. Engineers are also the principal carriers of the “myth of growth”. That believes in the fundamental idea that a better material world awaits us and that betterment of life circumstances is within the reach of everyone. Associated with this is the need of scientific rationality, the belief that proper application of science and technology is capable of solving all of man’s problems. The scope of infinite improvement exists and if along the way there are some unintended consequences which are uncalled for, then technology has the ability to take care of them. In this context philosophy that “prevention is better than cure” need to be emphasized in the analysis of ecological outcomes.
One of the important concepts in understanding ecology is the force of “ecological succession”. Ecological succession suggests that over a period of time because of interactions there may be certain changes in the ecosystem. Therefore the concept of ecological succession is also called the “climax community” representing a stable end product of the success sequence. However, when the system appears stable, we could say that ecological succession has stopped. No matter how inherently stable and persistent is the external force, we cannot stop the succession process. Also, over a long period of time, the climate conditions and other fundamental aspects of an ecosystem change. Even though these time scale changes may not be observable in our ecological time but their fundamental existence and historical reality are indisputable. No ecosystem that has existed will exist unchanged over a period of time scale. Hence, if we are integrating knowledge management, training exercises, changing impacts of environments and the attitudes of people there is a possibility of bringing about a well designed ecological succession process over a period of time.
The quality of the environment is the degree of the positive impact of the environment balanced off against the degree of the negative impact of the environment on a given individual. When a community or a nation set about to improve its quality of life it is highly probable that they will target environmental factors. Indicators of the quality of life and environmental quality as suggested by UNESCO (1976) are the following:
- Fire protection.
- The comfort of home.
- Electric service.
- Privacy in your home.
- Relation with fellow workers.
- Postal service.
- Garbage-collection.
- Mechanical helpers in your family.
- Telephone services.
- Public-water system.
- Relation with neighbours.
- Gas service.
- Freedom to live where you want.
- Sewage disposal service.
- Availability of food around your living place.
- Convenience for getting to important places.
- The noise level in the home setting.
- The beauty of your home.
- Security of your home.
- The topography of the land around.
- Product is available to the community.
- Medical care in your locality.
- Police protection.
- Quality of water used by the household.
- Natural outdoor recreation.
- Variety of wildlife in the community.
- Cleanliness of air around.
- Overall weather.
- Public information media.
- Level of crowding in your residential neighbourhood.
- Transportation over a long distance.
- Level of traffic congestion.
- Job-opportunities.
- Quality of water for recreation.
- Product quality and variety.
- Relations among the group in the community.
- Freedom to move from class to class.
- Freedom to move from on a job to another.
- Public services-gas, sewage etc sec 7,12,10,14 etc.
- Unspoiled natures.
- Man made environment.
- The physical condition of the environment at school.
- Isolation of your community.
- The physical condition of the environment where you work.
- Amount of open space around.
- Access to parks.
- Control of dogs and other pets.
- Cost of living.
Taking these as components of environment and ecology this web-based course attempts to present a multidisciplinary system approach. The concepts are drawn from all subjects relevant to explain the environment scenario. Appropriate Technology, Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Management, and Philosophy, Values and Ethics are some subjects from where concepts and concerns are drawn (Fig 1.2). The course also presents methodological approaches, training, ideologies, globalization, ecological behaviour and knowledge management relating them to environment and ecology. Details of the course outline are as presented in the next section.
