The word “ecology” has become firmly established in colloquial speech these days. 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, and 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) - a taxonomic, systematic unit, a group of individuals with common morphophysiological, biochemical and behavioral characteristics, 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 occupying a certain territory and 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.
In Russia, professor at Moscow University Karl Frantsevich Roulier during 1841-1858. gave an almost complete list of the fundamental problems of ecology, without, however, finding an expressive term to designate this science. He was the first to clearly define the principle of the relationship between the organism and the environment: “Not a single organic being lives on its own; each is called to life and lives only insofar as it is in interaction with a world relatively external to it. This is the law of communication or the duality of life principles, showing “that every living being receives the opportunity to live partly from itself, and partly from appearance.” Developing this principle, K.F. Roulier divides relationships with the environment into two categories: “phenomena of special life” and “phenomena of general life,” which corresponds to modern ideas about ecological processes at the level of the organism and at the level of populations and biocenoses. In published lectures and individual articles, he posed the problems of variability, adaptation, migration, introduced the concept of “station”, considered the influence of man on nature, etc. At the same time, the mechanism of relationships between organisms and the environment K.F. Roulier discussed from positions so close to the classical principles of Charles Darwin that he can rightfully be considered Darwin’s predecessor. Unfortunately, K.F. Roulier died in 1858, a year before the publication of On the Origin of Species. His works are practically unknown abroad, but in Russia they were of great importance, serving as the basis for the formation of a powerful cohort of evolutionary ecologists, some of whom were his direct students (N.A. Severtsov, A.P. Bogdanov, S.A. Usov).
And yet, the beginning of the development of ecology as an independent science should be counted from the works of E. Haeckel, who gave a clear definition of its content. It is only necessary to note that, speaking of “organisms,” E. Haeckel, as was then customary, did not mean individual individuals, but considered organisms as representatives of specific species. Essentially, the main direction formulated by E. Haeckel corresponds to the modern understanding of autecalogy, that of the ecology of individual species. For a long time, the main development of ecology followed the autecological approach. The development of this direction was greatly influenced by the theory of Charles Darwin, which showed the need to study the natural set of species of flora and fauna, which are continuously rebuilt in the process of adaptation to environmental conditions, which is the basis of the process of evolution.
In the middle of the 20th century. Against the background of ongoing work on the study of lifestyle, a series of studies devoted to the physiological mechanisms of adaptation stands out. In Russia, this direction was mainly formed in the 30s by the works of N.I. Kalabukhov and A.D. Slonim. The first of them, a zoologist, came to the need to use physiological methods to study adaptation; the second is a physiologist who understood the need to study the adaptive significance of individual physiological processes. Such ways of forming a physiological direction in ecology are characteristic of world science of that time. The ecological-physiological direction in the ecology of animals and plants, having accumulated a huge amount of factual material, served as the basis for the appearance of a large series of monographs, the “splash”, which occurred in the 60-70s.
At the same time, in the first half of the 20th century. Extensive work began on the study of supraorganismal biological systems. Their basis was the formation of the concept of biocenoses as multi-species communities of living organisms, functionally connected to each other. This concept was mainly created by the works of K. Mobius (1877), S. Forbes (1887), etc. In 1916, F. Clemente showed the dynamism of biocenoses and the adaptive meaning of this; A. Thienemann (1925) proposed the concept of “products”, and Ch. Elgon (1927) published the first textbook-monograph on ecology, in which he clearly highlighted the uniqueness of biocenotic processes, defined the concept of a trophic niche and formulated the rule of ecological pyramids. In 1926, a book by V.I. Vernadsky's "Biosphere", in which the planetary role of the totality of all types of living organisms - "living matter" - was first shown. Since 1935, with the introduction of the concept of ecosystem by A. Tansley, ecological research at the supraorganism level began to develop especially widely; From about this time, the practice that arose at the very beginning of the 20th century began to be practiced. division of ecology into autecology (ecology of individual species) and synecology (ecological processes at the level of multi-species communities, biocenoses). The latter direction made extensive use of quantitative methods for determining the functions of ecosystems and mathematical modeling of biological processes, a direction that later became known as theoretical ecology. Even earlier (1925-1926), A. Lotka and V. Volterra created mathematical models of population growth, competitive relations and interaction between predators and their prey. In Russia (30s) under the leadership of G.G. Vinberg conducted extensive quantitative research on the productivity of aquatic ecosystems. In 1934 G.F. Gause published the book “The struggle for existence” (Baltimore, 1934), in which he experimentally and using mathematical calculations showed the principle of competitive exclusion and explored predator-prey relationships. Ecosystem research remains one of the main directions in ecology in our time. Already in the monograph by C. Elton (1927), the direction of population ecology was clearly identified for the first time. Practically, all studies of the ecosystem level were based on the fact that interspecific relationships in biocenoses are carried out between populations of specific species. Thus, a population direction has been formed within ecology, which is sometimes called demecology.
In the middle of this century it became clear that the population is not just “population”, i.e. the sum of individuals in a certain territory, but an independent biological (ecological) system of a supraorganismal level, which has certain functions and autoregulation mechanisms that support its independence and functional stability. This direction, along with the intensive study of multispecies systems, occupies an important place in modern ecology.
Some researchers believe that population-level studies represent a central problem in ecology. The discovery of the role of multi-species assemblages of living organisms in the implementation of the biogenic cycle of substances and the maintenance of life on Earth has led to the fact that recently ecology is more often defined as the science of supra-organismal biological systems or only of multi-species communities - ecosystems. Apparently, this approach impoverishes the content of ecology, especially if we take into account the close functional connection between the organismal, population and biocenotic levels in global ecological processes.
It is probably more correct to consider ecology as a science about the patterns of formation, development and sustainable functioning of biological systems of various ranks in their relationships with environmental conditions. With this approach, ecology includes all three levels of organization of biological systems: organismal, population and ecosystem; In recent reports, this approach sounds more and more clearly.
the science that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environment. Its focus is on the system of relationships that support all life on earth, the internal relationships of nature.
Excellent definition
Incomplete definition ↓
ECOLOGY
(ecology) From Greek roots meaning "house" and "science". The German scientist Ernst Haeckel viewed ecology as “the science of the relationship between organisms and the environment.” This is a generally accepted definition still in use today. Haeckel first used the word Oekologie (ecology) in the book “General Morphologie” (“Generalle Morphologie”, 1866). At that time, the rapid process of industrialization, which changed the face of England and Germany, and the construction of railroads, accompanied by the economic development of adjacent territories in North America, led to such environmental disasters as the disappearance of the passenger pigeon and the almost complete extermination of the American bison. The "ruler" of the thoughts of the intelligentsia was Charles Darwin's work "The Origin of Species", published in 1859, with its main idea - the evolutionary development of all living things, including humans. The word "ecology" has always been understood in three meanings. Firstly, as an intellectual activity - the study of interaction between subjects of living nature. Secondly, as the system itself, generated by causal relationships between species. And finally, thirdly, the word “ecology” is used (and not necessarily by environmental professionals) to analyze moral criteria and political programs determined by an awareness of the reality of environmental problems. Moral criteria, as a rule, come into conflict with practical human activities that destroy ecological systems, and require a search for ways to establish (or restore) human harmony with nature. The reality of such goals (moreover, their logic), as well as their relationship with the ideas of ecology as a science, are the main subject of political ecology. Political ecology has a long history, although some researchers think it is too short. The political (as opposed to scientific) meaning of the term was determined only in the late 1960s - early 1970s, when Western countries sounded the alarm about the state of the environment. During this period, moral philosophers, notably the Norwegian Arne Naess, began to pay more attention to the practical implications of ecology's findings. Naess distinguishes between “deep” and “shallow” ecology. The first is not “anthropocentric” and recognizes the principles of “biosphere egalitarianism”, “diversity”, “symbiosis” and decentralization. The second implies a purely anthropocentric concern for the cleanliness of the environment and the conservation of natural resources (be it the beauty of nature or oil) for future generations. According to Naess, a person is obliged to take a position of “deep ecology”, if only in order to achieve the modest goals of “shallow ecology”. As he himself says, the characteristics and basic principles of "deep ecology" have not yet been fully clarified, but the research of Naess and other scientists touched on a topic that excited people's minds and stimulated the emergence of a "green" philosophy, which has since developed at various levels - public , polemical and scientific. This movement is heterogeneous, but its dissociation from both liberal capitalism and Marxism-Leninism, often collectively referred to as “industrialism”, is obvious. Of course, “green” philosophy has the right to claim a sharp difference from any initial assumptions of Western political thought before 1970, which, as a rule, were liberal and utilitarian in nature - in other words, they were economic. Both "ecology" and "economics" (derived from Greek roots) mean stewardship - of a home or natural environment - but these words now refer to diametrically opposed views of what that stewardship should be. Political ecology and green philosophy are relatively new terms, but they remind us of long-held views. Most primitive cultures are characterized by a special attitude towards the “green” world, something like a proto-ecological philosophy. People revered nature and sought to live in harmony with the environment. The exception, as many scholars note, was Jewish culture. Genesis 126 affirms the “dominant” position of man, created as something unique, separate from nature, and endowed with unlimited right to rule over all other creatures. Therefore, many “green” writers contrast the pagan respectful attitude towards nature with the “Judeo-Christian” rejection of the ideal of ecological balance in favor of an anthropocentric theology of man and God, separated from the rest of creation and dominating it, except for the statements of the opposite nature of St. Benedict and (especially) St. Francis. Any type of political ecology is based on a doctrine that can be generally called the “ecological fall of man,” i.e. on the idea that humanity is capable of living, and once lived, in harmony with nature, but at a certain stage this harmony was violated. One of the generally accepted versions of the Fall is the replacement of paganism with Christianity, first in Europe, and later in other regions where European colonialists reached. One of the traditionally Germanic creeds attributes the disharmony between man and nature to Jewish influence. This point of view, in particular, is expressed by Ludwig Feuerbach in “The Essence of Christianity”. Combined with racial theory, this approach contributed to the emergence of anti-Semitism by Richard Wagner, H.S. Chamberlain and the Nazis. The Nazi Reichsnaturschutzgesetz, a set of environmental laws (1935), was the prototype for environmental legislation. Rudolf Hess, the party's second-in-command, and Walter Darré, the minister of agriculture, believed in "biodynamic" (or organic) farming, but this side of Nazi thought began to lose its appeal as early as 1939, as soon as the theory began to be put into practice. Some English writers, such as the novelist Henry Williamson, were attracted by the purely naturalist aspects of Nazi views. But more typical was the attitude of J. R. R. Tolkien, who saw Nazism as a “perverted” version of German natural laws. Another important line of thought is the recognition of the Anglo-Saxons' close connection with nature and their attitude towards Norman feudalism as an ecological fall from grace. John Massingham, K.S. Lewis and Sir Arthur Bryant are writers who felt an extraordinary kinship with the England of the Saxons: according to Massingham, the Saxons, close to nature, replaced the proto-capitalist exploiters of the Romans, and were later supplanted by the Normans, but they quietly recovered and gave medieval England their own values, trampled underfoot by the Tudor capitalist bureaucracy. Perhaps the most reactionary version of the ecological fall was propagated in the 1970s. Edward Goldsmith when he was editor of the magazine ("The Ecologist"). According to him, people passionately desire to live in harmony with nature, but they could realize this desire only when they were hunter-gatherers; any form of agricultural and industrial society violates the ecological balance. This brings us back to the central problem of environmental political theory. Scientific research does not allow us to either build an environmentally stable model or put forward a coherent theory of the harmonizing role of man in the ecological system. They rather lead to the construction of a Darwinian model (Darwinism) of an unstable evolving system in which man (and not only him) radically changes the living conditions of most other species, reducing the chances of survival of some and, perhaps, increasing the chances of most others. A person cannot live in harmony with nature if this implies his passive ecological role; he also cannot help but change the ecological system as the habitat of other species (all species play such a role without exception). On two-thirds of the land (and if you exclude polar and desert regions, almost all of the land), humans have radically changed ecological systems. He could not leave nature untouched, for example in the English countryside. Now nature is in many ways our own creation, and cannot exist without our intervention. Any independent ethical doctrine will not be ecological in itself; ethical aspects of man's role in nature must come from outside. Haeckel, in particular, introduced the religious factor into his system; he argued: “Any science as such is a phenomenon of nature and mental activity. This is the unshakable principle of monism, which, as a religious principle, could be called pantheism. Man is not above nature, he inside her." However, this is a religion only in form, it has no content. The pantheistic God left no instructions about whether rivers should be dammed or forests planted. One of the modern environmental theorists with a developed imagination draws our attention to the ecological paradox. James Lovelock's essay "GAIA: A New Look at Life on Earth" states that earthly existence (not talking about the Earth and human life) is a self-sustaining system of systems, which a person is unable to bring either significant harm or significant benefit, although it can affect his own chances of survival. For Lovelock, pollution is “the most natural thing in the world,” and nuclear energy is inherently no different from any other energy source. In his opinion, it is in the interests of man to be guided by feelings of admiration and sacred awe for the natural world. This idea resonates with Naess's idea that ethical premises are simply "instilled, inspired and reinforced" by the nature of ecology. Individual or collective approaches cannot be ecologically right or wrong in themselves. However, there are very compelling arguments in favor of a more general recommendation, which is that when considering environmental problems, we should think not only about the detailed environmental consequences of our decisions, but also about the nature of ecology.
1-ticket. Ecology. Founder of ecology.
Ecology studies the conditions of existence of living organisms with the environment. Ecology as a science was formed in the mid-19th century, when an understanding arose that not only the structure and development of organisms, but also their relationships with their environment are subject to certain patterns. In 1866, the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel proposed the term “ecology” and also clearly formulated its content. The birth of ecology as an independent science took place by the beginning of 1900. But already the 20-30s of the twentieth century are called the “golden age” of ecology. By the end of the twentieth century, there was an opinion that ecology as a science goes beyond biology, is interdisciplinary and stands at the intersection of biological, geological-geographical, technical and socio-economic sciences.
2-ticket. The contribution of scientists to the development of ecology. 1866 - Haeckel coined the term "ecology".
In 1798, T. Malthus described the equation for exponential population growth. The equation for logistic population growth was proposed by P.F. Verkhlyust in 1838. French doctor W. Edwards in 1824 published the book “The Influence of Physical Factors on Life,” which laid the foundation for the environmental and
comparatively physiology, and J. Liebig (1840) formulated the famous “Law of the Minimum”.
In Russia, Professor Karl Frantsevich Roulier in 1841-1858. gave an almost complete list of the fundamental problems of ecology, but did not find an expressive term to designate this science.
Discussing the mechanisms of relationships between organisms and the environment, Roulier came very close to the classical principles of Charles Darwin, which can rightfully be considered Darwin’s predecessor. Ecology was studied by soil scientist and geographer V.V. Dokuchaev (1846-1903), who showed the close relationship between living organisms and nonliving
nature using the example of soil formation and the identification of natural zones. You can also name other scientists who contributed to the creation of ecology as a science - these are G.F. Morozov, V.I. Vernadsky, V.N. Sukachev and others. Of the contemporaries who devoted themselves to and contributed to the development of ecology, we can name whole galaxies researchers, many of whom are authors of monographs, textbooks and teaching aids. These are D.N. Kashkarov, Ch. Elton, N.P. Naumov, S.S. Shvarts, M.S. Gilyarov, F. Clements, V. Lahrer, Y. Odum, Bigon, Dazho, Whittaker and many others.
3-ticket. Modern ecology: subject, object and purpose of research. The goal of modern ecology is the preservation and development of the human, social and natural subsystems of the Earth. The subject of ecology is the structure of connections between an organism and the environment.
The object of study of ecology is ecosystems.
4-ticket. Systems and properties of systems. Ecology as a science examines systems - links and members, which are closely interconnected and interdependent. A system is a collection of elements connected and interacting with each other in a certain way, i.e. any object
can be represented as the result of the interaction of its constituent parts, and therefore can be considered a system. The parts of a system are called the elements of the system, which can be physical, chemical, biological or a mixture. The universal property of an ecosystem is – emergence(from the English emergens - emergence, appearance), the emergence of new properties of the system as a whole, which is not a simple sum of the properties that make up its parts or elements. For example, one tree, like a sparse tree stand, does not constitute a forest, since it does not create a specific environment (soil cover, hydrological regime, microclimate) and the interconnection of various links characteristic of a forest. Underestimation of emergence leads to major miscalculations in human intervention in the life of ecosystems. For example, agricultural fields (agrocenoses) have a low coefficient
emergence and are therefore characterized by low capacity for self-regulation and sustainability. In them, due to the poverty of the species composition of organisms, connections are extremely insignificant and therefore there is a high probability
intensive reproduction of certain undesirable species (weeds, pests). A distinctive feature of any system is the presence of an input and an output, and a certain change in the input value entails a certain change in the output value.
Typically there are three types of systems:
1) closed, which do not exchange with neighboring systems
matter, nor energy;
2) closed, which exchange energy with the neighboring system, but
not a substance;
3) open, which exchange with neighboring systems and matter
and energy.
5. Systems. Characteristic features. The system has various properties (question No. 4), is divided into 3 types (question No. 4), and there are different properties in it. communications (question No. 6), and there are also laws of system behavior (question No. 7).
6-ticket. COMMUNICATIONS IN SYSTEMS.Straight- this is a connection in which one element (A) acts on
the other (B) without a response (A → B). An example is the effect of the tree layer of a forest on a herbaceous plant that accidentally grows under its canopy. Or the effect of the solar system on earthly processes. At reverse connection, element “B” responds to the action of element “A”. Feedback can be positive or negative. Positive feedback leads to intensification of the process in one
direction. Example: swamping of an area, for example, after clearing
Law of behavior
Properties
ENTRANCE EXIT forest. Removing the forest canopy and compacting the soil usually leads to the accumulation of water on the soil surface. This, in turn, makes it possible for moisture-accumulating plants to settle here, for example, sphagnum mosses, whose water content is 25-30 times greater than their body weight. The process begins to operate in one direction: increased moisture → depletion of oxygen → slowed down decomposition of plant residues → accumulation of peat → further increased waterlogging.
Feedback negative feedback acts in such a way that in response to an increase in the action of element “A”, the force of action of element “B” in the opposite direction increases. This connection allows the system to be maintained in a state of stable dynamic equilibrium, called homeostasis ( homois is the same, statos-state), i.e. the principle of balance. Homeostasis is a mechanism by which a living organism, counteracting external influences, maintains the parameters of its internal environment at such a constant level that ensures its normal functioning (blood pressure, pulse rate, concentration of salts in the body, temperature, etc.). If the functioning of this mechanism is disrupted, then the resulting discomfort in the body can lead to its death.
7-ticket.Laws of system behavior
So, according to the law of internal dynamic equilibrium, matter, energy, information and the quality of the biosphere as a whole are interconnected and any change in one of these indicators causes a change in all other indicators. Those. comes into effect Le Chatelier-Brown principle: when an external influence takes the system out of a state of stable equilibrium, this equilibrium shifts in the direction in which the effect of the external influence is weakened. In accordance with the above principle, these changes occur in a direction that ensures the preservation of the total sum of material-energy and dynamic qualities of systems, i.e. its stability. In this way, ecosystems resist impacts that disrupt their stability. But if the anthropogenic load exceeds nature’s ability to self-purify and self-heal, the Le Chatelier-Brown principle will cease to apply. And then this can lead to the complete destruction of the corresponding ecosystem or the biosphere as a whole.
8-Ticket. Characteristic feature (of ecosystems) An ecosystem is a single natural or natural-anthropogenic complex that acts as a functional whole and is formed by living organisms and habitat.
Any ecosystem consists of two blocks. One of them is represented by a complex of interconnected living organisms - a biocenosis, and the second by environmental factors - a biotope or ecotope. In this case, we can write: ecosystem = biocenosis + biotope (ecotope).
The basic concept and basic taxonomic unit in ecology is the ecosystem.
This term was introduced into science in 1935 by the English botanist-ecologist A. Tansley.
An ecosystem is understood as any community of living beings and their habitats, united into a single functional whole.
9-ticket. Block model of biogeocenosis (according to Sukachev)
In order for ecosystems to function (exist) indefinitely and as a single whole, they must have the properties of binding and releasing energy, as well as the circulation of substances. The ecosystem, in addition, must have mechanisms to withstand external influences (disturbances, interference) and extinguish them. To reveal these mechanisms, we will get acquainted with various types of structures and other characteristics (properties) of ecosystems.
Block model of ecosystem. Any ecosystem consists of two blocks. One of them is represented by a complex of interconnected living organisms - a biocenosis, and the second - by environmental factors - a biotope or ecotope. In this case, we can write: ecosystem = biocenosis + biotope (ecotope). V.N. Sukachev depicted the block model in the rank of biogeocenosis in the form of a diagram in Fig. 2.
This figure allows you to visualize how the concepts of “ecosystem” and “biogeocoenosis” differ, which we paid attention to in the section “Basic concepts...”. Biogeocenosis, according to V.N. Sukachev, includes all the named blocks and links. This concept is usually used in relation to land systems. In biogeocenoses, the presence of a plant community (phytocenosis) as the main link is mandatory. Examples of biogeocenoses are homogeneous areas of forest, meadows, steppes, swamps, etc.
Ecosystems may not have a plant link. Such an example is systems formed on the basis of decomposing organic residues, trees rotting in the forest, animal corpses, etc. In them, the presence of zoocenosis and microbiocenosis or only microbiocenosis, capable of carrying out the circulation of substances, is sufficient.
Thus, every biogeocenosis can be called an ecosystem, but not every ecosystem belongs to the rank of biogeocenosis.
To remove terminological ambiguities, V. N. Sukachev’s co-author on the formation of the science of biogeocenology - Professor V. N. Dylis - figuratively defined biogeocenosis as an ecosystem, but only within the framework of phytocenosis.
Biogeocenoses and ecosystems can also differ in terms of the time factor (duration of existence). Any biogeocenosis is potentially immortal, since it is constantly replenished with energy due to the activity of plant photo- or chemosynthetic organisms. At the same time, ecosystems without a plant link end their existence simultaneously with the release of all the energy contained in it during the decomposition of the substrate. It must, however, be borne in mind that at present the terms “ecosystem” and “biogeocenosis” are often considered synonymous.
10-TICKET. Classification according to Odum (ecosystems)
Since energy is the main driving force of all ecosystems, the energy principle is the basis for their classification. According to Yu. Odum (1989), four types of ecosystems are distinguished:
Natural ecosystems that receive only solar energy. These are open oceans, large areas of mountain forests, deep lakes. They occupy more than 70% of the world's area and have low productivity. However, their importance on the planet is great, since they participate in the water cycle, form the climate, purify the air, and maintain the homeostasis of the biosphere.
Natural ecosystems that receive energy from the Sun and other natural energy sources. In addition to the Sun, they use the energy of wind, rain, tides, surf, and currents. An example of such an ecosystem is estuaries.
Ecosystems that receive energy from the Sun, as well as from humans. For example, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, about which Y. Odum wrote that bread, rice, corn, potatoes are partly made from oil (Odum, 1989).
Artificial ecosystems exist thanks to the energy of the Sun. This is an industrial urban ecosystem.
Ecosystems can be divided into terrestrial and aquatic, or into ecosystems whose food chains begin with producers, and ecosystems whose food chains begin with detritivorous organisms.
11-ticket. Properties and types (ecosystems):
Properties:
Contribute to the circulation of substances in nature;
Counteract external influences;
Produce biological products.
Aquatic ecosystems are rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps - freshwater ecosystems, as well as seas and oceans - bodies of salt water.
Terrestrial ecosystems are tundra, taiga, forest, forest-steppe, steppe, semi-desert, desert, mountain ecosystem.
12-ticket. Ecosystem and biogeocenosis. Commonality and difference
The term “biogeocenosis”, introduced by Academician V.N., has a similar meaning. Sukachev.
The concept of “biogeocenosis” usually includes land natural systems, where vegetation cover (phytocenosis) is necessarily present as the main link. Based on this, every biogeocenosis can be called an ecosystem, but not every ecosystem can be classified as a biogeocenosis.
A concept close in meaning is an ecosystem - a system consisting of interconnected communities of organisms of different species and their habitat. Ecosystem is a broader concept that refers to any such system. Biogeocenosis, in turn, is a class of ecosystems, an ecosystem that occupies a certain area of land and includes the main components of the environment - soil, subsoil, vegetation, ground layer of the atmosphere. Aquatic ecosystems and most artificial ecosystems are not biogeocenoses. Thus, every biogeocenosis is an ecosystem, but not every ecosystem is a biogeocenosis. To characterize biogeocenosis, two similar concepts are used: biotope and ecotope (factors of inanimate nature: climate, soil). A biotope is a set of abiotic factors within the territory occupied by a biogeocenosis. An ecotope is a biotope that is influenced by organisms from other biogeocenoses. In terms of content, the ecological term “biogeocenosis” is identical to the physical-geographical terminology.
Biogeocenoses and ecosystems can also differ in terms of the time factor (duration of existence). Any biogeocenosis is potentially immortal, since it is constantly replenished with energy due to the activity of plant photo- or chemosynthetic organisms. At the same time, ecosystems without a plant link end their existence simultaneously with the release of all the energy contained in it during the decomposition of the substrate. It must, however, be borne in mind that at present the terms “ecosystem” and “biogeocenosis” are often considered synonymous.
13.Environmental factors. Classification
14-ticket.Adaptation.Types and examples Adaptation is the adaptation of the structure, functions of organs and the body as a whole, as well as the population of living beings, to environmental changes. There are genotypic and phenotypic adaptation. The first is based on the mechanisms of mutations, variability, and natural selection. They caused the formation of modern species of animals and plants. Phenotypic adaptation is a process that occurs during an individual's life. As a result, the body acquires resistance to any environmental factor. This allows him to exist in conditions significantly different from normal. In physiology and medicine, this is also the process of maintaining the normal functional state of homeostatic systems that ensure development, preservation of normal human performance and vital activity in extreme conditions. There are also complex and cross adaptations. Complex adaptations arise in natural conditions, for example, to the conditions of certain climatic zones, when the human body is influenced by a complex of pathogenic factors (in the North, low temperature, low atmospheric pressure, changes in daylight hours, etc.). Cross or cross adaptations are adaptations in which the development of resistance to one factor increases resistance to a concomitant one. There are two types of adaptive adaptive reactions. The first type is called passive. These reactions manifest themselves at the cellular-tissue level and consist in the formation of a certain degree of resistance or tolerance to changes in the intensity of the action of any pathogenic environmental factor, for example, low atmospheric pressure. This allows you to maintain normal physiological activity of the body with moderate fluctuations in the intensity of this factor. The second type of device is active. This type involves the activation of specific adaptive mechanisms. In the latter case, adaptation occurs according to the resistive type. Those. due to active resistance to influence. If the intensity of the influence of a factor on the body deviates from the optimal value in one direction or another, but the parameters of homeostasis remain quite stable, then such zones of fluctuation are called normal zones. There are two similar zones. One of them is located in the area of lack of factor intensity, the other in the area of excess. Any shift in factor intensity outside the normal zones causes overload of adaptive mechanisms and disruption of homeostasis. Therefore, pessimum zones are distinguished outside the normal zones
There are two stages in the adaptation process: urgent and long-term. The first, initial, provides imperfect adaptation. It begins from the moment of action of the stimulus and is carried out on the basis of existing functional mechanisms (for example, increased heat production during cooling). The long-term stage of adaptation develops gradually, as a result of prolonged or repeated exposure to environmental factors. It is based on the repeated activation of urgent adaptation mechanisms and the gradual accumulation of structural changes. An example of long-term adaptation is changes in the mechanisms of heat generation and heat transfer in cold climates. The phenotypic basis is a complex of successive morphophysiological rearrangements aimed at maintaining the constancy of the internal environment. The main link in adaptation mechanisms is the connection between physiological functions and the genetic apparatus of cells. Under the influence of extreme environmental factors, the load on the functional system increases. This leads to increased synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins in the cells of the organs included in the system. As a result, a structural trace of adaptation is formed in them. The apparatuses of these cells are activated, performing basic functions: energy metabolism, transmembrane transport, signaling. It is this structural trace that is the basis of long-term phenotypic adaptation.
However, adaptation mechanisms make it possible to compensate for changes in environmental factors only within certain limits and for a certain time. As a result of exposure to factors on the body that exceed the capabilities of adaptation mechanisms, disadaptation develops. It leads to dysfunction of body systems. Consequently, there is a transition from an adaptive reaction to a pathological one – a disease. An example of diseases of disadaptation are cardiovascular diseases in non-indigenous residents of the North.
15-TICKET.Biological activity of the body. Analysis. The quantitative expression (dose) of a factor that meets the needs of the body and provides the most favorable conditions for its life is considered optimal. On the scale of quantitative changes in the factor, the range of fluctuations corresponding to the specified conditions constitutes the optimum zone. Specific adaptive mechanisms characteristic of a species give the body the ability to tolerate certain deviations from optimal values without disrupting normal body functions. These zones are defined as zones of norms, such as you see two, respectively, a deviation from the optimum in the direction of insufficient expression of the factor and in the direction of its excess. A further shift towards a deficiency or excess of a factor reduces the effectiveness of adaptive mechanisms and, as a result, disrupts the vital functions of the body - this can manifest itself in the form of slowing down and stopping growth, disruption of the reproduction cycle, improper molting, etc. On the curve, this state corresponds to pessimum zones with extreme deficiency or excess of the factor. Life is impossible outside these zones.
Species that tolerate large deviations of the factor from optimal values are designated by a term containing the name of the factor with the prefix evry. For example, eurythermal animals and plants are organisms that tolerate large temperature fluctuations and are therefore resistant to this factor.
Species that are less resistant to changes in the factor are designated by a term with the same root, but with the prefix steno (from the Greek - narrow). Thus, stenothermic organisms are species that are unstable to temperature changes. Stenohaline species are mainly amphibious and freshwater organisms that cannot tolerate large changes in water salinity. For the development of coconut palm seedlings, a temperature of not lower than 26 ° C and not higher than 41 ° C is required for the Siberian larch, the average temperature of the growing season should be no higher than 16°C. For the normal existence of terrestrial animals and humans, both lower and upper limits of temperature, illumination, oxygen concentration in the air, atmospheric pressure, etc. have been determined. In relation to a person, the concept of “subsistence minimum” is applied, but there is no true concept of “subsistence maximum”; from an environmental point of view, it should also exist.
16-TICKET Interrelations of organisms according to “interests”. Relationships are classified according to “interests” on the basis of which organisms build their relationships. The most common type of connections is based on the interests of nutrition - food or trophic, which means the feeding of one organism by another, the products of its vital activity or similar food. This includes pollination of plants by insects - entomophilous (rafflesia) or birds, ornithophilous (hummingbird-orchid). On the basis of trophic connections, food chains arise - grazing and detritus, when some organisms feed on others.
The next type of connections is phoric, which occurs when some organisms participate in the distribution of others or their rudiments (seeds, fruits, spores).
The factory type of connections is also distinguished; it characterizes the use by some organisms of others or their waste products or parts. For example, the use of plants, feathers, wool, down to build nests, shelters, etc.
17-TICKET. Organisms. Relationships. This classification is based on the principle of the influence that organisms have on other organisms in the process of mutual contacts.
Ecology is the science that studies the life of various organisms in their natural habitat, or environment. The environment is everything living and nonliving around us. Your own environment is everything you see, and much of what you don't see around you (like what you breathe). It is basically unchanged, but its individual details are constantly changing. Your body is, in a sense, also an environment for many thousands of tiny creatures - bacteria that help you digest food. Your body is their natural habitat.
General characteristics of ecology as a branch of general biology and complex science
At the present stage of development of civilization, ecology is a complex integrated discipline based on various areas of human knowledge: biology, chemistry, physics, sociology, environmental protection, various types of technology, etc.
The concept of “ecology” was first introduced into science by the German biologist E. Haeckel (1886). This concept was originally purely biological. Literally translated, “ecology” means “the science of housing” and implied the study of the relationships between various organisms in natural conditions. Currently, this concept has become very complicated and different scientists put different meanings into this concept. Let's look at some of the proposed concepts.
1. According to V. A. Radkevich: “Ecology is a science that studies the patterns of life of organisms (in all its manifestations, at all levels of integration) in their natural habitat, taking into account changes introduced into the environment by human activity.” This concept corresponds to biological science and cannot be considered fully consistent with the field of knowledge that ecology studies.
2. According to N.F. Reimers: “Ecology (universal, “big”) is a scientific direction that considers a certain set of natural and partly social (for humans) phenomena and objects that are significant for the central member of the analysis (subject, living object) from the point of view view of the interests (with or without quotation marks) of this central subject or living object.” This concept is universal, but it is difficult to perceive and reproduce. It shows the diversity and complexity of environmental science at the present stage.
Currently, ecology is divided into several areas and scientific disciplines. Let's look at some of them.
1. Bioecology is a branch of biological science that studies the relationships of organisms with each other; habitat and the impact of human activities on these organisms and their habitat.
2. Population ecology (demographic ecology) - a branch of ecology that studies the patterns of functioning of populations of organisms in their habitat.
3. Autecology (autoecology) - a branch of ecology that studies the relationship of an organism (individual, species) with the environment.
4. Synecology is a branch of ecology that studies the relationships of populations, communities and ecosystems with the environment.
5. Human ecology is a complex science that studies the general laws of the relationship between the biosphere and the anthroposystem, the influence of the natural environment (including the social) on an individual and groups of people. This is the most complete definition of human ecology; it can be attributed to both the ecology of an individual and the ecology of human populations, in particular, to the ecology of various ethnic groups (peoples, nationalities). Social ecology plays a major role in human ecology.
6. Social ecology is a multi-valued concept, one of which is the following: a section of ecology that studies the interactions and relationships of human society with the natural environment, developing the scientific foundations of rational environmental management, involving the protection of nature and the optimization of the human living environment.
There are also applied, industrial, chemical, oncological (carcinogenic), historical, evolutionary ecology, ecology of microorganisms, fungi, animals, plants, etc.
All of the above shows that ecology is a complex of scientific disciplines that have Nature as an object of study, taking into account the interrelation and interaction of individual components of the living world in the form of individuals, populations, individual species, the relationship of ecosystems, the role of individuals and humanity as a whole, as well as ways and means of rational environmental management, measures to protect Nature.
Relationships
Ecology is the study of how plants and animals, including humans, live together and influence each other and their environment. Let's start with you. Consider how you are connected to the environment. What do you eat? Where do you throw waste and garbage? What plants and animals live near you. The way you impact the environment has an impact on you and everyone who lives around you. The relationships between you and them form a complex and extensive network.
Habitat
The natural environment of a group of plants and animals is called a habitat, and the group living in it is called a community. Turn the stone over and see what lives on the floor above it. Nice little communities are always part of larger communities. Thus, a stone can be part of a stream if it lies on its bank, and the stream can be part of the forest in which it flows. Each major habitat is home to a variety of plants and animals. Try to find several different types of habitats around you. Look around: up, down - in all directions. But do not forget that you must leave life as you found it.
Current state of environmental science
The term “ecology” was first used in 1866 in the work of the German biologist E. Haeckel “The General Morphology of Organisms.” An original evolutionary biologist, physician, botanist, zoologist and morphologist, supporter and propagandist of the teachings of Charles Darwin, he not only introduced a new term into scientific use, but also applied all his strength and knowledge to the formation of a new scientific direction. The scientist believed that “ecology is the science of the relationship of organisms to the environment.” Speaking at the opening of the philosophical faculty of the University of Jena with a lecture “The path of development and tasks of zoology” in 1869, E. Haeckel noted that ecology “examines the general attitude of animals to both their organic and inorganic environments, their friendly and hostile attitudes towards others animals and plants with which they come into direct and indirect contact, or, in a word, all those intricate interactions that Charles Darwin conventionally designated as the struggle for existence.” By environment he understood the conditions created by inorganic and organic nature. Haeckel included the physical and chemical characteristics of the habitats of living organisms as inorganic conditions: climate (heat, humidity, light), composition and soil, characteristics, as well as inorganic food (minerals and chemical compounds). By organic conditions, the scientist meant the relationships between organisms existing within the same community or ecological niche. The name of ecological science comes from two Greek words: “ekoe” - house, dwelling, habitat and “logos” - word, doctrine.
It should be noted that E. Haeckel and many of his followers used the term “ecology” not to describe changing environmental conditions and the relationships between organisms and the environment changing over time, but only to record existing, unchanged environmental conditions and phenomena. As S.V. Klubov and L.L. Prozorov (1993) believe, the physiological mechanism of the relationship between living organisms was actually studied, their relationship to the environment was highlighted exclusively within the framework of physiological reactions.
Ecology existed within the framework of biological science until the middle of the 20th century. The emphasis in it was on the study of living matter, the patterns of its functioning depending on environmental factors.
In the modern era, the ecological paradigm is based on the concept of ecosystems. As is known, this term was introduced into science by A. Tansley in 1935. An ecosystem means a functional unity formed by a biotope, i.e. a set of abiotic conditions and the organisms inhabiting it. The ecosystem is the main object of study of general ecology. The subject of its knowledge is not only the laws of formation of the structure, functioning, development and death of ecosystems, but also the state of the integrity of systems, in particular their stability, productivity, circulation of substances and energy balance.
Thus, within the framework of biological science, general ecology took shape and finally emerged as an independent science, which is based on the study of the properties of the whole, which cannot be reduced to a simple sum of the properties of its parts. Consequently, ecology in the biological content of this term implies the science of the relationships of plant and animal organisms and the communities they form among themselves and with the environment. Objects of bioecology can be genes, cells, individuals, populations of organisms, species, communities, ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole.
The formulated laws of general ecology are widely used in so-called private ecologies. In the same way as in biology, unique taxonomic directions are developing in general ecology. The ecology of animals and plants, the ecology of individual representatives of the flora and fauna (algae, diatoms, certain genera of algae), the ecology of the inhabitants of the World Ocean, the ecology of communities of individual seas and water bodies, the ecology of certain areas of water bodies, the ecology of land animals and plants, the ecology of freshwater communities of individual rivers and reservoirs (lakes and reservoirs), ecology of inhabitants of mountains and hills, ecology of communities of individual landscape units, etc.
Depending on the level of organization of the living matter of ecosystems as a whole, the ecology of individuals (autoecology), the ecology of populations (demecology), the ecology of associations, the ecology of biocenoses and the ecology of communities (synecology) are distinguished.
When considering the levels of organization of living matter, many scientists believe that its lowest ranks - genome, cell, tissue, organ - are studied by purely biological sciences - molecular genetics, cytology, histology, and the highest ranks - organism (individual), species, population, association and biocenosis - both biology and physiology, and ecology. Only in one case are the morphology and systematics of individual individuals and the communities they form considered, and in the other - their relationship with each other and with the environment.
To date, the environmental direction has covered almost all existing areas of scientific knowledge. Not only natural sciences, but also purely humanities, when studying their objects, began to widely use environmental terminology and, most importantly, research methods. Many “ecologies” have emerged (environmental geochemistry, environmental geophysics, environmental soil science, geoecology, environmental geology, physical and radiation ecology, medical ecology and many others). In this regard, a certain structuring was carried out. Thus, in his works (1990-1994) N. F. Reimers made an attempt to present the structure of modern ecology.
The structure of Ecological Science looks simpler from other methodological positions. The structuring is based on the division of ecology into four largest and at the same time fundamental areas: bioecology, human ecology, geoecology and applied ecology. All of these areas use almost the same methods and methodological foundations of a unified ecological science. In this case, we can talk about analytical ecology with its corresponding divisions into physical, chemical, geological, geographical, geochemical, radiation and mathematical, or systemic, ecology.
Within the framework of bioecology, there are two equally important and important areas: endoecology and exoecology. According to N.F. Reimers (1990), endoecology includes genetic, molecular, morphological and physiological ecologies. Exoecology includes the following areas: autoecology, or the ecology of individuals and organisms as representatives of a certain species; demecology, or ecology of individual groups; population ecology, which studies the behavior and relationships within a particular population (ecology of individual species); synecology, or ecology of organic communities; ecology of biocenoses, which considers the relationship of communities or populations of organisms that make up the biocenosis with each other and with the environment. The highest rank of exoecological direction is the study of ecosystems, the study of the biosphere and global ecology. The latter covers all areas of existence of living organisms - from the soil cover to the troposphere inclusive.
An independent area of environmental research is human ecology. In fact, if we strictly adhere to the rules of the hierarchy, this direction should be an integral part of bioecology, in particular as an analogue of autoecology within the framework of animal ecology. However, given the enormous role that humanity plays in the life of the modern biosphere, this direction is singled out as independent. In human ecology, it is advisable to distinguish the evolutionary ecology of man, archaeoecology, which considers the relationship of man with the environment since the times of primitive society, the ecology of ethnosocial groups, social ecology, environmental demography, the ecology of cultural landscapes and medical ecology.
In the middle of the 20th century. In connection with in-depth studies of the human environment and the organic world, scientific directions of ecological orientation arose, closely related to the geographical and geological sciences. Their goal is to study not the organisms themselves, but only their reaction to changing environmental conditions and to trace the reverse impact of the activities of human society and the biosphere on the environment. These studies were united within the framework of geoecology, which was given a purely geographical direction. However, it seems appropriate to distinguish at least four independent areas within both geological and geographical ecologies - landscape ecology, ecological geography, ecological geology and space (planetary) ecology. It should be especially emphasized that not all scientists agree with this division.
Within the framework of applied ecology, as its name suggests, multidimensional environmental issues related to purely practical problems are considered. It includes commercial ecology, i.e., environmental research related to the extraction of certain biological resources (valuable species of animals or wood), agricultural ecology and engineering ecology. The last branch of ecology has many aspects. The objects of study of engineering ecology are the state of urbanized systems, agglomerations of cities and towns, cultural landscapes, technological systems, the ecological state of megacities, science cities and individual cities.
The concept of system ecology arose during the intensive development of experimental and theoretical research in the field of ecology in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century. These studies showed the need for an integrated approach to the study of biocenosis and biotope. The need for such an approach was first formulated by the English geobotanist A. Tansley (1935), who introduced the term “ecosystem” into ecology. The main significance of the ecosystem approach for ecological theory lies in the obligatory presence of relationships, interdependence and cause-and-effect relationships, i.e., the unification of individual components into a functional whole.
A certain logical completeness of the concept of ecosystems is expressed by the quantitative level of their study. An outstanding role in the study of ecosystems belongs to the Austrian theoretical biologist L. Bertalanffy (1901-1972). He developed a general theory that makes it possible to describe systems of various types using mathematical tools. The basis of the ecosystem concept is the axiom of system integrity.
Despite all the completeness and depth of coverage in the classification rubric of environmental studies, which includes all modern aspects of the life of human society, there is no such important link of knowledge as historical ecology. Indeed, when studying the current state of the environmental situation, the researcher, in order to determine the patterns of development and forecast environmental conditions on a global or regional scale, needs to compare existing environmental situations with the state of the environment of the historical and geological past. This information is concentrated in historical ecology, which, within the framework of environmental geology, makes it possible, using geological and paleogeographical methods, to determine the physical and geographical conditions of the geological and historical past and to trace their development and changes up to the modern era.
Beginning with the research of E. Haeckel, the terms “ecology” and “ecological science” have become widely used in scientific research. In the second half of the 20th century. ecology was divided into two directions: purely biological (general and system ecology) and geological-geographical (geoecology and environmental geology).
Ecological soil science
Ecological soil science arose in the 20s of the 20th century. In some works, soil scientists began to use the terms “soil ecology” and “pedoecology”. However, the essence of the terms, as well as the main direction of environmental research in soil science, were revealed only in recent decades. G.V. Dobrovolsky and E.D. Nikitin (1990) introduced the concepts of “ecological soil science” and “ecological functions of large geospheres” into the scientific literature. The authors interpret the latter direction in relation to soils and consider it as a doctrine of the ecological functions of soils. This refers to the role and significance of soil cover and soil processes in the emergence, maintenance and evolution of ecosystems and the biosphere. Considering the ecological role and functions of soils, the authors consider it logical and necessary to identify and characterize the ecological functions of other shells, as well as the biosphere as a whole. This will make it possible to consider the unity of the human environment and all existing biota, to better understand the inseparability and indispensability of individual components of the biosphere. Throughout the Earth's geological history, the fates of these components have been highly intertwined. They penetrated each other and interact through cycles of matter and energy, which determines their development.
Applied aspects of ecological soil science are also being developed, mainly related to the protection and control of the state of the soil cover. The authors of works in this direction strive to show the principles of preserving and creating such soil properties that determine their high stable and high-quality fertility, without causing damage to the associated components of the biosphere (G.V. Dobrovolsky, N.N. Grishina, 1985).
Currently, some higher educational institutions teach special courses “Soil Ecology” or “Ecological Soil Science”. In this case, we are talking about science, which examines the patterns of functional relationships between soil and the environment. From an ecological perspective, soil-forming processes, processes of accumulation of plant matter and humus formation are studied. However, soils are considered as the “center of the geosystem.” The applied significance of ecological soil science is reduced to the development of measures for the rational use of land resources.
Flowing Pond
A pond is an example of a larger habitat ideal for observing an ecosystem. It is home to a large community of different plants and animals. The pond, its communities and the inanimate nature around it form the so-called ecological system. The depths of a pond are a good environment for studying the communities of its inhabitants. Move the net carefully in different parts of the pond. Write down everything that ends up in the net when you remove it. Put the most interesting finds in a jar to study them in more detail. Use any manual that describes the life of the inhabitants of the pond to determine the names of the organisms you find. And when you finish the experiments, do not forget to release the living creatures back into the pond. You can buy a net or make it yourself. Take a piece of thick wire and bend it into a ring, and stick the ends into one of the edges of a long bamboo stick. Then cover the wire ring with a nylon stocking and tie it at the bottom with a knot. These days, ponds are much less common than forty years ago. Many of them have become shallow and overgrown. This had an adverse effect on the lives of the inhabitants of the ponds: only a few of them managed to survive. When the pond dries out, its last inhabitants also die.
Make a pond yourself
By digging a pond, you can create a corner of wild nature for yourself. This will attract many species of animals to it and will not become a burden to you. However, the pond will need to be constantly maintained in good condition. It will take a lot of time and effort to create it, but once various animals live in it, you can study them at any time. A homemade tube for underwater observations will allow you to become better acquainted with the life of the inhabitants of the pond. Carefully cut off the neck and bottom of the plastic bottle. Place a clear plastic bag over one end and secure it around the neck with a rubber band. Now through this tube you can observe the life of the inhabitants of the pond. For safety, it is best to cover the free edge of the tube with adhesive tape.
