The author of the term ecology in science is. Basics of ecology

Ecological problems to one degree or another have been solved spontaneously by humanity throughout natural history. Man realized early on that it is necessary to use natural resources wisely, without disturbing productive physical and biological natural mechanisms and thereby preserving the basis of his existence.

The roots of environmental knowledge go back to ancient times. Rock paintings made primitive people, indicate that man’s interest in the world around him was far from simple curiosity.

The idea of ​​protecting nature and, in particular, the beauty of natural forests was close to the inhabitants of Ancient Greece. Thus, the ancient Greek poet Horace, in a letter to the patrician Fuscus Avidius, says: “Your gardens have magnificent colonnades. Aren't they built to block off groves and forests? Nature, which you drive away with blows of axes, which you drive out the doors of your houses, fortunately, returns back through the window.”

Ancient Greek thinkers passed the baton to Roman scientists, and they “threw the bridge” into the Renaissance.

Great geographical discoveries The Renaissance served as an impetus for the development of environmental management. Scientists and travelers not only described the external and internal structure plants, but also provided information about their dependence on growing or cultivation conditions. Descriptions of animals were accompanied by information about their habits and habitats.

The Swedish naturalist K. Linnaeus (1707-1778) made a great contribution to the formation of environmental knowledge. His works “The Economy of Nature” and “The Social Structure of Nature” have not lost their relevance. By “economy,” the scientist understood the relationships of all natural bodies and compared nature with a human community living according to certain laws.

The French nature researcher J. Buffon (1707-1788) in 1749 made a daring attempt for that time to present the development of the Earth, the animal world and man as a single evolutionary series. His later works emphasized the leading importance of climatic factors in the ecology of organisms.

Important observations that influenced the development of ecology were made by scientists Russian Academy sciences during expeditionary research conducted since the second half of the 18th century. Among the organizers and participants of these expeditions, S.P. should be noted. Krasheninnikov (1711-1755), famous for his “Description of the Land of Kamchatka”, I.I. Lepekhin (1740-1802) - author of “Day notes of the travel of doctor and Academy of Sciences adjunct Ivan Lepekhin in different provinces of the Russian state” in 4 volumes, academician P.S. Pallas (1741-1811), who prepared the major work “Description of Russian-Asian Animals.”

One of the founders had a great influence on the development of environmental science evolutionary doctrine J.B. Lamarck (1744-1829), who believed that the most important reason for adaptive changes in organisms, the evolution of plants and animals, is the influence external conditions environment.

The founder of domestic ecology can be called professor of Moscow University K.F. Roulier (1814-1858). In his works and public lectures, he strongly emphasized the need to study the evolution of living organisms, the development and structure of animals depending on changes in their habitat. The scientist formulated the principle that underlies all sciences about living things - the principle of the historical unity of a living organism and the environment.

The works of zoologist N.A. were of great importance for the development of ecology. Severtsova (1827-1885). He was the first to attempt to classify animals into biological types (life forms).

The greatest German scientist A. Humboldt (1769-1859) laid the foundations of a new science - biogeography (mainly plant geography). The founder of the doctrine of life forms, Humboldt studied in detail the main climates of the Northern Hemisphere and compiled a map of its isotherms. In addition, the researcher made a great contribution to the development of geophysics, volcanology, hydrography, and studied the nature of Europe, Central and South America. In the “Cosmos” pile, Humboldt attempted to summarize the achievements of the Earth sciences.

And yet, at the dawn of its development, ecology was engaged in a descriptive study of nature. Great explorers and naturalists of the 19th century. left descriptions and observations full of lyricism natural phenomena. It is enough to name the multi-volume work of A. Brem, “The Life of Animals,” which is still read with interest today, the first volume of which appeared in 1863. The French scientist J.A. Farb in 1870 published “Notes of an Entomologist,” which still amazes with the accuracy of its observations of the wonderful world of insects.

The formation of ecology as a science

The key moment in the development of environmental knowledge was the emergence of the term “ecology” itself. The birthday, or rather “baptism,” of ecology as a science can be considered September 14, 1866, when the German biologist E. Haeckel (1834-1919) finished writing fundamental work"General morphology of organisms". Classifying the branches of biology in one of the footnotes, Haeckel first used the word “ecology” (from the Greek oikos - house, home, homeland, location, abode and logos - word, teaching) in relation to scientific knowledge.

E. Haeckel gave the following definition of ecology as a science: “...knowledge of the economy of nature, the simultaneous study of all relationships of living things with organic and inorganic components of the environment, including the necessarily non-antagonistic and antagonistic relationships of animals and plants in contact with each other. In a word, ecology is a science that studies all the complex relationships and relationships in nature, considered by Darwin as conditions of the struggle for existence.” Haeckel classified ecology among the biological and natural sciences, which are primarily interested in all aspects of the existence of living organisms: “By ecology we mean the science of economy, of the domestic life of animal organisms. She explores the general relationships of animals to both their inorganic and organic environment, their friendly and hostile relationships with other animals and plants with which they come into direct and indirect contact..."

TO end of the 19th century V. The term “ecology” began to be used by many biologists, not only in Germany, but also in other countries. In 1868 in Russia, edited by I.I. Mechnikov published a summary of E. Haeckel’s work “General Morphology”, where the word “ecology” was mentioned for the first time in Russian.

Ecology as a science arose in the middle of the 19th century. in the depths of biological science, which by that time had become interested not only in the classification of all living things and the structure of organisms, but also in the reaction of animals and plants to the conditions of existence.

A special role in the development of environmental ideas was played by the works of the great English natural scientist Charles Darwin (1809-1882), the founder of the doctrine of evolution organic world. Darwin's conclusion about the constant struggle for existence inherent in all living things is one of the central problems of ecology.

If Haeckel can be considered the forefather of a new science, who intuitively anticipated the full significance and globality of ecology, then Darwin laid its biological foundation - the foundation on which environmental knowledge was built. At first it had practical purpose regulation of the number of economically important animal species and changes natural communities(biocenoses) in a direction beneficial to humans.

In 1859, Darwin published the book “On the Origin of Species by Means of natural selection, or Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life,” which made a genuine revolution in biology.

An important step on the path of ecology to the study of integral natural complexes was the introduction in 1877 of the concept of biocenosis by the German hydrobiologist K. Möbius (1825-1908). He formulated it in the book “Oysters and Oyster Farming,” where he described the complexes of bottom animals that form the so-called oyster banks. Möbius called such complexes biocenoses, meaning associations of living organisms that correspond in composition, number of species and individuals to the average environmental conditions and in which organisms are linked by mutual dependence and are preserved due to constant reproduction in certain places.

The merit of Mobius is that he was able to reveal many patterns of the formation and development of natural communities (biocenoses). Thus, the foundations were laid for an important direction in ecology - biocenology.

Thus, K. Möbius was one of the first to apply a special approach to the study of living nature objects, which today is called the systems approach. This approach guides the researcher towards revealing the integral properties of objects and the mechanisms that provide them, identifying diverse connections in a biological system and developing an effective strategy for its study. In modern science, the systemic paradigm (the dominant theoretical concept, system of views) dominates, and in ecology, a systematic approach to considering objects of living nature is the main one.

Ecology emerged as a recognized independent scientific discipline around 1900.

In the process of detailed study of the environment, a special section of ecology arose - autoecology (from the Greek autos - itself) - the ecology of individual species and organisms, studying their relationships with the environment. Autoecology is of great practical importance, especially in the field biological methods plant pest control, research on disease vectors and their prevention.

However, each individual species, even when studied in conjunction with other species that directly influence it, is just the smallest particle among thousands of the same species of plants, animals and microorganisms that live in the same zone. Awareness of this fact led to the appearance in the mid-20s. XX century synecology (from the Greek sin - together), or biocenology, which studies the relationships of populations, communities and ecosystems with the environment. At the III International Botanical Congress in Brussels in 1910, synecology was officially formalized as an integral part of ecology.

Gradually, environmental scientists moved from the descriptive stage to the stage of understanding the collected facts. Experimental and theoretical ecology has received intensive development. Precisely for the 20-40s. XX century theoretical ecology flourished. The main objectives of studying populations and communities were formulated and mathematical models population growth and their interactions, laboratory experiments were conducted to test these models. Mathematical laws have been established that describe the dynamics of populations of interacting groups of individuals.

During the same period, the first fundamental environmental concepts, such as the “pyramid of numbers”, according to which the number of individuals decreases from plants (at the base of the pyramid) to herbivores and predators (at its top); "power chain"; "biomass pyramid"

From the very beginning, ecologists tried to understand the subject of their activity as an integral discipline, designed to bring together many different facts into a coherent system, to reveal fairly general patterns, and most importantly, to explain and, if possible, make a forecast of certain natural phenomena. At this stage of development of ecology, there was an acute shortage of a basic unit of study.

Such a unit became an ecological system, or ecosystem. The term “ecosystem” was proposed by the English ecologist A. Tansley in 1935. It can be defined as a unity limited in time and space, a natural complex formed by living organisms (biocenosis) and their habitat (inert, for example the atmosphere, or bioinert - soil, body of water, etc.) interconnected by metabolism and energy. is one of the basic concepts of ecology, applicable to objects of varying complexity and size.

An example of an ecosystem is a pond with plants, fish, invertebrate animals, microorganisms living in it, bottom sediments, with its characteristic changes in temperature, amount of oxygen dissolved in water, water composition, etc. An ecosystem is a forest with forest litter, soil, microorganisms, with birds, herbivores and predatory mammals inhabiting it, with its characteristic distribution of temperature and humidity of air, light, soil water and other environmental factors, with its inherent metabolism and energy. A rotting stump with the organisms and living conditions living on it and in it can also be considered an ecosystem.

The work of the outstanding Russian geochemist V.I. had a huge impact on the development of ecology. Vernadsky (1863-1945). He studied the processes occurring in the biosphere and developed a theory he called biogeochemistry, which formed the basis of the modern doctrine of the biosphere. The biosphere is a region of active life that includes the lower atmosphere, hydrosphere, and upper lithosphere. In the biosphere, living organisms and their habitat are organically connected and interact with each other, forming an integral dynamic system.

The emergence and development of the doctrine of the biosphere became a new milestone in natural science, the study of the interaction and relationships between inert and living nature, between humans and the environment.

In 1926 V.I. Vernadsky published the work “Biosphere,” which marked the birth of a new science about nature and man’s connection with it. In this book, the biosphere is shown for the first time as a single dynamic system, inhabited and controlled by life, the living matter of the planet. In his works on the biosphere, the scientist argued that living matter, in interaction with inert matter, is part of a large mechanism earth's crust, thanks to which various geochemical and biogenic processes, migration of atoms occur, and their participation in geological and biological cycles.

IN AND. Vernadsky established that the chemical state of the outer crust of our planet is entirely under the influence of life and is determined by living organisms, whose activity is associated with the planetary process - the migration of chemical elements in the biosphere.

Subsequently, the scientist comes to the conclusion that the biosphere is closely connected with human activity, on which the preservation of the balance of the composition of the biosphere depends. He introduces a new concept - the noosphere, i.e. “thinking shell”, the sphere of the mind. Vernadsky wrote: “Humanity, taken as a whole, is posed by a powerful geological force. Before him, before his thought and work, there arises the question of restructuring the biosphere in the interests of free-thinking humanity as a single whole. This new state of the biosphere, to which we are approaching without noticing it, is the noosphere.”

The relationships in living nature that scientists have to deal with are extremely broad and diverse. Therefore, ideally, an ecologist should have truly encyclopedic knowledge, concentrated in many scientific and social disciplines. Successful solution of real environmental problems requires joint interdisciplinary work research groups, each representing a different branch of science. That is why in the second half of the 20th century. In ecology, ecological schools of botanists, zoologists, geobotanists, hydrobiologists, soil scientists, etc. have developed.

Modern ecology

The concept of “ecology” is currently acquiring a global character, but environmental scientists themselves add different meanings to the definition of this term.

Some say that ecology is a branch of biology. Others argue that it is biological science. Indeed, ecology as a science was formed on the basis of biology, but currently it is an independent, separate science. Theorist modern ecology N.F. Reimers pointed out: “Modern ecology is a biologized (as well as geographized, mathematized, etc.) biocentric science, but not biology. Its biological component is a view from the living to environment and from this environment to the living. Dozens of sciences have this point of view: anthropology, ethnography, medicine, etc. But ecology is characterized by a broad, systemic, intersectoral view.”

The development of ecology has increased the theoretical and practical significance such earth sciences as meteorology, climatology, hydrology, glaciology, soil science, oceanology, geophysics, geology. The role of geography is changing significantly, which now strives not only to give a more complete and multifaceted picture of the appearance of the planet, but also to develop the scientific foundations for its rational transformation, and to form a progressive concept of environmental management.

However, the main thing is the integrating function of modern ecology, which has formed into a broad complex industry engaged in research, applied activities and promoting the development of new areas of natural, technical and social sciences. Ecology encourages “interdisciplinarity” scientific activity, orients all sciences towards solving a kind of “super task” - the search for harmony between humanity and nature. In this regard, global ecology has creatively assimilated the most rational aspects of many sciences and scientific theories. Based on an evolutionary understanding of living nature, modern ecology at the same time takes into account the specifics of the unprecedented scale and nature of anthropogenic impact on the biosphere. This impact is largely due to the transition of the scientific and technological revolution to more high stage development, which objectively requires understanding the many contradictory processes and phenomena it generates in nature and society and weakening the most dangerous of them.

One of the real contributions of ecology to the development of science as a whole can be considered the expansion of the scope of use of a number of concepts and scientific concepts that were previously included in the arsenal of only certain, rather narrow scientific disciplines.

Thus, on the one hand, it is recognized that ecology is a science, and on the other hand, it is emphasized that it is a set of scientific disciplines. Indeed, ecology, to one degree or another, affects almost all spheres of life of living organisms (and their aggregates) and humans. Ecology is a synthetic science.

At one of the forums, ecologists tried to officially define what ecology is. Everyone offered their own definition. As a result, the following phrase was entered into the protocol: “Ecology is what I do, not what you do.”

The term “ecology” and its derivative word “ecological” became more and more popular by the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. into common, succinct words that cover and reflect those global changes that have occurred not only in surrounding a person environment, but also in relationships between people.

To summarize, we can give the following definition of ecology: ecology is a science that studies the relationships of organisms with each other and with their natural environment, as well as studies the structure and functioning of biological (supraorganismal) systems at various levels. Superorganismal systems include populations, biocenoses, ecosystems and the biosphere. They are also the subject of environmental studies.

Ecology can also be defined as the science of the “niches” of organisms in ecological systems Oh.

Ecology

ECOLOGY-And; and.[from Greek oikos - house, dwelling and logos - teaching]

1. The science of the relationships of plant and animal organisms and the communities they form between each other and the environment. E. plants. E. animals. E. human.

2. Ecological system. E. forests.

3. Nature and, in general, the habitat of all living things (usually about their poor condition). Concerns about the environment. Disturbed e. The depressing state of the environment. E. northwestern Russia.

◁ Ecological (see).

(from the Greek óikos - house, dwelling, residence and ...logy), the science of the relationships of organisms and the communities they form among themselves and with the environment. The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel. Objects of ecology can be populations of organisms, species, communities, ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole. From the middle of the 20th century. In connection with the increased human impact on nature, ecology has acquired special significance as the scientific basis for rational environmental management and protection of living organisms, and the term “ecology” itself has a broader meaning. Since the 70s XX century human ecology, or social ecology, is emerging, studying the patterns of interaction between society and the environment, as well as practical problems of its protection; includes various philosophical, sociological, economic, geographical and other aspects (for example, urban ecology, technical ecology, environmental ethics, etc.). In this sense, they talk about the “greening” of modern science. Environmental problems caused by modern social development, gave rise to a number of socio-political movements (“Greens”, etc.) opposing environmental pollution and other negative consequences of scientific and technological progress.

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ECOLOGY
ECOLOGY (from the Greek oikos - house, dwelling, residence and logos - word, doctrine), the science of the relationships of living organisms and the communities they form among themselves and with the environment. (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel cm.. Objects of ecology can be populations of organisms, species, communities, ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole. From ser. 20th century In connection with the increased human impact on nature, ecology has acquired special significance as the scientific basis for rational environmental management and the protection of living organisms, and the term “ecology” itself has a broader meaning.
Since the 70s 20th century human ecology, or social ecology, is emerging, studying the patterns of interaction between society and the environment, as well as practical problems of its protection; includes various philosophical, sociological, economic, geographical and other aspects (for example, urban ecology, technical ecology, environmental ethics, etc.). In this sense, they talk about the “greening” of modern science. Environmental problems generated by modern social development have given rise to a number of socio-political movements (“Greens” (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel GREEN (movement)) etc.), opposing environmental pollution and other negative consequences of scientific and technological progress.
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ECOLOGY (from the Greek oikos - house, dwelling, residence and... logy), a science that studies the relationships of organisms with the environment, i.e., the totality external factors, affecting their growth, development, reproduction and survival. To some extent, these factors can be conventionally divided into “abiotic”, or physicochemical (temperature, humidity, day length, content mineral salts in the soil, etc.), and “biotic”, due to the presence or absence of other living organisms (including those that are food items, predators or competitors).
Ecology subject
The focus of ecology is that which directly connects the organism with the environment, allowing it to live in certain conditions. Ecologists are interested in, for example, what an organism consumes and what it excretes, how quickly it grows, at what age it begins to reproduce, how many offspring it produces, and what is the likelihood of these offspring surviving to a certain age. Objects of ecology are most often not individual organisms, but populations (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel POPULATION), biocenoses (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel BIOCENOSIS), as well as ecosystems (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel ECOSYSTEM). Examples of ecosystems can be a lake, sea, forest, small puddle, or even a rotting tree trunk. The entire biosphere can be considered as the largest ecosystem (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel BIOSPHERE).
In modern society, under the influence of the media, ecology is often interpreted as purely applied knowledge about the state of the human environment, and even as this state itself (hence such ridiculous expressions as “ bad ecology"of a particular area, "environmentally friendly" products or goods). Although problems of environmental quality for humans are, of course, of very important practical importance, and their solution is impossible without knowledge of ecology, the range of tasks of this science is much wider. In their works, environmental specialists try to understand how the biosphere is structured, what is the role of organisms in the cycle of various chemical elements and energy transformation processes, how different organisms are interconnected with each other and with their habitat, which determines the distribution of organisms in space and changes in their numbers over time . Since ecological objects are, as a rule, collections of organisms or even complexes, including, along with organisms inanimate objects, it is sometimes defined as the science of supraorganismal levels of life organization (populations, communities, ecosystems and the biosphere), or as the science of the living appearance of the biosphere.
History of ecology
The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by the German zoologist and philosopher E. Haeckel (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel cm., who, while developing a classification system for the biological sciences, discovered that there was no special name for the field of biology that studies the relationships of organisms with their environment. Haeckel also defined ecology as “the physiology of relationships,” although “physiology” was understood very broadly - as the study of a wide variety of processes occurring in living nature.
The new term entered the scientific literature rather slowly and began to be used more or less regularly only in the 1900s. As a scientific discipline, ecology was formed in the 20th century, but its prehistory dates back to the 19th and even the 18th century. So, already in the works of C. Linnaeus (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel LINNEAUS Karl), who laid the foundations for the taxonomy of organisms, was the idea of ​​the “economy of nature” - the strict ordering of various natural processes aimed at maintaining some natural balance. This orderliness was understood exclusively in the spirit of creationism (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel CREATIONISM)- as the embodiment of the “plan” of the Creator, who specially created different groups of living beings to perform different roles in the “economy of nature.” Thus, plants must serve as food for herbivores, and predators must prevent herbivores from multiplying in too large numbers.
In the second half of the 18th century. ideas of natural history, inseparable from church dogmas, began to be replaced by new ideas, the gradual development of which led to a picture of the world that is divided modern science. The most important point was the refusal to purely external description nature and the transition to identifying internal, sometimes hidden, connections that determine its natural development. So, I. Kant (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel KANT Immanuel) in his lectures on physical geography, given at the University of Königsberg, he emphasized the need for a holistic description of nature, which would take into account the interaction of physical processes and those associated with the activities of living organisms. In France, at the very beginning of the 19th century. J. B. Lamarck (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel LAMARC Jean Baptiste) proposed his own, largely speculative, concept of the cycle of substances on Earth. In this case, living organisms were given a very important role, since it was assumed that only the vital activity of organisms leading to the creation of complex chemical compounds, is able to resist the natural processes of destruction and decay. Although Lamarck's concept was rather naive and did not always correspond even to the then level of knowledge in the field of chemistry, it predicted some ideas about the functioning of the biosphere, which were developed already at the beginning of the 20th century.
Of course, the German naturalist A. Humboldt can be called the forerunner of ecology (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel HUMBOLDT Alexander), many of whose works are now rightfully considered environmental. It is Humboldt who is credited with the transition from the study of individual plants to the knowledge of plant cover as a certain integrity. Having laid the foundations of “plant geography” (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS)", Humboldt not only noted differences in the distribution of different plants, but also tried to explain them, linking them with climate characteristics.
Attempts to find out the role of those other factors in the distribution of vegetation have been made by other scientists. In particular, this issue was studied by O. Decandolle (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel DECANDOL), which emphasized the importance of not only physical conditions, but also competition between different species for shared resources. J. B. Boussingault (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel BOUSSINGAUGH Jean Baptiste) laid the foundations of agrochemistry (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel AGROCHEMISTRY), showing that all plants need soil nitrogen. He also found out that for the successful completion of development, a plant needs a certain amount of heat, which can be estimated by summing up the temperatures for each day for the entire development period. Yu. Liebig (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel LIBICH Justus) showed that the various chemical elements needed by the plant are essential. Therefore, if a plant lacks any one element, for example, phosphorus, then its deficiency cannot be compensated for by adding another element - nitrogen or potassium. This rule, which later became known as “Liebig’s law of the minimum,” played an important role in the introduction of mineral fertilizers into agricultural practice. It retains its importance in modern ecology, especially when studying factors limiting the distribution or growth of the number of organisms.
The works of Charles Darwin played an outstanding role in preparing the scientific community to accept environmental ideas in the future. (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel DARWIN Charles Robert), above all, his theory of natural selection as the driving force of evolution. Darwin proceeded from the fact that any type of living organism can increase its numbers in geometric progression (according to exponential law, if you use modern formulation), and since there are soon not enough resources to support the growing population, competition (struggle for existence) necessarily arises between individuals. The winners in this struggle are the individuals that are most adapted to given specific conditions, that is, those that managed to survive and leave viable offspring. Darwin's theory retains its enduring significance for modern ecology, often setting the direction for the search for certain relationships and allowing us to understand the essence of the different “survival strategies” used by organisms in certain conditions.
In the second half of the 19th century, research that was essentially ecological began to be carried out in many countries, both by botanists and zoologists. Thus, in Germany, in 1872, the major work of August Grisebach (1814-1879) was published, who for the first time gave a description of the main plant communities of the entire globe(these works were also published in Russian), and in 1898 - a large summary by Franz Schimper (1856-1901) “Geography of Plants on a Physiological Basis”, which provides a lot of detailed information about the dependence of plants on various environmental factors. Another German researcher - Karl Mobius (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel MOBIUS Karl August), while studying the reproduction of oysters on the shallows (so-called oyster banks) of the North Sea, proposed the term “biocenosis (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel BIOCENOSIS)”, which denoted a collection of different living beings living in the same territory and closely interconnected.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the word “ecology” itself, almost not used in the first 20-30 years after it was proposed by Haeckel, begins to be used more and more often. There are people who call themselves ecologists and strive to develop environmental research. In 1895, Danish explorer J. E. Warming (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel WARMING Johannes Eugenius) publishes a textbook on the “ecological geography” of plants, soon translated into German, Polish, Russian (1901), and then into English. At this time, ecology is most often seen as a continuation of physiology, which has only transferred its research from the laboratory directly to nature. The main attention is paid to the study of the impact of certain environmental factors on organisms. Sometimes, however, completely new tasks are set, for example, to identify common, regularly recurring features in the development of various natural complexes of organisms (communities, biocenoses).
An important role in the formation of the range of problems studied by ecology and in the development of its methodology was played, in particular, by the idea of ​​succession (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel SUCCESSION). Thus, in the USA, Henry Cowles (1869-1939) restored a detailed picture of succession by studying vegetation on sand dunes near Lake Michigan. These dunes were formed at different times, and therefore communities of different ages could be found on them - from the youngest, represented by a few herbaceous plants that can grow on quicksand, to the most mature, which are real mixed forests on old fixed dunes. Subsequently, the concept of succession was developed in detail by another American researcher, Frederick Clements (1874-1945). He interpreted the community as to the highest degree a holistic formation, somewhat reminiscent of an organism, for example, like an organism undergoing a certain development - from youth to maturity, and then old age. Clements believed that while at the initial stages of succession different communities in one area may differ greatly, at later stages they become more and more similar. In the end, it turns out that for each area with a certain climate and soil, there is only one mature (climax) community.
Plant communities have also received a lot of attention in Russia. Thus, Sergei Ivanovich Korzhinsky (1861-1900), studying the border of the forest and steppe zones, emphasized that in addition to the dependence of vegetation on climatic conditions, the impact of the plants themselves on the physical environment, their ability to make it more suitable for the growth of other species, is no less important. In Russia (and then in the USSR), for the development of research on plant communities (or, in other words, phytocenology), scientific works and organizational activities of V. N. Sukachev (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel SUKACHEV Vladimir Nikolaevich). Sukachev was one of the first to begin experimental studies of competition and proposed his classification of different types of succession. He constantly developed the doctrine of plant communities (phytocenoses), which he interpreted as integral formations (in this he was close to Clements, although he very often criticized the latter’s ideas). Later, already in the 1940s, Sukachev formulated the idea of ​​biogeocenosis (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel BIOGEOCENOSIS)- a natural complex, including not only the plant community, but also soil, climatic and hydrological conditions, animals, microorganisms, etc. The study of biogeocenoses in the USSR was often considered an independent science - biogeocenology. Currently, biogeocenology is usually considered as a part of ecology.
The years 1920-1940 were very important for the transformation of ecology into an independent science. At this time, a number of books were published on various aspects ecology, specialized journals begin to be published (some of them still exist), and ecological societies emerge. But the most important thing is that the theoretical basis of the new science is gradually being formed, the first mathematical models are being proposed and its own methodology is being developed that allows it to pose and solve certain problems. At the same time, two rather different approaches were formed, which also exist in modern ecology: the population approach, which focuses on the dynamics of the number of organisms and their distribution in space, and the ecosystem approach, which concentrates on the processes of matter circulation and energy transformation.
Development of the population approach
One of the most important tasks of population ecology was to identify general patterns of population dynamics - both individually and interacting (for example, competing for the same resource or connected by predator-prey relationships). To solve this problem, simple mathematical models were used - formulas showing the most probable relationships between individual quantities characterizing the state of the population: birth rate, mortality rate, growth rate, density (number of individuals per unit of space), etc. Mathematical models made it possible to check the consequences of various assumptions, having identified the necessary and sufficient conditions for the implementation of one or another version of population dynamics.
In 1920, the American researcher R. Pearl (1879-1940) put forward the so-called logistic model of population growth, which assumes that as population density increases, its growth rate decreases, becoming equal to zero when a certain maximum density is reached. The change in population size over time was thus described by an S-shaped curve reaching a plateau. Perl considered the logistic model as a universal law of development of any population. And although it soon became clear that this was not always the case, the idea that there were some fundamental principles manifested in the dynamics of many different populations turned out to be very productive.
The introduction of mathematical models into ecology practice began with the work of Alfred Lotka (1880-1949). He himself called his method “physical biology” - an attempt to organize biological knowledge using approaches usually used in physics (including mathematical models). As one of possible examples He suggested simple model, describing the coupled dynamics of the abundance of predator and prey. The model showed that if all mortality in the prey population is determined by the predator, and the birth rate of the predator depends only on its food supply (i.e., the number of prey), then the numbers of both the predator and the prey make regular fluctuations. Then Lotka developed a model of competitive relations, and also showed that in a population that increases its size exponentially, a constant age structure is always established (i.e., the ratio of the proportions of individuals of different ages). Later, he also proposed methods for calculating a number of important demographic indicators. Around the same years, the Italian mathematician V. Volterra (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel VOLTERRA Vito), independently of Lotka, developed a model of competition between two species for one resource and showed theoretically that two species, limited in their development by one resource, cannot coexist stably - one species inevitably displaces the other.
The theoretical studies of Lotka and Volterra interested the young Moscow biologist G. F. Gause (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel GAUZE Georgy Frantsevich). He proposed his own, much more understandable to biologists, modification of the equations describing the dynamics of the numbers of competing species, and for the first time carried out experimental testing of these models on laboratory cultures of bacteria, yeast and protozoa. Particularly successful were experiments on competition between different types of ciliates. Gause was able to show that species can coexist only if they are limited by different factors, or, in other words, if they occupy different ecological niches. This rule, called Gause's law, has long served as a starting point in discussions of interspecific competition and its role in maintaining the structure of ecological communities. The results of Gause's work were published in a number of articles and the book “The Struggle for Existence” (1934), which, with the assistance of Pearl, was published in English in the USA. This book was of enormous importance for the further development of theoretical and experimental ecology. It has been reprinted several times and is still often cited in scientific literature.
The study of populations took place not only in the laboratory, but also directly in the field. An important role in determining the general direction of such research was played by the works of the English ecologist Charles Elton (1900-1991), especially his book “Animal Ecology,” first published in 1927, and then reprinted several times. The problem of population dynamics was put forward in this book as one of the central ones for all ecology. Elton drew attention to cyclical fluctuations in the number of small rodents that occurred with a period of 3-4 years, and, having processed long-term data on fur harvesting in North America, he found out that hares and lynxes also demonstrate cyclical fluctuations, but population peaks are observed approximately once every 10 years. Elton paid a lot of attention to the study of the structure of communities (assuming that this structure is strictly natural), as well as food chains and the so-called “pyramids of numbers” - a consistent decrease in the number of organisms as they move from lower trophic levels to higher ones - from plants to herbivores, and from herbivores to carnivores. The population approach to ecology has long been developed primarily by zoologists. Botanists, on the other hand, studied communities more often, which were most often interpreted as integral and discrete formations, between which it was quite easy to draw boundaries. However, already in the 1920s, some ecologists expressed “heretical” (for that time) views, according to which different plant species can react in their own way to certain environmental factors, and their distribution does not necessarily have to coincide with the distribution of others species of the same community. It followed from this that the boundaries between different communities can be very blurred, and their identification itself is conditional.
This view of the plant community, ahead of its time, was most clearly developed by the Russian ecologist L. G. Ramensky (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel RAMENSKY Leonty Grigorievich). In 1924, in a short article (which later became a classic), he formulated the main provisions of the new approach, emphasizing, on the one hand, the ecological individuality of plants, and on the other, “multidimensionality” (i.e., dependence on many factors) and the continuity of the entire vegetation cover. Ramensky considered only the laws of compatibility of different plants to be unchanged, which should have been studied. In the United States, completely independently, similar views were developed around the same years by Henry Allan Gleason (1882-1975). His "individualist concept", put forward as an antithesis to Clements's idea of ​​community as an analogue of the organism, also emphasized the independence of the distribution of different plant species from each other and the continuity of vegetation cover. Work on studying plant populations really began only in the 1950s and even 1960s. In Russia, the undisputed leader of this trend was Tikhon Aleksandrovich Rabotnov (1904-2000), and in Great Britain - John Harper.
Development of ecosystem research
The term “ecosystem” was proposed in 1935 by the prominent English botanist ecologist Arthur Tansley (1871-1955) to refer to the natural complex of living organisms and the physical environment in which they live. However, research that can rightfully be called ecosystem research began to be carried out much earlier, and hydrobiologists were the undisputed leaders. Hydrobiology, and especially limnology (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel LIMNOLOGY) were from the very beginning complex sciences who dealt with many living organisms and their environment at once. At the same time, not only the interactions of organisms were studied, not only their dependence on the environment, but also, no less important, the influence of the organisms themselves on the physical environment. Often the object of research for limnologists was an entire body of water, in which physical, chemical and biological processes are closely interrelated. Already at the very beginning of the 20th century, the American limnologist Edward Burge (1851-1950), using strict quantitative methods, studied “lake respiration” - the seasonal dynamics of the content of dissolved oxygen in water, which depends both on the processes of mixing the water mass and the diffusion of oxygen from the air, and from the life activity of organisms. It is significant that among the latter there are both producers of oxygen (planktonic algae) and its consumers (most bacteria and all animals). In the 1930s great success in the study of the cycle of matter and the transformation of energy were achieved in Soviet Russia at the Kosinsk limnological station near Moscow. The station was headed at this time by Leonid Leonidovich Rossolimo (1894-1977), who proposed the so-called “balance approach”, focusing on the cycle of substances and energy transformation. Within the framework of this approach, G. G. Vinberg began his studies of primary production (i.e., the creation of organic matter by autotrophs) (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel VINBERG Georgy Georgievich), using the ingenious method of “dark and light bottles”. Its essence is that the amount of organic matter formed during photosynthesis is judged by the amount of oxygen released.
Three years later, similar measurements were carried out in the USA by G. A. Riley. The initiator of this work was George Evelyn Hutchinson (1903-1991), who, with his own research, as well as the enthusiastic support of the endeavors of many talented young scientists, had a significant influence on the development of ecology not only in the United States, but throughout the world. Hutchinson is the author of the Treatise on Limnology, a series of four volumes that represents the world's most complete summary of the life of lakes.
In 1942, the journal “Ecology” published an article by Hutchinson’s student, a young and, unfortunately, very young ecologist, Raymond Lindemann (1915-1942), in which a general scheme for the transformation of energy in an ecosystem was proposed. In particular, it was theoretically demonstrated that during the transition of energy from one trophic level to another (from plants to herbivores, from herbivores to predators), its amount decreases and only a small part (no more than 10%) of the energy is available to organisms of each subsequent level. the energy that was at the disposal of organisms of the previous level.
For the very possibility of conducting ecosystem research, it was very important that, despite the colossal diversity of forms of organisms existing in nature, the number of basic biochemical processes that determine their life activity (and, consequently, the number of main biogeochemical roles!) is very limited. So, for example, the most different plants(and cyanobacteria (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel CYANOBACTERIA)) carry out photosynthesis (The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel PHOTOSYNTHESIS), in which organic matter is formed and free oxygen is released. And since the final products are the same, the results of the activity can be summarized at once large number organisms, for example all the planktonic algae in a pond, or all the plants in a forest, and thus estimate the primary production of the pond or forest. The scientists who were at the origins of the ecosystem approach understood this well, and the ideas they developed formed the basis for those large-scale studies of the productivity of different ecosystems that were developed in different natural zones already in the 1960-1970s.
The study of the biosphere is similar in its methodology to the ecosystem approach. The term "biosphere" to refer to the area on the surface of our planet that is engulfed by life was coined in the late 19th century by the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess (1831-1914). However, in detail the idea of ​​the biosphere as a system of biogeochemical cycles, the main driving force which is the activity of living organisms (“living matter”), was developed already in the 1920-30s by the Russian scientist Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945). As for direct assessments of these processes, their receipt and constant refinement began only in the second half of the 20th century, and continues to this day.
Development of ecology in the last decades of the 20th century
In the second half of the 20th century. the formation of ecology as a independent science, which has its own theory and methodology, its own range of problems, and its own approaches to solving them. Mathematical models are gradually becoming more realistic: their predictions can be tested experimentally or by observations in nature. The experiments and observations themselves are increasingly planned and carried out in such a way that the results obtained make it possible to accept or refute a previously put forward hypothesis. A notable contribution to the development of the methodology of modern ecology was made by the work of the American researcher Robert MacArthur (1930-1972), who successfully combined the talents of a mathematician and a natural biologist. MacArthur studied the patterns of the ratio of numbers of different species included in one community, the choice of the most optimal prey by a predator, the dependence of the number of species inhabiting an island on its size and distance from the mainland, the degree of permissible overlap of ecological niches with existing species and a number of other tasks. Noting the presence of a certain repeating regularity (“pattern”) in nature, MacArthur proposed one or more alternative hypotheses explaining the mechanism of occurrence of this regularity, built corresponding mathematical models, and then compared them with empirical data. MacArthur made his point very clearly in Geographical Ecology (1972), which he wrote while he was terminally ill, a few months before his untimely death.
The approach that MacArthur and his followers developed was focused primarily on elucidating the general principles of the structure (structure) of any community. However, within the framework of the approach that became widespread somewhat later, in the 1980s, the main attention was transferred to the processes and mechanisms that resulted in the formation of this structure. For example, when studying the competitive displacement of one species by another, ecologists became interested primarily in the mechanisms of this displacement and those characteristics of species that predetermine the outcome of their interaction. It turned out, for example, that when different plant species compete for elements of mineral nutrition (nitrogen or phosphorus), the winner is often not the species that, in principle (in the absence of resource shortages) can grow faster, but the one that is able to maintain at least minimal growth at lower concentration in the environment of this element.
Researchers began to pay special attention to evolution life cycle and different survival strategies. Since the capabilities of organisms are always limited, and organisms have to pay something for each evolutionary acquisition, clearly defined negative correlations (so-called “tradeoffs”) inevitably arise between individual traits. For example, a plant cannot grow very quickly and at the same time form reliable means of defense against herbivores. The study of such correlations makes it possible to find out how, in principle, the very possibility of the existence of organisms in certain conditions is achieved.
In modern ecology, some problems that have a long history of research still remain relevant: for example, establishing general patterns in the dynamics of the abundance of organisms, assessing the role of various factors limiting population growth, and elucidating the causes of cyclical (regular) fluctuations in numbers. Significant progress has been achieved in this area - for many specific populations, mechanisms for regulating their numbers have been identified, including those that give rise to cyclical changes in numbers. Research into predator-prey relationships, competition, and mutually beneficial cooperation between different species - mutualism - continues.
A new direction in recent years is the so-called macroecology - a comparative study of different species on a large scale (comparable to the size of continents).
Enormous progress at the end of the 20th century was achieved in the study of the circulation of substances and the flow of energy. First of all, this is due to the improvement of quantitative methods for assessing the intensity of certain processes, as well as the growing possibilities for the large-scale application of these methods. An example would be remote (from satellites) determination of the chlorophyll content in surface waters of the sea, which makes it possible to compile maps of phytoplankton distribution for the entire World Ocean and evaluate seasonal changes its products.
Current state of science
Modern ecology is a rapidly developing science, characterized by its own range of problems, its own theory and its own methodology. Complex structure ecology is determined by the fact that its objects belong to very different levels organizations: from the entire biosphere and large ecosystems to populations, and a population is often considered as a collection of individual individuals. The scale of space and time in which changes in these objects occur, and which must be covered by research, also vary extremely widely: from thousands of kilometers to meters and centimeters, from millennia to weeks and days. In the 1970s human ecology is being formed. As pressure on the environment increases, the practical importance of ecology increases; philosophers and sociologists are widely interested in its problems.

Planet Earth is a small blue pearl, lost in the endless cold worlds of outer space and which has become home to billions of living beings. Literally the entire space of our world is permeated with life: water, land, air.

And all this diversity of living forms, starting with the simplest microorganisms and ending with the pinnacle of evolution - Homo sapiens - can have the most direct impact on the life of the planet. Ecology is a science that studies the interaction of all living organisms inhabiting the Earth, as well as their numerous communities, both among themselves and with their environment.

A little history

Many modern people They do not know that ecology began to develop as a separate branch of science only in the middle of the 20th century. Until this time, it was only a part of biology. And the founder of ecology was an ardent adherent and supporter of Darwin's theory, a talented naturalist and biologist - the German E. Haeckel.

The formation of ecology as a separate science was influenced by: on the one hand, the strengthening of scientific and technological progress in the 20th century, and on the other, the rapid growth of the population of our planet. The development of technology and industry has led to a manifold increase in the consumption of natural resources, which, in turn, has had an impact harmful influence on the environment.

While the number of people was rapidly increasing, the number of other living beings began to steadily decrease. NTP allowed people to make their stay on the planet as comfortable as possible, but at the same time it served as a disastrous factor for nature. There is an urgent need for operational study and research of the habitat. The connection between ecology and other sciences has become inevitable.

Fundamentals of ecology science

The fundamentals of ecology include the study of the interaction with the environment of objects organized at the species, biosphere, organismal and biocentric levels. Thus, we can distinguish several main sections that general ecology includes:

• Autecology, or the ecology of organisms, is a section that deals with the study of individual connections with the environment of both each individual species and organisms included in the general species group.
• Demecology, or ecology of populations. The objectives of this section are to study the natural mechanisms responsible for regulating the number of different living organisms, their optimal density, as well as identifying acceptable limits for the removal of various species and populations.
• Synecology, or community ecology, studies in detail the interaction of ecosystems and populations with the natural environment, as well as the mechanisms and structure of biogeocenoses.

Methods of environmental research

From the names themselves, you can understand that all field research work is carried out directly in the natural environment. They, in turn, can be divided into:

• Stationary. These studies include both long-term observation of natural objects and measurements, detailed descriptions, as well as an instrumental report.
• Route. Direct observations of the object are carried out, its condition is assessed, measurements and descriptions are made, maps and diagrams are drawn up.
• Descriptive - during initial acquaintance with the object of research.
• Experimental. The main thing here is experience and experimentation, various chemical tests, quantification and etc.

Laboratory methods are based on conducting research in laboratory conditions. Since ecology is a science that studies the combination of a huge number of factors, a special place in practical study biological objects is given to the modeling method.

Living environment of living organisms

In order to more accurately understand how certain environmental factors influence different living species, it is necessary to first understand the relationship between the habitat and the life of various objects. Varied natural conditions, which are found on our Earth - aquatic, ground-air, soil, organisms - are the living environment for a wide variety of species of plants and animals. It is from the environment that all living things receive the substances necessary for life. And the metabolic products of living organisms return there.

Thus, it is precisely the difference in the conditions of existence in different environments made it possible for different organisms to develop a set of specific physiological, morphological, behavioral and other various properties that help them adapt as much as possible to difficult living conditions.

Environmental factors

The fundamentals of ecology as a science attach great importance to individual environmental factors. The latter should be understood as any elements or environmental conditions that force certain organisms to adapt to them and adapt. There are only three groups of environmental factors:

• biotic;
• abiotic;
• anthropogenic.

Biotic factors include various properties wildlife. They are capable of causing adaptive reactions in both plants (phytogenic), animals (zoogenic) and fungi (mycogenic).

Abiotic, on the contrary, are components of inanimate nature: geological (glacial movements, volcanic activity, radiation, etc.), climatic (temperature, light, wind, humidity, pressure, etc.), soil (structure, density and composition of the soil) , as well as hydrological factors (water, pressure, salinity, current).

Anthropogenic environmental factors relate to human activity. It must be said that it is man who causes very serious shifts in biogeocenoses. Moreover, for some species this becomes favorable, but for others it does not.

Environmental problems of our time

Today's problems are mainly related to the anthropogenic impact on nature. Global ecology heralds the following serious dangers: depletion of the ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, environmental pollution and the problem of disposal of human waste, soil degradation and erosion, desertification, widespread extinction of animals, climate change, general weakening of human immunity, depletion of resources (water, gas, oil, other natural resources), photochemical smog and other fatal changes.

All this is largely provoked by the active intervention of people in natural processes, as well as the unreasonable implementation of recreational, military, economic and other plans that change the natural habitat.

Environmental pollution

Ecology is a science that studies, among other things, (the biosphere). In this case, pollution is understood as the active entry into the biosphere of energy or substances, the quantity, location or properties of which can negatively affect the habitat of various living species.

Industrial development and global urbanization lead to pollution of the surrounding space not only with solid, liquid and gaseous substances and microorganisms, but also with various energies (sounds, noise, radiation), which adversely affect various ecosystems of the planet.

There are two types of biosphere pollution, differing in origin: natural (natural) - occurs without the participation of people, and anthropogenic. The latter is much more dangerous, since man has not yet learned to restore his habitat.

Nowadays, pollution is occurring at a monstrous pace and concerns atmospheric air, underground and surface water sources, and soil. Humanity has polluted even the near-Earth space. All this does not add optimism to people and can provoke a worldwide The rapid development of ecology as a science gives humanity a chance to avoid the threat.

Soil pollution

As a result of careless, unreasonable human activity, the soil around large cities and territories where large industrial metallurgical enterprises, thermal power plants, and mechanical engineering enterprises are located has become contaminated over vast distances.

Heavy metals, petroleum products, sulfur and lead compounds together with household waste - this is what the modern habitat of a civilized person is saturated with. Any ecology institute will confirm that, along with the above substances, the soil contains in abundance various carcinogenic substances that have the ability to cause terrible diseases in people.

The land that feeds us is subject not only to erosion and pollution by harmful chemical elements, but it also becomes swamped, salinized, and taken away for the construction of various structures. And if the natural destruction of the surface fertile layer can occur very slowly, then erosion caused by anthropogenic activity is striking in its accelerated pace.

Agriculture with abundant use of pesticides is becoming a real scourge for humanity. The greatest danger in this case is represented by stable chlorine compounds that can persist in the soil long years and accumulate in it.

Air pollution

The next major environmental threat is air pollution. Again, it can be called natural factors, for example, volcanic activity, flowering plants, smoke from burning forests or wind erosion. And here anthropogenic impact causes much greater harm to the atmosphere.

Anthropogenic, or technogenic pollution air pollution occurs due to the release of large amounts of certain harmful substances into the atmosphere. The chemical industry causes particular harm in this regard. Thanks to it, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide, hydrocarbons, halogens and other substances are released into the air. By entering into chemical reactions with each other, they are capable of forming very dangerous, highly toxic compounds.

The situation is aggravated by car exhaust. In most large cities, photochemical smog has become common in calm weather.

Pollution of the planet's water supplies

Life on the planet is impossible without water, but in our time, environmental studies have forced scientists to come to the bitter conclusion: anthropological activities have a detrimental effect on the Earth's hydrosphere. Are being reduced natural reserves fresh water, and even the vast World Ocean is today undergoing global changes in its ecosystem, and therefore many marine inhabitants are doomed to extinction.

Particularly alarming is the fact that not only surface waters are polluted, but also underground waters, the condition of which is affected not only by waste industrial enterprises, but also numerous city landfills, sewage drains, waste from livestock complexes, fertilizer and chemical storage facilities. On top of everything else, civilization cannot do without major accidents. Emergency discharges of waste into water bodies are not such a rare occurrence.

Relationship between ecology and other sciences

First of all, ecology is a science that studies environmental problems, and it alone cannot correct the current situation. Now that it has become clear how alarming the situation is in different ecosystems, it becomes even clearer how important the connection between ecology and other sciences is. Without close interaction with medicine, biology, chemistry, physics and some other scientific fields, it will simply be impossible to actively solve environmental problems.

Scientists will have to make joint efforts to try to minimize the harm that humans cause to nature. Scientists different countries They are urgently looking for safe energy sources. In some countries, the share of vehicles powered by electricity has already increased significantly. Much depends on the efforts of chemists; in the new century they will have to radically solve the problem of minimizing the harm of industrial waste. In the decision common problems All areas of ecology must be involved.

Environmental situation in Russia

Unfortunately, the ecology of Russia is far from being better condition. According to authoritative ecologists, our country is one of the three states that most actively pollute the planet’s ecosystem. In addition to Russia, the shameful list also includes China and the United States.

The situation is further aggravated by the fact that while the most developed European countries spend annually up to 6% of their budget on environmental protection measures, in Russia these costs do not even reach 1%. The authorities stubbornly refuse to respond to attempts by environmentalists to draw their attention to the deplorable state of affairs in this area.

Meanwhile, the ecology of Russia is causing concern to the entire world community, since the territories it occupies are truly huge, there are a lot of industrial enterprises, waste is not processed or disposed of properly, and against the backdrop of the economic crisis, all this looks simply threatening.

The influence of ecology on human health

It has already been said above how harmful environmental factors adversely affect human health. First of all, this, of course, concerns children, because this is our future. But what will this future be like if little man from diapers you have to breathe polluted air, eat foods that contain harmful chemical preservatives, drink water only from plastic bottles, etc.?

In recent years, doctors have been emphasizing that the incidence of bronchopulmonary diseases is becoming higher and higher. The number of allergy sufferers is growing, and most of them, again, are children. All over the world there is an increase in diseases associated with immunodeficiency conditions. It can be assumed that if humanity does not come to its senses in the near future and does not try to enter into a peaceful harmonious union with Mother Nature, then in the not too distant future we may suffer the fate of many extinct species. It must be remembered that they are inextricably linked.

2014 is the year of ecology

Every year, many events are held in our country dedicated to educational activities on environmental issues. And 2014 was no exception. Thus, since the beginning of the year, a large-scale competition “National Environmental Award “ERAECO” has been held in Russia. As part of this event, films on environmental topics are shown in different cities of Russia, festivals and lectures are held.

There will also be presentations on eco-building and demonstrations of the capabilities of ecological farms in Moscow and the Moscow region. Eco-lessons were held in schools, during which children were told about environmental problems and various environmental issues were discussed in detail.

The organizers of "ERAECO" are planning to open a mobile ecological mini-laboratory, with the help of which it will be possible to carry out express analyzes of samples taken from water, air and soil. The experts of the laboratory, with the support of environmental specialists, will be schoolchildren of different ages and students.

“Eco-patrol” units will be formed, which will continue their activities not only during the competition, but also after its end. Junior kids school age will also be able to join many interesting events, and after that they will be asked to create a visual report in drawings.

International cooperation in environmental protection

Our planet is one, and despite the fact that people have divided it into many different countries and states, solving pressing environmental issues requires unification. Such cooperation is carried out within the framework of international programs of organizations such as UNESCO and the UN, and is regulated by interstate agreements.

Principles of environmental cooperation were developed. One of them states that the environmental well-being of any state should not be ensured without taking into account the interests of other countries or at their expense. For example, more strong countries It is unacceptable to use the natural resources of underdeveloped world regions.

Another principle proclaims that mandatory control over threatening changes in the environment must be established at all levels and all states are obliged to provide every possible assistance to each other in complex environmental problems and emergency situations.

It is important to realize that only by uniting will humanity be able to save the Earth from the impending ecological collapse. From now on, every citizen of the planet must understand this.

The word "ecology" has become firmly entrenched in today's colloquial speech. It is used to refer to natural processes in general, as a synonym for the state of the environment, and even as a brand. Of course, all this is true. But ecology is also a science, no less worthy of attention than chemistry, biology, and physics. In this article we will try to briefly describe what ecology is from this point of view.

Let's start with a definition. Literally the word itself means "study at home." A “home” for living objects is any habitat, be it a planet, a city, a forest, another living organism, or a moss hummock in a swamp. The definition of ecology is: is a science that studies the interaction of living organisms with each other and with their environment.

A Brief History of Ecology

Alexander von Humboldt is considered to be the “father” of ecology. He was the first to study the relationship between organisms and the environment. He established the dependence of plants on the climate in which they live, described the phenomenon of changing natural zones depending on latitude and altitude above sea level (now called geographic zonation).

Later, Warming Johannes Eugenius created biogeography - a synthesis of botanical geography and zoogeography, a discipline that considers abiotic factors, that is, the effects of inanimate nature, along with biotic factors, that is, those associated with living organisms, from the point of view of the theory of natural selection.

The term “ecology” was introduced by Ernston Haeckel in 1866.

The end of the 19th century was a heyday for ecology, largely due to discoveries in the field of chemistry (primarily due to the discovery of the nitrogen cycle).

In 1875, Eduard Suess proposed the term “biosphere” to designate a system of living organisms covering almost the entire territory of the Earth, and in the 1920s, Vladimir Vernadsky described it in detail in his work “Biosphere” (1926). The same scientist first proposed the concept of “noosphere” to designate a part of the planet that is in one way or another changed by human activity and, from his point of view, is the next stage in the development of the biosphere.

Basic concepts of ecology

The objects of study of ecology are species, populations, biocenoses, biogeocenoses and the biosphere as a whole.

View (lat. species) - taxonomic, systematic unit, a group of individuals with common morphophysiological, biochemical and behavioral signs, capable of mutual crossing, producing fertile offspring in a number of generations, naturally distributed within a certain area and similarly changing under the influence of environmental factors. A species is a really existing unit of the living world, the main structural unit in a system of organisms.

Population (from lat. population- population) is a collection of organisms of the same species living in the same territory. A population is a group of individuals capable of more or less stable self-reproduction (both sexual and asexual), relatively isolated (usually geographically) from other groups, with representatives of which (during sexual reproduction) genetic exchange is potentially possible. From the point of view of population genetics, a population is a group of individuals within which the probability of interbreeding is many times greater than the probability of interbreeding with representatives of other similar groups. Populations are usually spoken of as groups within a species or subspecies.

Biocenosis is a collection of living organisms that occupy a certain territory and are interconnected.

Biogeocenosis is a set of biocenoses, including communities of living organisms and inanimate nature factors in a given territory.

The biosphere is the shell of the Earth occupied by living organisms, under their influence and participating in the process of their life activity. The biosphere is also called the “film of life”.

Environmental factors affecting a living organism are divided into 3 groups:

1. Abiotic – factors of inanimate nature;

2. Biotic – factors of living nature;

3. Anthropogenic – factors of human and technological impact.

Living organisms, as a rule, live in those environmental conditions in which the combination of factors affecting them is most favorable. Both a deficiency and an excess of exposure to any factor have a negative, depressing effect on a living object.

The term “environmental problem,” which we now, unfortunately, hear more and more often, means a change in the natural environment as a result of human impact, leading to a deterioration in the structure and functioning of nature. Environmental problems are divided into:

Atmospheric;

Geological-geomorphological;

Biotic;

Complex.

Despite such names, the cause of any environmental problem is man’s inability to live in harmony with nature, irrational use of resources, and inability to limit needs.

The importance of ecology

“After all, if the stars light up, that means someone needs it?” - this was the question asked by the Soviet poet Vladimir Mayakovsky to his contemporaries. What is the importance of ecology?

Firstly, it summarizes valuable fundamental knowledge about the structure of living and inanimate nature, obtained by us from other sciences, and helps to understand the basic laws of its functioning.

Secondly, ecology can provide an answer to the question that worries the minds of many: why is nature in such a disastrous state these days and how can we change anything?

Thirdly, the results of research by ecologists sometimes find application in the most unexpected, distant areas, such as economics and sociology. It turns out that in a number of cases the behavior of people in a group, changes in the population of a country, and even global economic problems are quite accurately described by already known laws of ecology.

Perhaps humanity is not yet able to correctly evaluate all the discoveries of ecologists. But in the future they are likely to bring real benefits.

Definition of ecology as a science

Ecology (from ancient Greek οἶκος - abode, home, house, property and λόγος - concept, doctrine, science) is the science of the relationships of living organisms and their communities with each other and with the environment. The term was first proposed by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866 in his book “General Morphology of Organisms.”

Objectives: study the problems of survival of living organisms in the environment; Studying the basic patterns of interaction in the system: biosphere-society-technogenic environment and solving environmental problems. Ecological tasks vary depending on the level of organization of living matter being studied. Population ecology explores patterns of population dynamics and structure, as well as interaction processes (competition, predation) between populations of different species. To tasks community ecology (biocenology) includes the study of the patterns of organization of various communities, or biocenoses, their structure and functioning (the circulation of substances and the transformation of energy in food chains). The main theoretical and practical problem ecology - to reveal the general patterns of the organization of life and, on this basis, to develop principles for the rational use of natural resources in the conditions of the ever-increasing influence of man on the biosphere.

Objectives: 1. consider the general laws of interaction between liquids and o.s; 2. analysis of problems about anthropological interaction; 3.know the elements of skills; 4.legal basis of environmental protection.

Ecological methods are divided into field(study of the life of organisms and their communities in natural conditions, i.e. long-term observation in nature using various equipment) and experimental(experiments in stationary laboratories, where it is possible not only to vary, but also to strictly control the influence of any factors on living organisms according to a given program). At the same time, ecologists operate not only biological, but also modern physical and chemical methods, use modeling of biological phenomena, i.e. playback in artificial ecosystems various processes occurring in living nature. Through simulation, you can study the behavior of any system in order to evaluate possible consequences application of various resource management strategies and methods, i.e. for environmental forecasting.

A brief history of the formation of environmental knowledge. Ecology is a relatively young science and is still in its infancy. This is due to the fact that it, to one degree or another, affects almost all spheres of life of living organisms (and their aggregates) and human activity.
The roots of ecology go deep into the ancient history; the entire history of the development of ecology can be divided into five stages.
Stage I - accumulation of environmental information about the interaction of plants and animals with the environment within the framework of botany and zoology. This stage lasted from ancient times until the end of the 18th century.
This stage of ecological development is the longest, and therefore it is divided into 3 periods.
1. The period of ancient Greek philosophers. During this period, accumulated environmental information was reflected in the works of ancient Greek philosophers.
2. The period of ancient Greek stagnation. During this period, the accumulation of environmental information did not occur, since the theological theory of the origin of life was dominant in science and species were considered unchanged, the influence of the environment was generally denied.
3. Renaissance period. During this era, great geographical discoveries served as an impetus for further development various sciences, including ecology.
Stage II – the formation of environmental directions within the framework of botanical and zoological geography. It lasted from the end of the 18th century until mid-19th century. At this stage, the science of biogeography rapidly developed, which consisted of two sections: botanical geography and zoological geography, within the framework of which environmental information was analyzed and, on the basis of this, environmental directions were formed.
Stage III - the formation of plant ecology and animal ecology as sciences about the adaptation of organisms to their environment. This stage lasted from the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. It begins with the publication of I. Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life” in 1859. At this time, E. Haeckel’s work “General Morphology of Organisms” was published.
Stage IV - the formation of ecology as a general biological science, which is the theoretical basis for nature conservation. It lasted from the beginning of the 20th century to the 60s. This stage is significant in that the pace of development of ecology has accelerated significantly and it has emerged as a general biological science. This was facilitated by the emergence and development of new scientific directions. In 1923-27 IN AND. Vernadsky created the doctrine of the biosphere as a global biological system of planet Earth.
Stage V - the development of global ecology with the emphasis within its framework of anthropoecology (human ecology). This stage began in the 60s of the 20th century and continues today. Ecology began to develop at such a powerful pace that it began to penetrate into all areas human knowledge and human activity. Arose frontier sciences: mathematical ecology, environmental biochemistry. Industrial ecology, agricultural ecology, medical ecology, economic ecology, social ecology, etc. have appeared.
The current stage of development of environmental science is characterized by the recognition that environmental problems affect all countries of the world. Priority global problems have been identified, such as changes in the ozone layer of the atmosphere, increased accumulation of carbon dioxide, ocean pollution, which have no political boundaries, and the solution of which is possible only by combining the efforts of scientists from many countries.

Ecology sections

(A.) - a branch of ecology that studies the influence of environmental factors on individual organisms, populations and species (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria). A.'s task is to identify physiological, morphological and other adaptations of species to various environmental conditions: moisture regimes, high and low temperatures, soil salinity (for plants). In recent years, A. has had a new task - studying the mechanisms of organisms' response to various types of chemical and physical pollution (including radioactive pollution) of the environment.
The theoretical basis of A. is its laws.

The first law of A. is the law of optimum: for any environmental factor, any organism has certain limits of distribution (limits of tolerance). As a rule, in the center of a series of factor values, limited by tolerance limits, lies the area of ​​the most favorable conditions life of an organism, during which the largest biomass and high population density are formed. On the contrary, at the boundaries of tolerance there are zones of oppression of organisms, when the density of their populations decreases and species become most vulnerable to the effects of unfavorable environmental factors, including human influence.
The second law of A. is the individuality of the ecology of species: each species is distributed differently for each environmental factor, the distribution curves of different species overlap, but their optimums differ. For this reason, when environmental conditions change in space (for example, from a dry hilltop to a wet ravine) or in time (when a lake dries up, when grazing increases, when rocks become overgrown), the composition of ecosystems changes gradually. The famous Russian ecologist L. G. Ramensky formulated this law figuratively:<Виды - это не рота солдат, марширующих в ногу>.
The third law of A. is the law of limiting (limiting) factors: the most important for the distribution of a species is the factor whose values ​​are at a minimum or maximum. For example, in the steppe zone, the limiting factor for plant development is soil moisture (the value is at a minimum) or soil salinity (the value is at a maximum), and in the forest zone it is its supply of nutrients (the values ​​are at a minimum).
A.'s laws are widely used in agricultural practice, for example, when choosing plant varieties and animal breeds that are most appropriate to grow or breed in a particular area.

Synecology is a branch of ecology that studies the relationships between organisms of various species within a community of organisms. Synecology is often considered as the science of the life of biocenoses, that is, multi-species communities of animals, plants and microorganisms.

Synecology, or the study of plant formations, is divided into the following sections: I. Physiognomic S. has the task of describing plant formations from the point of view of their composition and “physiognomy” (“life forms”). II. Geographical science studies the geographic distribution of formations across regions, across mountain belts, and across geological systems (formations, etc.), which constitute the substrate for vegetation. III. Ecological S. studies the living conditions of a given habitat; individual ecological groups that are part of this formation; the origin of formations, the conditions for maintaining them in equilibrium and the changes undergone by formations. IV. Historical S. studies the floristic elements of individual formations and the history of their immigration.

Demecology (from the Greek demos - people) studies natural groups of individuals of the same species, i.e. populations are elementary supraorganismal macrosystems. Its most important task is to clarify the conditions under which populations are formed, as well as to study intrapopulation groups and their relationships, organization (structure), and dynamics of the number of populations

On the basis of these directions, new ones are being formed: global ecology, which studies the problems of the biosphere as a whole, and socioecology, which studies the problems of the relationship between nature and society. At the same time, the boundaries between directions and sections are quite blurry: directions arise at the junction of such branches of ecology as population ecology and biocenology, or physiological and population ecology. All these areas are closely related to the classical branches of biology: botany, zoology, physiology. At the same time, neglect of traditional naturalistic directions of ecology is rich in negative phenomena and gross methodological errors, which can lead to inhibition of the development of all other directions of ecology.

Thematic material

Ecology is usually considered as a sub-branch of biology, general science about living organisms. Living organisms can be studied using various levels, starting from individual atoms and molecules and ending with populations, biocenoses and the biosphere as a whole. Ecology also studies the environment in which they live and its problems. Ecology is related to many other sciences precisely because it studies the organization of living organisms at a very high level and explores the connections between organisms and their environment. Ecology is closely related to such sciences as biology, chemistry, mathematics, geography, physics, epidemiology, and biogeochemistry.

Recently, interdisciplinary complex areas of research have been actively making themselves known. In particular, environmental ethics was formed at the intersection of ecology and classical ethics, and ethnoecology was formed at the intersection of the interests of ethnography, cultural studies and ecology.

In relation to the subjects of study, ecology is divided into the ecology of microorganisms (prokaryotes), fungi, plants, animals, humans, agricultural, industrial (engineering), and general ecology.
The ecology of land is distinguished by environments and components, fresh water bodies, sea Far North, high mountains, chemical (geochemical, biochemical). According to approaches to the subject, analytical and dynamic ecologies are distinguished.
From the point of view of the time factor, historical and evolutionary ecologies (including archaeology) are considered. In the system of human ecology, social ecology is distinguished (the relationship of social groups of society with their living environment), which differs from the ecology of the individual and the ecology of human populations at the functional-spatial level, equal to synecology, but having the peculiarity that communities of people, in connection with their environment, have a dominant social organization(social ecology is considered for levels from elementary social groups to humanity as a whole).

Currently, the problem of forming an ecological worldview is of particular importance. Gradually an understanding of the role emerges environmental education as the basis of a new morality and support in solving numerous issues of human practical life. Man changes his environment. Nowadays, in the age of scientific and technological progress, when humans have unlimited opportunities to influence nature, ecology becomes especially important. Its achievements are successfully used in agriculture and hunting and fishing, medicine, veterinary medicine, in carrying out measures for nature conservation, and the rational use of its resources. The obvious role of ecology in the development of a number of theoretical problems, in particular those related to the general patterns of migration of matter and energy in the biosphere, to the mechanisms of the evolutionary process, to changes in the structure and organization of living matter. Today on the agenda is the problem of the formation of economic ecology, or ecological economics - the science of biological resources, bioeconomy of the World Ocean and land. Engineering ecology (applied biogeocenology) is also developing successfully. resolving issues eliminating the negative consequences of human intervention in natural communities. Current problems of relationships between man, society and nature in the era of scientific and technological progress are being developed by intensively developing social ecology (human ecology).
In the process of environmental management, certain, often contradictory relationships arise between citizens and industries. Therefore, it is necessary to provide legal support for environmental management, subordination of industrial and economic, individual and social activities legal norms - laws, rules, regulations. All this is the scope of environmental law. Before our eyes, ecology is becoming the theoretical basis for human behavior in an industrial society in nature.

Theory and practice have shown that the environmental component is an integral part of human development. From an environmental point of view, sustainable development must ensure the integrity of biological and physical natural systems. Sustainable development (English: sustainable development - supported development) is the development of society in which human living conditions are improved, and the impact on the environment remains within the economic capacity of the biosphere, so that the natural basis for the functioning of humanity is not destroyed. With sustainable development, needs are met without harm to future generations.

Of particular importance is the viability of ecosystems, on which the global stability of the entire biosphere depends. Moreover, the concept of “natural” systems and habitats can be understood broadly to include human-made environments such as cities. The focus is on preserving the self-healing abilities and dynamic adaptation of such systems to change, rather than preserving them in some “ideal” static state. Degradation of natural resources, pollution and loss of biodiversity reduce the ability of ecological systems to heal themselves

Concept sustainable development is based on three main principles:

1) Ensuring a balance between the economy and the environment, i.e. achieving such a degree of development when people in production or other economic activities stop destroying the environment.

2) Ensuring a balance between the economic and social spheres, taken in its human dimension, which means maximum use in the interests of the population of the resources that economic development provides.

Autecology

a branch of ecology that studies the influence of environmental factors on individual organisms, populations and species (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria). A.'s task is to identify physiological, morphological and other adaptations of species to various environmental conditions: moisture regimes, high and low temperatures, soil salinity (for plants). In recent years, A. has had a new task - studying the mechanisms of organisms' response to various types of chemical and physical pollution (including radioactive pollution) of the environment. The theoretical basis of A. is its laws.

The first law of A. is the law of optimum: for any environmental factor, any organism has certain limits of distribution (limits of tolerance). As a rule, in the center of a series of factor values, limited by tolerance limits, lies the area of ​​the most favorable living conditions of the organism, under which the largest biomass and high population density are formed. On the contrary, at the boundaries of tolerance there are zones of oppression of organisms, when the density of their populations decreases and species become most vulnerable to the effects of unfavorable environmental factors, including human influence (Fig. 3).

The second law of A. is the individuality of the ecology of species: each species is distributed differently for each environmental factor, the distribution curves of different species overlap, but their optimums differ (Fig. 4). For this reason, when environmental conditions change in space (for example, from a dry hilltop to a wet ravine) or in time (when a lake dries up, when grazing increases, when rocks become overgrown, see Ecological succession), the composition of ecosystems changes gradually. The famous Russian ecologist L. G. Ramensky formulated this law figuratively: “Species are not a company of soldiers marching in step.”

The third law of A. is the law of limiting (limiting) factors: the most important for the distribution of a species is the factor whose values ​​are at a minimum or maximum. For example, in the steppe zone, the limiting factor for plant development is soil moisture (the value is at a minimum) or soil salinity (the value is at a maximum), and in the forest zone it is its supply of nutrients (the values ​​are at a minimum).

A.'s laws are widely used in agricultural practice, for example, when choosing plant varieties and animal breeds that are most appropriate to grow or breed in a particular area

Levels of organization of living systems (levels of organization of living matter) - structural organization biosystems, reflecting their level hierarchy depending on the degree of complexity. There are six main structural levels of life: molecular, cellular, organismal, population-species, biogeocenotic and biosphere.

1. Molecular, the most ancient level of the structure of living nature, bordering on inanimate nature. The study of the chemical composition and structure of molecules of complex organic substances that make up the cell (proteins, nucleic acids, etc.). Identification of the role of nucleic acids in the storage of hereditary information, proteins - in the formation of cellular structures, in the life processes of the cell.

Cellular level life, including molecular. The complex structure of the cell, the presence of a membrane, plasma membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm and other organelles; the various vital processes inherent in it: growth, development, division, metabolism. Similar structure and activity of cells of organisms of plants, animals, fungi and bacteria.

Organismal level, including molecular and cellular. The similarity of organisms from different kingdoms of living nature - their cellular structure, similar structure cells and the life processes occurring in them. Differences between plants and animals in structure and methods of nutrition. The connection of organisms with their environment, their adaptability to it.

Population-species - a supra-organismal level of life, which includes the organismal level. Nutritional, territorial and family connections between individuals of a species, their connection with factors of inanimate nature. Confinement of ecological patterns and evolutionary processes to this level.

Biocenotic level of life, which is a community of individuals of different species in a certain territory, connected by various intraspecific and interspecific relationships, as well as factors of inanimate nature. Manifestation of ecological patterns and evolutionary processes at this level

6.Biosphere - the highest level of organization of life. The biosphere is the biological shell of the Earth, the totality of the entire living population. The circulation of substances and the transformation of energy in the biosphere is the basis of its integrity, the role of living organisms in it. The role of solar energy in the circular storage of hereditary information, proteins - in the formation of cellular structures, in the life processes of the cell.

The organism and its living conditions. Organism (Late Lat. organismus from Late Latin organizo- arrange, impart a slender appearance, from ancient Greek. ὄργανον - tool) - a living body that has a set of properties that distinguish it from inanimate matter.

Habitat is a part of nature that surrounds living organisms and has a direct or indirect impact on them. From the environment, organisms receive everything they need for life and secrete metabolic products into it. The environment of each organism is composed of many elements of inorganic and organic nature and elements introduced by man and his production activities. Moreover, some elements may be partially or completely indifferent to the body, others are necessary, and others have a negative effect.

Anthropogenic (anthropic) factors are all forms of activity human society, changing nature as the habitat of living organisms or directly affecting their lives. Identification of anthropogenic factors in separate group due to the fact that currently the fate of the Earth's vegetation and all currently existing species of organisms is practically in the hands of human society. It is also possible to distinguish the following components of the habitat: natural bodies of the habitat, hydroenvironment, air space of the environment, anthropogenic bodies, radiation and gravitational fields of the environment.

An environmental factor is any, further indivisible, environmental condition that affects the organism, at least during one stage of ontogenesis. The environment includes all bodies and phenomena with which the organism is in direct or indirect relationships.

Environmental factors - temperature, humidity, wind, competitors, etc. - are characterized by significant variability in time and space. The degree of variability of each of these factors depends on the characteristics of the habitat. For example, temperatures vary greatly at the land surface but are nearly constant at the ocean floor or deep in caves.

The same environmental factor has different significance in the life of co-living organisms. For example, the salt regime of the soil plays a primary role in the mineral nutrition of plants, but is indifferent to most terrestrial animals. Light intensity and spectral composition Light is extremely important in the life of phototrophic plants, and in the life of heterotrophic organisms (fungi and aquatic animals), light does not have a noticeable effect on their life activity.

Environmental factors affect organisms in different ways. They can act as irritants that cause adaptive changes in physiological functions; as limiters that make it impossible for certain organisms to exist under given conditions; as modifiers that determine morphological and anatomical changes in organisms.

Types of anthropogenic factors

Chemical - the use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, pollution of the Earth's shells with industrial and transport waste; smoking, drinking alcohol and drugs, excessive use of medications.

If in an environment that is a set of interacting factors, there is a factor whose value is less than a certain minimum or greater than a certain maximum, then the manifestation active life organism in this environment is impossible.

TEMPERATURE

Most species of plants and animals are adapted to a fairly narrow range of temperatures. Some organisms, especially in a state of rest or suspended animation, can withstand quite low temperatures. Temperature fluctuations in water are usually less than on land, so the limits of temperature tolerance of aquatic organisms are worse than those of terrestrial organisms. The intensity of metabolism depends on temperature. Basically, organisms live at temperatures from 0 to +50 on the surface of sand in the desert and up to -70 in some areas Eastern Siberia. The average temperature range is from +50 to –50 in terrestrial habitats and from +2 to +27 in the oceans. For example, microorganisms can withstand cooling down to –200, certain types of bacteria and algae can live and reproduce in hot springs at temperatures of + 80, +88.

LIGHT

Light provides all life processes occurring on Earth. For organisms, the wavelength of the perceived radiation, its duration and intensity of exposure are important. For example, in plants, a decrease in day length and light intensity leads to autumn leaf fall.

In relation to light, plants are divided into:

Photophilous - have small leaves, highly branched shoots, a lot of pigment - cereals. But increasing the light intensity beyond the optimum suppresses photosynthesis, so it is difficult to obtain good harvests in the tropics.

In addition to seasonal changes, there are also daily changes in lighting conditions; the change of day and night determines the daily rhythm of the physiological activity of organisms. An important adaptation that ensures the survival of an individual is a kind of “biological clock”, the ability to sense time.

HUMIDITY

Water is a necessary component of the cell, therefore its quantity in certain habitats is a limiting factor for plants and animals and determines the nature of the flora and fauna of a given area.

Excess moisture in the soil leads to waterlogging and the appearance of marsh vegetation. Depending on soil moisture (amount of precipitation), the species composition of vegetation changes. Broad-leaved forests give way to small-leaved, then forest-steppe vegetation. Next is low grass, and at 250 ml per year - desert. Precipitation may not fall evenly throughout the year; living organisms have to endure long-term droughts. For example, plants and animals of savannas, where the intensity of vegetation cover, as well as the intensive nutrition of ungulates, depends on the rainy season.

In nature, daily fluctuations in air humidity occur, which affect the activity of organisms. Between humidity and temperature there is close connection. Temperature has a greater effect on the body when humidity is high or low. Plants and animals have developed adaptations to different humidity levels. For example, in plants, a powerful root system is developed, the leaf cuticle is thickened, the leaf blade is reduced or turned into needles and spines. In saxaul, photosynthesis occurs in the green part of the stem. Plant growth stops during periods of drought. Cacti store moisture in the expanded part of the stem; needles instead of leaves reduce evaporation.

Animals have also developed adaptations that allow them to tolerate a lack of moisture. Small animals - rodents, snakes, turtles, arthropods - obtain moisture from food. The source of water can be a fat-like substance, for example in a camel. In hot weather, some animals - rodents, turtles - hibernate, which lasts for several months. By the beginning of summer, after a short flowering, ephemeral plants can shed their leaves, the above-ground parts die off, and thus experience a period of drought. At the same time, the bulbs and rhizomes are preserved until the next season.

In relation to water, plants are divided:

aquatic plants with high humidity;

semi-aquatic plants, terrestrial-aquatic;

land plants;

plants of dry and very dry places, live in places with insufficient moisture, can tolerate short-term drought;

Dry-loving animals.

Types of adaptations of organisms to fluctuations in temperature, humidity and light:

warm-bloodedness – maintaining a constant body temperature by the body;

hibernation - prolonged sleep of animals in winter time of the year;

anabiosis is a temporary state of the body in which life processes are slowed down to a minimum and all visible signs of life are absent (observed in cold-blooded animals and animals in winter and during hot periods);

frost resistance - the ability of organisms to tolerate negative temperatures;

dormancy is an adaptive property of a perennial plant, which is characterized by the cessation of visible growth and vital activity, the death of ground shoots in herbaceous forms of plants and the fall of leaves in woody forms;

summer dormancy is an adaptive property of early flowering plants (tulip, saffron) in tropical regions, deserts, and semi-deserts.

ENVIRONMENT CAPACITY - 1) the number of individuals or their communities whose needs can be satisfied by the resources of a given habitat without noticeable damage to its further well-being; 2) the ability of the natural environment to include (absorb) various (pollutants) substances while maintaining stability.

Loads on nature within the limits of its capabilities mean its ecological capacity, and loads beyond its capabilities (capacity) lead to a violation of the natural law of ecological balance. The Law "On Environmental Protection" is devoted to the establishment and compliance with maximum permissible standards of load on the environment, taking into account its potential (maximum permissible emissions and discharges, maximum permissible concentrations, maximum permissible levels). Non-compliance or violation of these norms leads to bringing the perpetrators to justice and possible limitation, suspension and termination of the activities of enterprises, production and other activities

15. Demecology (from ancient Greek δῆμος - people), population ecology- a section of general ecology that studies population dynamics, intrapopulation groups and their relationships. Within the framework of demecology, the conditions under which populations are formed are determined. Demecology describes fluctuations in the numbers of various species under the influence of environmental factors and establishes their causes; it considers an individual not in isolation, but as part of a group of similar individuals occupying a certain territory and belonging to the same species.

A population is a part of a species (individuals of the same species), occupying a relatively homogeneous space and capable of self-regulation and maintaining a certain number. Each species within the occupied territory is divided into populations.

Basic characteristics of populations:

Number - the total number of individuals in the allocated territory; 2.population density - the average number of individuals per unit of area or volume of space occupied by a population; 3.birth rate - the number of new individuals that appeared per unit of time as a result of reproduction; 4.mortality is an indicator reflecting the number of individuals who died in a population over a certain period of time; 6.growth rate- average gain per unit of time

16. A population is a part of a species (individuals of the same species), occupying a relatively homogeneous space and capable of self-regulation and maintaining a certain number. Each species within the occupied territory is distributed into populations.

Population size is the total number of individuals of the nth species present in a particular territory. For example, the population of the Usuri tiger numbers about 300 individuals, the Ladoga seal - about 10 thousand, the Asiatic lion - about 70 individuals, and the bison - about 2 thousand.

population density - the average number of individuals per unit of area or volume of space occupied by a population;

Biomass is the total mass of individuals of one species, groups of species or the community as a whole (plants, animals, microorganisms) per unit surface (volume) or location. accommodation (wet or dry). Biomass is expressed in kilograms per hectare, grams per square or cubic meter, or in joules (units of energy). Invertebrates and soil microorganisms have the greatest biomass on land among heterotrophs (the biomass of earthworms can reach 1000-1200 kg/ha); about 90% of the biomass of the biosphere accounts for the biomass of terrestrial plants, which, with the help. photosynthesis - a biosphere process - absorb free energy and ensure the existence of all living things.

(V.s.p.) - the ratio in a population of individuals of different ages. A rapidly growing population usually has a large proportion of juveniles, while a declining population usually has a large proportion of adults and aging individuals.
If the population size grows according to an exponential law (in geometric progression), a constant age composition or, in other words, a stable age structure. V.s.p. is the most important characteristic human populations.