Ideas about ecology as a complex scientific direction. The structure of ecology. What is the structure of modern ecology as a science

Ecology (from the Greek. oikos - house and logos- doctrine) - the science of the laws of interaction of living organisms with their environment.

The founder of ecology is considered a German biologist E. Haeckel(1834-1919), who for the first time in 1866 used the term "ecology". He wrote: “By ecology we mean the general science of the relationship between the organism and the environment, where we include all the “conditions of existence” in the broadest sense of the word. They are partly organic and partly inorganic.”

Initially, this science was biology, which studies the populations of animals and plants in their habitat.

Ecology studies systems at a level above the individual organism. The main objects of its study are:

population - a group of organisms belonging to the same or similar species and occupying a certain territory;
, including the biotic community (the totality of populations in the territory under consideration) and habitat;
- area of life on earth.

To date, ecology has gone beyond the scope of biology itself and has become an interdisciplinary science that studies the most complex problems of human interaction with the environment. Ecology has come a difficult and long way to understanding the problem of "man - nature", relying on research in the "organism - environment" system.

The interaction of Man with Nature has its own specifics. Man is endowed with reason, and this gives him the opportunity to realize his place in nature and purpose on Earth. Since the beginning of the development of civilization, Man has been thinking about his role in nature. Being, of course, part of nature, man created a special environment, which is called human civilization. As it developed, it increasingly came into conflict with nature. Now humanity has already come to the realization that the further exploitation of nature can threaten its own existence.

The urgency of this problem, caused by the aggravation of the ecological situation on a global scale, has led to "greening"- to the need to take into account laws and environmental requirements in all sciences and in all human activity.

Ecology is currently called the science of a person's "own home" - the biosphere, its features, interaction and relationship with a person, and a person with the whole human society.

Ecology is not only an integrated discipline, where physical and biological phenomena are connected, it forms a kind of bridge between natural and social sciences. It does not belong to the number of disciplines with a linear structure, i.e. does not develop vertically - from simple to complex - it develops horizontally, covering an ever wider range of issues from various disciplines.

No single science is capable of solving all the problems associated with improving the interaction between society and nature, since this interaction has social, economic, technological, geographical and other aspects. Only an integrated (generalizing) science, which is modern ecology, can solve these problems.

Thus, from a dependent discipline within the framework of biology, ecology has turned into a complex interdisciplinary science - modern ecology- with a pronounced ideological component. Modern ecology has gone beyond the limits not only of biology, but in general. The ideas and principles of modern ecology are ideological in nature, therefore ecology is associated not only with the sciences of man and culture, but also with philosophy. Such serious changes allow us to conclude that, despite more than a century of history of ecology, modern ecology is a dynamic science.

Goals and objectives of modern ecology

One of the main goals of modern ecology as a science is to study the basic patterns and develop the theory of rational interaction in the system "man - society - nature", considering human society as an integral part of the biosphere.

The main goal of modern ecology at this stage of the development of human society - to bring Mankind out of the global ecological crisis onto the path of sustainable development, in which the satisfaction of the vital needs of the present generation will be achieved without depriving future generations of such an opportunity.

To achieve these goals, environmental science will have to solve a number of diverse and complex tasks, including:

develop theories and methods for assessing the sustainability of ecological systems at all levels;
to study the mechanisms of regulation of the number of populations and biotic diversity, the role of biota (flora and fauna) as a regulator of biosphere stability;
study and create forecasts of changes in the biosphere under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors;
evaluate states and dynamics natural resources and environmental consequences of their consumption;
develop methods of environmental quality management;
to form an understanding of the problems of the biosphere and the ecological culture of society.

Surrounding us live environment is not a random and random combination of living beings. It is stable and organized system, formed in the course of evolution organic world. Any systems are amenable to modeling, i.e. it is possible to predict how a particular system will react to external influences. A systematic approach is the basis for studying environmental problems.

Structure of modern ecology

Ecology is currently divided into a number of scientific branches and disciplines, sometimes far from the original understanding of ecology as a biological science about the relationship of living organisms with the environment. However, at the core of all modern trends ecology lie fundamental ideas bioecology, which today is a combination of various scientific areas. So, for example, allocate autecology, investigating the individual connections of an individual organism with the environment; population ecology dealing with relationships between organisms that belong to the same species and live in the same territory; synecology, which comprehensively studies groups, communities of organisms and their relationships in natural systems (ecosystems).

Modern ecology is a complex of scientific disciplines. The base is general ecology, which studies the basic patterns of the relationship of organisms and environmental conditions. Theoretical ecology explores the general patterns of life organization, including in connection with the anthropogenic impact on natural systems.

Applied ecology studies the mechanisms of destruction of the biosphere by man and ways to prevent this process, and also develops principles for the rational use of natural resources. Applied ecology is based on a system of laws, rules and principles of theoretical ecology. The following scientific directions stand out from applied ecology.

Ecology of the biosphere, which studies the global changes taking place on our planet as a result of the impact economic activity man to natural phenomena.

industrial ecology, studying the impact of emissions from enterprises on the environment and the possibility of reducing this impact by improving technologies and treatment facilities.

agricultural ecology, studying ways to obtain agricultural products without depleting soil resources while preserving the environment.

Medical ecology, which studies human diseases associated with environmental pollution.

geoecology, which studies the structure and mechanisms of the functioning of the biosphere, the connection and interconnection of biospheric and geological processes, the role of living matter in the energy and evolution of the biosphere, the participation of geological factors in the emergence and evolution of life on Earth.

Mathematical ecology models ecological processes, i.e. changes in nature that can occur when environmental conditions change.

economic ecology develops economic mechanisms environmental management and environmental protection.

legal ecology develops a system of laws aimed at protecting nature.

Engineering ecology - a relatively new area of environmental science that studies the interaction between technology and nature, the patterns of formation of regional and local natural and technical systems and ways to manage them in order to protect the natural environment and ensure environmental safety. It ensures that the equipment and technology of industrial facilities comply with environmental requirements.

social ecology arose quite recently. Only in 1986 the first conference devoted to the problems of this science took place in Lvov. The science of the “home”, or the habitat of a society (man, society), studies the planet Earth, as well as space - as living environment society.

Human ecology - part of social ecology, which considers the interaction of a person as a biosocial being with the outside world.

- one of the new independent branches of human ecology - science of quality of life and health.

Synthetic evolutionary ecology- a new scientific discipline, including private areas of ecology - general, bio-, geo- and social.

Brief historical path of development of ecology as a science

In the history of the development of ecology as a science, three main stages can be distinguished. First stage - the origin and development of ecology as a science (until the 1960s), when data on the relationship of living organisms with their environment were accumulated, the first scientific generalizations were made. In the same period, the French biologist Lamarck and the English priest Malthus for the first time warned humanity about the possible negative consequences of human impact on nature.

Second phase - registration of ecology as an independent branch of knowledge (after the 1960s to the 1950s). The beginning of the stage was marked by the publication of the works of Russian scientists K.F. Ruler, N.A. Severtseva, V.V. Dokuchaev, who first substantiated a number of principles and concepts of ecology. After Charles Darwin's studies in the field of evolution of the organic world, the German zoologist E. Haeckel was the first to understand what Darwin called the "struggle for existence", is an independent area of biology, and called it ecology(1866).

As an independent science, ecology finally took shape at the beginning of the 20th century. During this period, the American scientist C. Adams created the first summary of ecology, and other important generalizations were published. The largest Russian scientist of the XX century. IN AND. Vernadsky creates a fundamental the doctrine of the biosphere.

In the 1930s-1940s, at first, the English botanist A. Tensley (1935) put forward the concept of "ecosystem", and a little later V. Ya. Sukachev(1940) substantiated a concept close to him about biogeocenosis.

Third stage(1950s - to the present) - the transformation of ecology into a complex science, including the sciences of protection human environment environment. Along with the development theoretical foundations ecology, applied issues related to ecology were also solved.

In our country, in the 1960s-1980s, almost every year the government adopted resolutions on strengthening nature protection; Land, water, forest and other codes were published. However, as the practice of their application has shown, they did not give the required results.

Today Russia is experiencing an ecological crisis: about 15% of the territory are actually zones of ecological disaster; 85% of the population breathe air polluted significantly above the MPC. The number of “environmentally caused” diseases is on the rise. There is degradation and reduction of natural resources.

A similar situation has developed in other countries of the world. The question of what will happen to mankind in the event of the degradation of natural ecological systems and the loss of the ability of the biosphere to maintain biochemical cycles becomes one of the most urgent.

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The structure of modernecology

Introduction

Modern ecology has long gone beyond the rank of biological science. According to Professor N.F. Reimers, ecology has become a significant cycle of knowledge, incorporating sections of geography, geology, chemistry, physics, sociology, theory of culture, economics, etc. Modern ecology is a young science, the range of interests of which is not only biological phenomena associated with the life of living organisms, but also the anthroposphere - a part of the biosphere used and modified by people, a place where the vital activity of the living matter of the planet is constantly carried out and where it temporarily penetrates.

Ecology, like any science, is characterized by the presence of its own object, subject, tasks and methods (an object is a part of the surrounding world that is studied by this science; the subject of science is the most important essential aspects of its object).

Ecologization has affected almost all branches of knowledge, which led to the emergence of a number of areas of environmental science. These directions are classified according to the subject of study, the main objects, environments, etc. ecological cycle knowledge includes about 70 major scientific disciplines, and the ecological lexicon has about 14 thousand concepts and terms.

The term "ecology" (from the Greek oikos - dwelling, habitat and logos - science) was proposed by E. Haeckel in 1866 to denote the biological science that studies the relationship of animals with organic and inorganic environments. Since that time, the idea of the content of ecology has undergone a number of refinements and concretizations. However, there is still no sufficiently clear and rigorous definition of ecology, and there are still disputes about what ecology is, whether it should be considered as a single science or whether plant ecology and animal ecology are independent disciplines. The question of whether biocenology belongs to ecology or is a separate field of science has not been resolved. It is no coincidence that environmental manuals written from fundamentally different positions appear almost simultaneously. In some, ecology is interpreted as a modern natural history, in others - as a doctrine of the structure of nature, in which specific species are considered only as a means of transforming matter and energy in biosystems, in others - as a doctrine of a population, etc.

There is no need to dwell on all existing points of view regarding the subject and content of ecology. It is only important to note that at the present stage of development of ecological ideas, its essence is becoming more and more clear.

Ecology is a science that studies the patterns of life of organisms (in any of its manifestations, at all levels of integration) in their natural habitat, taking into account the changes introduced into the environment by human activity.

From this formulation, we can conclude that all research that studies the life of animals and plants in natural conditions, discovering the laws by which organisms are combined into biological systems, and establishing the role certain types in the life of the biosphere, belong to the ecological.

However, the above definition is too lengthy and not specific enough, although at the first stages of the development of ecology, one of its variants (ecology is the science of the relationship of organisms with each other and with the environment, the science of adaptations, etc.) was not only fundamentally correct, but and could serve as a guideline in the formulation of a number of studies.

Recently, ecologists have come to a fundamentally important generalization, showing that environmental conditions are mastered by organisms at the population-biocenotic level, and not by individual individuals of a species. This led to the intensive development of the doctrine of biological macrosystems (populations, biocenoses, biogeocenoses), which had a tremendous impact on the development of biology in general and all its sections in particular. As a result, more and more new definitions of ecology began to appear. It was considered as a science about populations, about the structure of nature, about population dynamics, etc. But all of them, despite some specificity, define ecology as a science that studies the laws of life of animals, plants and microorganisms in their natural habitat, taking into account the role of anthropogenic factors.

The main forms of existence of animal, plant and microorganism species in their natural habitat are intraspecific groups (populations) or multi-species communities (biocenoses). Therefore, modern ecology studies the relationship between organisms and the environment at the population-biocenotic level. The ultimate goal of ecological research is to elucidate the ways in which a species survives under ever-changing environmental conditions. The prosperity of the species is to maintain the optimal number of its populations in the biogeocenosis.

Consequently, the main content of modern ecology is the study of the relationship of organisms with each other and with the environment at the population-biocenotic level and the study of the life of biological macrosystems of a higher rank: biogeocenoses (ecosystems) and the biosphere, their productivity and energy. Hence, it is obvious that the subject of ecology research is biological macrosystems (populations, biocenoses, ecosystems) and their dynamics in time and space. From the content and subject of ecology research, its main tasks also follow, which can be reduced to the study of population dynamics, to the study of biogeocenoses and their systems. The structure of biocenoses, at the level of formation of which, as noted, the development of the environment takes place, contributes to the most economical and complete use of vital resources. Therefore, the main theoretical and practical task of ecology is to reveal the laws of these processes and learn how to manage them in the conditions of the inevitable industrialization and urbanization of our planet.

The structure of modern ecology.

Ecology is divided into fundamental and applied. Fundamental ecology studies the most general ecological patterns, while applied ecology uses the acquired knowledge to ensure the sustainable development of society. The basis of ecology is bioecology as a section of general biology. "To save a person is, first of all, to save nature. And here only biologists can give the necessary arguments proving the legitimacy of the stated thesis."

Bioecology (like any science) is divided into general and particular.

The composition of the general bioecology includes sections:

1. autecology - studies the interaction with the habitat of individual organisms of certain species.

2. Ecology of populations (demecology) - studies the structure of populations and its change under the influence of environmental factors.

3. synecology - studies the structure and functioning of communities and ecosystems.

On the basis of these areas, new ones are being formed: global ecology, which develops 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 rather blurred: directions constantly appear 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, neglecting the traditional naturalistic areas of ecology is fraught with negative phenomena and gross methodological errors, and can lead to a slowdown in the development of all other areas of ecology.

General bioecology includes other sections :

Evolutionary ecology - studies the ecological mechanisms of the evolutionary transformation of populations;

Paleoecology - studies the ecological relationships of extinct groups of organisms and communities;

Morphological ecology - studies the patterns of changes in the structure of organs and structures depending on living conditions;

Physiological ecology - studies the patterns of physiological changes that underlie the adaptation of organisms;

Biochemical ecology - studies the molecular mechanisms of adaptive transformations in organisms in response to environmental changes;

Mathematical ecology - based on the identified patterns, develops mathematical models, allowing to predict the state of ecosystems, as well as manage them.

Modern ecology is divided into the following areas:

I . classical ecology bioecology Keywords: plant ecology, animal ecology, biocenology, production ecology, etc.

2. global ecology geographic ecology, the object of which is the biosphere as a whole, its geographical division, the distribution of ecosystems across continents and climatic zones, and related features of their structure and functions

3. regional ecology it can also be considered as a special part of the global ecology, studying the specific features of a particular region

4. applied ecology environmental aspects of environmental management: engineering design and construction of installations and industries aimed at protecting the environment from harmful anthropogenic impacts, development of appropriate technologies, environmental management of the environment, state and departmental control, economics of environmental management, regulation, licensing, environmental insurance, nature conservation, construction or environmental protection in construction, including housing ecology and ecological architecture, agricultural, radiation ecology, etc. ecology habitat population

6. social ecology ecological features of the interaction of society with nature.

Methods of ecological research.

The diversity and complexity of the interrelationships and interdependencies of living systems at different levels of organization and habitat cause a huge variety of methods of ecological research. At the same time, specific methods of other biological and non-biological sciences are often used. For example, physiology, medicine, anatomy, morphology, phenology, biochemistry, taxonomy, rhythmology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics, sociology, climatology, etc. Modern environmental studies are characterized by an orientation towards quantification objects and processes under study (accounting for the number of organisms in units of space and time, occurrence, age and sex structure of populations, fecundity, productivity, morbidity, environmental pollution, the strength of its factors, forecast for the future, etc.). By the way the parameters of the object under study change, one can judge its state on the this moment and identify stability or trends of change, speed, size and direction of change.

Own methods of ecology can be divided into two groups:

field,

laboratory.

Field methods involve the study of environmental phenomena directly in nature. They help to establish the relationship of organisms, species and communities with the environment, to clarify the overall picture of the development and life of biosystems. Field studies are of paramount importance for ecology, as they allow us to present a general picture of the development of nature in the specific conditions of a particular region. Field methods, in turn, can be route, stationary, descriptive and experimental.

Route methods are used to: determine the presence of ecological objects in the study area (for example, certain life forms of organisms, ecological groups, phytocenoses, protected species, etc.); revealing the diversity and occurrence of the studied ecological objects. The techniques of this group of methods are: direct observation; condition assessment; measurement; description (for example, description of accounting sites, individual representatives of the living world, phenophases, etc.); drawing up diagrams, maps and inventory lists of the objects under study.

Stationary methods are methods of long-term (seasonal, year-round or long-term) observation of the same objects, requiring repeated descriptions, measurements of changes occurring in the observed objects. These methods usually combine field and laboratory research.

Descriptive methods are used for: registration of the main features of the objects under study; direct observation; mapping of environmental phenomena; inventory of valuable natural objects. These methods are key in environmental monitoring.

Experimental methods combine various techniques of direct intervention in the usual characteristics of the objects under study. Observations, descriptions and measurements of the revealed properties of the object made in the experiment are necessarily compared with the same objects that are not involved in the experiment. In an ecological experiment, the manifestations of the properties of the object under study are compared in various conditions environment. An experiment set up in the field can be continued in the laboratory.

Laboratory methods make it possible to study the influence of a complex of factors of the environment simulated in laboratory conditions on natural or simulated biological systems and obtain approximate results. The conclusions obtained in a laboratory environmental experiment require mandatory verification in nature, since in a laboratory it is difficult to apply the entire complex of environmental factors (but it is possible to determine the influence of one or two environmental factors).

In addition, lately wide use method of modeling ecological phenomena in nature and society.

Modeling is a method of indirect practical and theoretical operation of an object, when not the object of interest itself is studied directly, but an auxiliary artificial or natural system(model) corresponding to the properties of a real object. A model is a mentally representable or materially realized system that, reflecting or reproducing the object of study, is able to replace it in such a way that its study provides new information about this object. The model can fulfill its role only when the degree of its correspondence to the object is determined quite strictly. The need for modeling in ecology arises when a specific study of the object itself is impossible or difficult due to: the abundance (or scarcity) of factual materials about it, the high cost, and it takes too long. Any model is always simplified and reflects only the general essence of the process and imitates reality, but at the same time, modeling allows you to explore processes and phenomena that are not available for direct observation. Thus, by simulation methods (especially with the use of computers), fairly reliable quantitative forecasts of changes in the population size were obtained; sustainability of the ecosystem structure, etc. Simulation modeling is widely used in the study of the biosphere. And at the same time, to build a satisfactory model, it is enough to take into account only four main components - driving forces, properties, flows and interaction.

Models are very useful because they allow you to integrate everything that is known about the situation being modeled. With their help, it is possible to identify inaccuracies in the initial data about the object, to determine new aspects of its study. Modeling of environmental phenomena is used for practical forecasts of their dynamics; studies of the relationship of species and communities with the environment; determining the impact of factors; choice of ways of rational human intervention in the life of nature. For example, in 1971, on behalf of the Club of Rome, a group of scientists different countries created a simulation computer model World-3 (World-3), with the help of which the prospects for growth in the population of the planet and the world economy in the 21st century were described. This model involved numerous world data on the dynamics of population growth on the planet, on the increase in industrial capital, food production, resource consumption and environmental pollution. The research strategy was to try, by means of simplification, to model the consequences of these factors in order to make effective positive decisions that contribute to the conservation of the biosphere and the sustainable development of society.

Models integrate an interdisciplinary approach, mathematical, empirical and sociological methods into a single process of ecological research.

Recently, in the study of environmental relationships and phenomena, sociological method. Within the framework of which, the following is carried out: survey of the population (mass, group, individual); questioning; interviews with individuals to collect environmental data; analysis of long-term materials of health care, education, etc.

Environmental studies have great importance in solving many theoretical and practical problems of the existence of nature, man and society. At the same time, a rational combination of various methods is necessary, which should complement and control each other.

Basic laws of ecology.LawsBarryCommoner.

Prominent American ecologist Barry Commoner summarized the systematic nature of ecology in the form of four laws called "commoner", which are currently given in almost any manual on ecology. Their observance is a prerequisite for any human activity in nature. These laws are a consequence of those basic principles of the general theory of life.

1 laws To ommonera :

Everything is connected to everything. Any change made by man in nature causes a chain of consequences, usually unfavorable.

In fact, this is one of the formulations of the principle of the unity of the universe. Hopes that some of our actions, especially in the sphere of modern production, will not cause serious consequences if we carry out a number of environmental protection measures are largely utopian. This can only somewhat calm the vulnerable psyche of the modern man in the street, pushing more serious changes in nature into the future. This is how we lengthen the pipes of our thermal power plants, believing that in this case, harmful substances will be more evenly dispersed in the atmosphere and will not lead to serious poisoning among the surrounding population. Indeed, acid rain caused by an increased concentration of sulfur compounds in the atmosphere can take place in a completely different place and even in another country. But our home is the whole planet. Sooner or later we will face a situation where the length of the pipe will no longer play a significant role.

2 laws To ommonera :

Everything has to go somewhere. Any pollution of nature returns to man in the form of an "ecological boomerang". Energy does not disappear, but the pollutants that enter the rivers go somewhere, eventually end up in the seas and oceans and return to humans with their products.

3 laws To ommonera :

Nature knows best. Man's actions should not be aimed at conquering nature and transforming it in his own interests, but at adapting to it. This is one of the formulations of the principle of optimality. Together with the principle of the unity of the Universe, it leads to the fact that the Universe as a whole appears as a single living organism. The same can be said about systems of lower hierarchical levels, such as the planet, biosphere, ecosystem, multicellular being, etc. Any attempts to make changes in a well-functioning organism of nature are fraught with a violation of direct and feedback links, through which the optimality of the internal structure of a given organism is realized. Human activity will be justified only when the motivation of our actions will be determined primarily by the role for which we were created by nature, when the needs of nature will be of greater importance to us than personal needs, when we will be able to largely meekly limit themselves for the benefit of the planet.

4 laws To ommonera :

Nothing is given for free. If we do not want to invest in nature protection, then we will have to pay with health, both for our own and for our descendants.

The issue of nature conservation is very complex. None of our impact on nature goes unnoticed, even if, it would seem, all the requirements of environmental cleanliness are met. If only because the development of eco-protective technologies requires high-quality energy sources, and high-quality enforceable laws. Even if the energy industry itself stops polluting the atmosphere and hydrosphere harmful substances However, the issue of thermal pollution still remains unresolved. According to the second law of thermodynamics, any portion of energy, having undergone a series of transformations, will sooner or later turn into heat. We are not yet able to compete with the Sun in terms of the amount of energy supplied to Earth, but our strength is growing. We are eager to discover new sources of energy. As a rule, we release the energy accumulated once different forms substances. This is much cheaper than capturing the scattered energy of the Sun, but directly leads to a violation heat balance planets. Not by chance average temperature in cities it is 2-3 (and sometimes more) degrees higher than outside the city in the same area. Sooner or later, this "boomerang" will return to us.

Sections of ecology (according to N.F. Reimers)

The structure of modern ecology (according to N.F. Reimers)

Ecology of the city- a scientific discipline that studies the patterns of human interaction with the urban environment. The process of urbanization is intensively going on all over the world, which has also affected Russia. Currently, 109 million people live in Russian cities. (or 74%).

Ecology applied- a branch of ecology, the results of which are aimed at solving practical problems of environmental protection (protection from environmental pollution by toxicants, rational use natural resources, advanced technologies in various sectors of the economy, etc.). Currently, the following areas are developing quite successfully in applied ecology: industrial (engineering), technological, agricultural, medical, chemical, recreational, etc.

Ecology social- a branch of ecology that studies the relationship between human society and the surrounding geographically spatial, social and cultural environment, the direct and side effects of production activities on the composition and properties of the environment, the environmental impact of anthropogenic factors on human health and the gene pool of human populations. Within social ecology, there are: the ecology of personality, the ecology of culture, ethnoecology, etc. Thus, the ecology of culture is concerned with the preservation and restoration various elements cultural environment created by mankind throughout its history (architectural monuments, parks, museums, etc.). Ethnoecology studies the relationship of the population with the geographical environment that forms the ethnic group in the course of the historical process. The ecology of population considers the links between the processes that occur in human populations under the influence of a changing natural and socio-economic environment in a shorter time interval. More details can be found in D. Markovich's book "Social Ecology" (M., 1991).

Human ecology (anthropoecology) is a complex science (part of social ecology) that studies the interaction of a person as a biosocial being with a complex multicomponent surrounding world, with an ever more complex environment. Its most important task is to reveal the patterns of industrial and economic, targeted development and transformation of natural landscapes under the influence of human activity. The term was introduced by Amer. scientists R. Park and E. Burgess (1921).

global ecology- a complex scientific discipline that studies the main patterns of development of the biosphere as a whole, as well as its possible changes under the influence of human activities. Global ecology is designed to study the relationship of mankind with the environment on a planetary scale. This is due to the fact that there were negative environmental consequences of the impact of anthropogenic factors on the Earth's biosphere.

A significant contribution to the development of the conceptual apparatus of modern ecology was made by N.F. Reimers. In his major work Ecology of Theory, Laws, Rules, Principles and Hypotheses 1994, all the theorems, laws, axioms and hypotheses known to the author related to this field of knowledge are brought together. However, in our opinion, this work is not complete, since many of the laws and theorems given in it repeat each other and do not constitute a single system characteristic of the established science, such as, for example, physics or mathematics have become. But this is a matter of time and future research and researchers.

N.F. Reimers proposes the following classification of bioecology:

1. Endoecology:

Molecular ecology, including ecological genetics, and possibly gene ecology as the genetic relationship of all living things

Ecology of cells and tissues morphological ecology

Physiological ecology of the individual with sections on the ecology of nutrition, respiration, etc. on the contrary, physiology, ecological physiology, ecological ethology, etc. will already be parts of physiology, ethology and other relevant sciences.

2. Exoecology:

Autoecology of individuals and organisms as representatives of a species

Demecology ecology of small groups

Population ecology

Specioecology species ecology

synecology community ecology

Biocenology ecology of biocenoses

Biogeocenology is the doctrine of ecosystems of various hierarchical levels of organization

The doctrine of the biosphere biospherology

Ecospherology global ecology.

Contemporary environmental issues

Major environmental issues

Initially, environmental problems are divided according to the conditions of scale: they can be regional, local and global.

An example of a local environmental problem is a factory that does not treat industrial effluent before it is discharged into the river. This leads to the death of fish and harms humans.

As an example of a regional problem, one can take Chernobyl, or rather, the soils that are adjacent to it: they are radioactive and pose a threat to any biological organisms located on this territory. Next, we will focus on global environmental issues.

Global environmental problems of mankind: characteristics

This series of environmental problems has a huge scale and directly affects all ecological systems, in contrast to local and regional ones.

Environmental problems: climate warming and ozone holes

Warming is felt by the inhabitants of the Earth through mild winters, which used to be a rarity. Since the first international year of geophysics was held, the temperature of the squat air layer has increased by 0.7 °C. At the North Pole, the lower layers of ice began to melt due to the fact that the water warmed by 1 ° C.

Some scientists are of the opinion that the cause of this phenomenon is the so-called "greenhouse effect", which arose due to the large amount of fuel combustion and the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmospheric layers. Because of it, heat transfer is disturbed, and the air cools more slowly.

Others believe that warming is associated with solar activity and the human factor does not play a significant role here.

Ozone holes are another problem of mankind associated with technological progress. It is known that life originated on Earth only after a protective ozone layer, which protects organisms from strong UV radiation.

But at the end of the 20th century, scientists discovered that ozone was extremely low over Antarctica. This situation remains to this day, while the damaged area is equated to the size North America. Such anomalies have also been found in other areas, in particular, there is an ozone hole over Voronezh. The reason for this is the active launches of rockets and satellites, as well as aircraft.

Environmental Issues: Desertification and Forest Loss

Acid rain, caused by the operation of power plants, contributes to the spread of another global problem - the death of forests. For example, in Czechoslovakia more than 70% of forests are destroyed by such rains, and in Great Britain and Greece - more than 60%. Because of this, entire ecosystems are disrupted, however, humanity is trying to fight this artificially planted trees.

Desertification is also present global problem. It consists in the impoverishment of the soil: large areas are unsuitable for use in agriculture. Man contributes to the emergence of such areas, demolishing not only the soil layer, but also the parent rock.

Environmental problems caused by water pollution

The supply of fresh clean water that can be consumed has also been significantly reduced in recent times. This is due to the fact that a person pollutes it with industrial and other waste.

Today, one and a half billion people do not have access to clean drinking water, and two billion live without filters to purify contaminated water.

Thus, we can say that humanity itself is guilty of present and many future environmental problems and it will have to deal with some of them in the next 200-300 years.

The role of environmental knowledge for modern man

Spaceship Earth is unique among the planets solar system. In a thin layer where air, water and earth meet and interact, amazing objects live - living beings, among which we are. This layer, inhabited by organisms, interacting with air (atmosphere), water (hydrosphere) and the earth's crust (lithosphere), is called the biosphere. All living beings, including us, depend on maintaining its integrity. If one of the components of the biosphere is changed too much, the latter can be completely destroyed. It is possible that the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere are preserved, but living things will no longer participate in their relationships.

In the spotlight modern humanity there are problems of human interaction with the natural environment, environmental sustainability of the planet.

Ecology is a science that studies the functioning of systems and structures of the supraorganismal level (ecosystems, or biogeocenoses) in their interaction with each other and with the environment. From this follow the tasks of ecology - to identify possible interrelations of various technologies, and first of all chemical, biochemical, agrochemical, energy, destructive or harmful to the natural sphere, to create a common ecological safety of the environment, including chemical, biochemical, radiation.

Speaking of ecology, we mean both local, local problems that we face at home, in a city, at a factory, in a field, district, state, and global ones.

Ecology as a science includes the whole complex of interaction of factors - both natural and technological, and social, moral, moral. Moreover, social factors are now becoming decisive, leading, they are the conscious activity of people actively defending their goals, interests, often far from the interests of society and humanity as a whole, sometimes going against these interests.

A few years ago there were disputes about the very fact of anthropogenic - man-made climate change. Over the past century, the average temperature of the Earth's surface has increased by at least 0.5-5 ° C. As predicted by the models of the so-called greenhouse effect, winter temperatures have increased more significantly than summer ones. The greenhouse effect occurs because carbon dioxide, methane, entering the atmosphere, acts like glass in a greenhouse, making it difficult for heat to escape from the surface of the planet. Long-term observations have established that the amount of methane increases annually by 1%, carbon dioxide - by 0.4%. Carbon dioxide is "responsible" for about half of the greenhouse effect.

The real environmental threat is the depletion of the ozone screen in the stratosphere. Speaking of this, they usually mention the famous "ozone hole" over the Antarctic. However, the reduction in the amount of ozone in the stratosphere also occurs over our country, where it has already reached an average of about 3%. It has been proven that only a 1% reduction in ozone leads to an increase in skin cancer cases by 5-7%.

This means that 6-9 thousand people in the European territory of our country annually develop skin cancer only for this reason.

Briefly about the problems fresh water. We don't have enough clean water. The reason lies in the ownerless, barbaric attitude to water, as to a free, nobody's natural resource. It can be taken away in any quantity, it can be polluted without any special punishment. Anti-economy in water management construction turns into a constant tragedy for large and small regions.

A few more strokes of the current ecological situation.

One of the biggest problems we have is groundwater pollution. The excessive use of pesticides and mineral fertilizers has led to the fact that they are in large quantities in groundwater.

Acid precipitation has become a special environmental problem for our country - an increase in the acidity of rain, snow, fog as a result of the release of sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere during the combustion of fuel. Acid precipitation reduces crops, destroys natural vegetation, destroys buildings, destroys life in fresh water.

When the decline in the species (genetic) diversity of wildlife is mentioned among global environmental problems, it is usually understood that this problem is mainly associated with the death of tropical rainforests - places where the maximum diversity of animal and plant species is concentrated. The problem of biodiversity reduction is one of the strangest problems for the future of mankind, since the extinct species cannot be restored.

Today, the solution of environmental problems has become one of the global criteria for the humanity of society, the level of its technical and scientific developments.

Modern ecology belongs to the type of sciences that arose at the junction of many scientific areas. It reflects both the global nature of the modern tasks facing humanity, and various forms of integration of the methods of directions and scientific research. The transformation of ecology from a purely biological discipline into a branch of knowledge that also included social and Technical science, into a field of activity based on the solution of a number of complex political, ideological, economic, ethical and other issues, has determined its significant place in modern life, made it a kind of node, which combines various areas of science and human practice. Ecology, in my opinion, is becoming more and more one of the sciences about man and, in a certain sense, is of interest to many scientific areas. And although this process is still very far from completion, its main trends are already quite clearly visible in our time. It is in ecology (although not only in it) that quite real points of contact are outlined between fundamental and applied scientific fields, between theoretical developments and their practical application.

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The subject of ecology

Modern ecology is a complex discipline that combines the foundations of several sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, sociology, geography, geology, etc.).

The main object of study in ecology is ecosystems - unified natural complexes formed by living organisms and the environment. Ecology also studies individual types of organisms (organism level), populations (population-species level) and the biosphere as a whole (biospheric level).

The main, traditional, part of ecology as a biological science is general ecology, or bioecology, which studies the relationship of living systems of different ranks (organisms, populations, ecosystems) with the environment and with each other.

The structure of the science of ecology

As part of the general ecology, the following main sections are distinguished:

autecology, which studies the individual connections of an individual organism (species, individuals) with its environment;
de-ecology or population ecology, which studies the structure and dynamics of populations of individual species. Population ecology is also considered as a special branch of autecology;
synecology, i.e. community ecology;
ecosystem ecology;
biospheric ecology.

In addition, ecology is classified according to specific objects and environments of study, i.e. distinguish between the ecology of animals, the ecology of plants, the ecology of microorganisms.

At the intersection of ecology with other branches of knowledge, the development of such new areas as engineering ecology, geoecology, mathematical ecology, agricultural ecology, etc. continues.

From a scientific and practical point of view, the division of ecology into theoretical and applied is quite justified.

Theoretical ecology reveals the general laws governing the organization of life.

Applied ecology studies the mechanisms of destruction of the biosphere by man, ways to prevent this process and develops principles for the rational use of natural resources. The scientific basis of applied ecology is a system of general environmental laws, rules and principles.

Tasks of ecology

The tasks of ecology are very diverse.

In theory, these include:

development of a general theory of sustainability of ecological systems,
study of ecological mechanisms of adaptation to the environment,
study of population regulation populations,
study of biological diversity and mechanisms of its maintenance;
research of production processes,
study of processes occurring in biosphere , in order to maintain its stability,
state modeling ecosystems and global biospheric processes.

The main applied tasks that ecology must solve at the present time are the following:

forecasting and assessment of possible negative consequences in the natural environment under the influence of human activities,
improving the quality of the natural environment,
preservation , reproduction and rational use of natural resources,
optimization of engineering, economic, organizational, legal, social and other solutions to ensure environmentally safe sustainable development, primarily in the most environmentally disadvantaged areas.

The strategic task of ecology is the development of a theory of interaction between nature and society based on a new view that considers human society as an integral part of the biosphere.

Thus, ecology becomes one of the most important sciences of the future.

Ecology(from the Greek "oikos" - house, dwelling and "logos" - teaching) - a science that studies the conditions for the existence of living organisms and the relationship between organisms and the environment in which they live. Initially, ecology developed as an integral part of biological science, in close connection with other natural sciences- chemistry, physics, geology, geography, soil science, mathematics.

Subject of study Ecology is the totality or structure of relationships between organisms and the environment. The main object of study in ecology - ecosystems, i.e., unified natural complexes formed by living organisms and the environment. In addition, her area of expertise includes the study certain types of organisms(organism level), their populations i.e. aggregates of individuals of the same species (population-species level) and biosphere in general (biospheric level).

Study Methods in ecology are very diverse, and all of them are used within the framework of systems approach. Environmental practice covers a variety of techniques and research methods that are adequate to the variety of areas of ecology, and therefore we list the main ones:

1) experiment (laboratory experiments);

2) observation;

3) modeling (mathematical models).

In the study of the diverse processes that occur in living nature, first of all, experimental methods. In laboratory experiments, the influence of various conditions on organisms is studied, their reactions to given influences are clarified. By studying the relationship of organisms with the environment in artificial conditions, one can gain a deeper understanding of the occurring natural phenomena. However, ecology is by no means a laboratory science. It is quite obvious that the relationship of living organisms with their environment can be studied most fully only in nature. But this is not an easy task, especially when you consider how complex even the simplest environment is. Therefore, field observations and experiments occupy the most important place in ecology. . At the same time, the impossibility of experimental verification often forces ecologists to translate the observed facts into the language of mathematics. Mathematical analysis (modeling) allows you to select the most important objects and connections from the entire set of relations between the organism and the environment in order to better understand the nature of these phenomena . Of course, one should not forget that mathematical models are only an approximate representation of natural phenomena.

As a rule, in environmental studies, these and other applied research methods are used together or in combination.

The main, traditional part of ecology as a biological science is general (fundamental) ecology, which studies the general patterns of the relationship of any living organisms and the environment (including man as a biological being).

As part of the general ecology, the following main sections are distinguished:

autecology, investigating the individual connections of an individual organism (individual) with its environment (the influence of environmental factors on the organism - temperature, light, humidity, relief, wind, soil, etc.);

population ecology (demoecology), whose task is to study the structure and dynamics of populations of individual species, their mutual influence and the influence of the environment on them;

synecology (biocenology), which studies the structure and patterns of functioning of communities of living organisms and ecosystems, as well as their relationship with the environment. Part of synecology is global ecology, the object of study of which is the entire biosphere of the Earth. A somewhat separate area of synecology is biogeocenology, which studies ecosystems of a certain spatial scale - ecology of deserts, ocean, tundra, highlands, savannas etc.

For all these areas, the main thing is the study survival of living beings in the environment and the tasks they face are predominantly of a biological nature - to study the patterns of adaptation of organisms and their communities to the environment, self-regulation, the stability of ecosystems and the biosphere, etc.

The knowledge obtained in the framework of the study of general ecology and applied to the analysis of the "society-nature" system has formed a new direction - applied ecology. The structure of applied ecology has not yet settled down. It usually includes the following main areas:

industrial ecology– studies the impact of various industries (mining, food, metallurgical, chemical and others), utilities and services on the environment;

chemical ecology (environmental toxicology)– studies the effect of toxic chemicals on living organisms, their populations and ecosystems; patterns of migration of toxicants in natural environments;

radioecology– studies migration in nature and the impact on organisms of natural and artificial radioactive substances;

engineering ecology– is engaged in the development of engineering solutions (treatment facilities; energy-saving, low-waste and waste-free technologies; more environmentally friendly fuels) aimed at protecting the environment and human health;

agricultural ecology- studies the functioning artificial ecosystems(fields, orchards) and optimization of the management of such systems;

urbanecology– studies the functioning of urban agglomerations, their impact on the environment and human health, and develops measures to reduce the negative impact of cities on the environment;

medical ecology- studies the influence of various adverse factors on human health;

environmental protection- a complex discipline aimed at developing measures to reduce the negative consequences of human activity (development of environmental legislation and economic mechanisms for rational nature management, development of a network of specially protected natural areas); also includes environmental expertise (development of conclusions on the state of natural complexes), environmental control (measures to identify and suppress illegal acts in relation to the environment), environmental forecasting (creating forecasts for the development of situations under various impact scenarios - identifying, assessing and managing environmental risks ), environmental regulation (development of standards for maximum environmental loads), environmental monitoring(development of systems for continuous monitoring of changes in natural complexes);

social ecology considers various aspects of the interaction of human society and nature. However, separating it into a separate direction looks somewhat artificial, since the interaction between man and nature is somehow considered in fundamental and applied ecology. N.F. Reimers included in social ecology ecological psychology and ecological sociology (analysis of the perception of nature by man and society), ecological education and ecological education (formation of ecological thinking and behavior), as well as ethnoecology, ecology of the individual and ecology of mankind.

The development of ecology is currently ongoing. And the main goal of this development is the solution of such an environmental problem on Earth as the preservation of life. The solution of environmental problems requires a lot of work in all areas of science and technology. And the theoretical foundation of all environmental activities is the science of ecology. Only knowledge of environmental laws - the laws of development of natural and social processes- Allows you to get along with nature and resolve social conflicts. Environmental measures that are not scientifically substantiated are useless, and often even harmful, as they may conflict with the laws of nature.