In Russia, Professor of Moscow University Karl Frantsevich Rul'e during 1841-1858. gave an almost complete list of the fundamental problems of ecology, without finding, however, an expressive term for designating this science. He was the first to clearly define the principle of the relationship between the organism and the environment: “No organic being lives on its own; each is called to life and lives only insofar as it interacts with the relatively external world for it. This is the law of communication or duality of life principles, showing that every living being receives the opportunity to live partly from himself, and partly from his appearance. Developing this principle, K.F. Roulier divides the relationship with the environment into two categories: "phenomena of special life" and "phenomena of life in general", 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 separate articles, he raised the problems of variability, adaptation, migrations, introduced the concept of "station", considered the influence of man on nature, etc. At the same time, the mechanism of the relationship of organisms with the environment K.F. Roulier discussed from positions so close to the classical principles of C. 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 should only be noted that, speaking of "organisms", E. Haeckel, as was customary then, did not mean individual individuals, but considered organisms as representatives of specific species. In essence, the main direction formulated by E. Haeckel corresponds to the modern understanding of autecology, that is, 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 totality of plant and animal species that are continuously rearranged in the process of adaptation to environmental conditions, which is the basis of the evolutionary process.

In the middle of the XX century. Against the background of ongoing work on the study of lifestyle, a series of studies on 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, the zoologist, came to the need to apply 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 typical for the 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 falls on the 60-70s.

At the same time, in the first half of the XX century. extensive work began on the study of supraorganismal biological systems. They were based on the formation of the concept of biocenoses as multispecies communities of living organisms, functionally related to each other. This concept was mainly created by the works of K. Möbius (1877), S. Forbes (1887) and others. In 1916, F. Clemente showed the dynamism of biocenoses and the adaptive meaning of this; A. Thienemann (1925) proposed the concept of "production", and C. Elgon (1927) published the first textbook-monograph on ecology, in which he clearly identified the peculiarity 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 "Biosphere", in which the planetary role of the totality of all types of living organisms - "living matter" was shown for the first time. Starting from 1935, with the introduction of the concept of an ecosystem by A. Tansley, ecological studies of the supraorganismal level began to develop especially widely; from about that 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 multispecies 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 W. 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 studies of the productivity of aquatic ecosystems. In 1934 G.F. Gause published the book "The struggle for existence" (The struggle for existence. Baltimore, 1934), in which he experimentally and with the help of mathematical calculations showed the principle of competitive exclusion and explored relationships such as predator - prey. Ecosystem research remains one of the main directions in ecology in our time. Already in the monograph by Ch. 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, in the composition of ecology, a population direction was formed, which is sometimes called de-ecology.

In the middle of our century, it became clear that the population is not just a "population", i.e. the sum of individuals in some territory, but an independent biological (ecological) system of the supraorganismal level, which has certain functions and mechanisms of autoregulation 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 studies at the population level represent the central problem of ecology. The disclosure of the role of multispecies sets 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 supraorganismal biological systems or only of multispecies communities - ecosystems. Apparently, such an approach impoverishes the content of ecology, especially if we take into account the close functional relationship between the organismal, population, and biocenotic levels in global ecological processes.

It is probably more correct to consider ecology as the science of the patterns of formation, development, and sustainable functioning of biological systems of various ranks in their relationship 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 clear.

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 laws 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 the state and dynamics of natural resources and the 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 a stable and organized system that has developed in the process of evolution of the 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, all modern areas of ecology are based on 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 of human economic activity on 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 for rational nature 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 society (man, society), studies the planet Earth, as well as space - as the living environment of 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 science of protecting the human environment. Simultaneously with the development of the theoretical foundations of 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 growing. 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.

1 ticket. Ecology. Founder of ecology.

Ecology studies the conditions for the existence of living organisms with the environment. Ecology as a science was formed in the middle of the 19th century, when there was an understanding that not only the structure and development of organisms, but also their relationship with the environment is subject to certain laws. 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 20th 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 of exponential population growth. The equation for the logistic growth of a population was proposed by P.F. Verkhlyust in 1838. French doctor V. Edwards in 1824. published the book "The Influence of Physical Factors on Life", which laid the foundation for ecological and

compared to physiology, and J. Liebig (1840) formulated the famous "Law of the Minimum".

In Russia, Professor Karl Frantsevich Rul'e in 1841-1858. gave an almost complete list of the fundamental problems of ecology, but did not find an expressive term for 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. The ecology was also studied by the soil geographer V.V. Dokuchaev (1846-1903), who showed the close relationship between living organisms and non-living

nature on the example of soil formation and the allocation 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. researchers, many of whom are authors of monographs, textbooks and teaching aids. These are D.N. Kashkarov, Ch. Elton, N. P. Naumov, S. S. Schwartz, M. S. Gilyarov, F. Clements, V. Lahrer, Yu. Odum, Bigon, Dazho, Whittaker and many others.

3-ticket. Modern ecology: subject, object and purpose of the study. The goal of modern ecology is the preservation and development of the human, social and natural subsystems of the Earth. The subject of the study of ecology is the structure of relationships between the organism and the environment.

The object of study of ecology is ecosystems.

4-ticket. Systems and properties of systems. Ecology as a science considers systems - links and members, which are in close interconnection and interdependence. A system is a set of elements that are connected in a certain way and interact with each other, i.e. any object

can be represented as the result of the interaction of its constituent parts, and therefore it can be considered a system. The parts of a system are referred to as the elements of the system, which can be physical, chemical, biological, or mixed. The universal property of an ecosystem is − emergence(from the English emergens - occurrence, emergence), 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 rare stand, does not constitute a forest, since it does not create a specific environment (soil cover, hydrological regime, microclimate) and the interconnections of various links inherent in the forest. The 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 therefore are characterized by a low capacity for self-regulation and sustainability. In them, due to the poverty of the species composition of organisms, the relationships 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 that it has an input and output, and a certain change in the input value entails some change in the output value.

Generally, there are three types of systems:

1) closed, which do not exchange with neighboring systems either

matter or energy;

2) closed, which exchange energy with a neighboring system, but

not a substance;

3) open, which exchange with neighboring systems and matter

and energy.

5. Systems. characteristic features. The system has different properties (question No. 4), is divided into 3 types (question No. 4), it has different. connections (question No. 6), and there are also laws of behavior of the system (question No. 7).

6-ticket. CONNECTIONS IN SYSTEMS.Straight- this is such a connection in which one element (A) acts on

the other (B) with no response (A → B). An example is the effect of a tree layer of a forest on a herbaceous plant that has accidentally grown under its canopy. Or the effect of the solar system on terrestrial processes. At reverse connection element "B" responds to the action of the element "A". Feedback is both positive and negative. Feedback leads to an intensification of the process in one

direction. Example - swamping of the territory, for example, after clearing

Law of Conduct

Properties

ENTRANCE EXIT forest. The removal of the forest canopy and the compaction of the soil usually leads to the accumulation of water on its surface. This, in turn, makes it possible for plants to settle here - moisture accumulators, for example, sphagnum mosses, the water content of which is 25-30 times higher than their body weight. The process begins to act in one direction: increasing moisture → depletion of oxygen → slowing down the decomposition of plant residues → accumulation of peat → further intensification of waterlogging.

Feedback negative acts in such a way that in response to the strengthening of the action of the element "A", the opposite force of the action of the element "B" in the direction increases. Such a connection allows you to keep the system in a state of stable dynamic equilibrium, called homeostasis ( homois-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, salt concentration 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 balance, 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: with an external influence that brings the system out of a state of stable equilibrium, this equilibrium is shifted in the direction in which the effect of the external influence is weakened. In accordance with the above principle, these changes occur in the direction that ensures the preservation of the total amount of material-energy and dynamic qualities of systems, i.e. its sustainability. Thus, ecosystems resist impacts that violate their stability. But if the anthropogenic load exceeds nature's ability to self-purify and self-repair, the Le Chatelier-Brown principle will cease to operate. And then it can lead to the complete death 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, which acts as a functional whole and is formed by living organisms and the environment.

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. Tensley.

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 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 resist external influences (disturbances, interference) and extinguish them. To reveal these mechanisms, let's get acquainted with various types of structures and other characteristics (properties) of ecosystems.

Block model of the 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 a 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 "biogeocenosis" differ, which we paid attention to in the "Basic concepts ..." section. Biogeocenosis, according to V. N. Sukachev, includes all the above blocks and links. This concept is usually used in relation to terrestrial systems. In biogeocenoses, the presence of a plant community (phytocenosis) as the main link is mandatory. Examples of biogeocenoses are homogeneous areas of forests, meadows, steppes, swamps, etc.

Ecosystems may not have a plant link. Such an example are systems that are formed on the basis of decaying organic remains, trees rotting in the forest, animal corpses, etc. The presence of zoocenosis and microbiocenosis or only microbiocenosis capable of cycling substances is sufficient in them.

Thus, each biogeocenosis can be called an ecosystem, but not every ecosystem belongs to the rank of biogeocenosis.

To remove terminological ambiguities, co-author V.N. Sukacheva 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. However, it must be borne in mind that at present the terms "ecosystem" and "biogeocenosis" are often considered as synonyms.

10-TICKET. Odum classification (ecosystems)

Since energy is the main driving force of all ecosystems, it is the energy principle that is the basis for their classification. Y. Odum (1989) distinguishes four types of ecosystems:

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 significance 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, currents. An example of such an ecosystem would be estuaries.

Ecosystems that receive energy from the Sun, as well as from humans. For example, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, about which Yu. 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 detritus-eating organisms.

11-ticket.Properties and types (ecosystems):

Properties:

Contribute to the implementation of the cycle of substances in nature;

Resist 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 ecosystems.

12-ticket. Ecosystem and biogeocenosis. Commonality and difference

The term “biogeocenosis”, introduced by Academician V.N. Sukachev.

The concept of "biogeocenosis" usually refers to land natural systems, where vegetation cover (phytocenosis) is necessarily present as the main link. Based on this, each biogeocenosis can be called an ecosystem, but not every ecosystem can be attributed to the rank of biogeocenosis.

A similar concept is an ecosystem - a system consisting of interconnected communities of organisms of different species and their habitat. Ecosystem is a broader concept referring to any such system. Biogeocenosis, in turn, is a class of ecosystems, an ecosystem that occupies a certain area of ​​\u200b\u200bland and includes the main components of the environment - soil, subsoil, vegetation, and the surface layer of the atmosphere. Aquatic ecosystems are not biogeocenoses, most artificial ecosystems. Thus, every biogeocenosis is an ecosystem, but not every ecosystem is a biogeocenosis. To characterize biogeocenosis, two close 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 affected by organisms from other biogeocenoses. The content of the ecological term "biogeocenosis" is identical to the physical and 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. However, it must be borne in mind that at present the terms "ecosystem" and "biogeocenosis" are often considered as synonyms.

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 changes in the environment. There are genotypic and phenotypic adaptations. The first is based on the mechanisms of mutations, variability, natural selection. They were the reason for the formation of modern species of animals and plants. Phenotypic adaptation is a process that takes place 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 the development, maintenance of normal performance and human life in extreme conditions. There are also complex and cross adaptations. Complex adaptations occur in natural conditions, for example, to the conditions of certain climatic zones, when the human body is exposed to 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 the accompanying one. There are two types of adaptive adaptive responses. The first type is called passive. These reactions are manifested at the cellular and 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, such as low atmospheric pressure. This allows you to maintain the normal physiological activity of the body with moderate fluctuations in the intensity of this factor. The second type of device is active. This type consists in the activation of specific adaptive mechanisms. In the latter case, the adaptation is of the resistive type. Those. through active resistance. If the intensity of the effect of a factor on the body deviates from the optimal value in one direction or another, but the parameters of homeostasis remain fairly stable, then such fluctuation zones are called normal zones. There are two such zones. One of them is located in the area of ​​deficiency of the intensity of the factor, the other in the area of ​​excess. Any shift in the intensity of the factor beyond the norm zones causes an overload of adaptive mechanisms and disruption of homeostasis. Therefore, outside the norm zones, pessimum zones are distinguished

There are two stages in the adaptation process: urgent and long-term. The first, initial, provides imperfect adaptation. It starts 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 the mechanisms of urgent adaptation and the gradual accumulation of structural adjustments. An example of long-term adaptation is the change in the mechanisms of heat generation and heat transfer in cold climates. The basis of the phenotypic is a complex of successive morphophysiological rearrangements aimed at maintaining the constancy of the internal environment. The main link in the mechanisms of adaptation is the connection of physiological functions with the genetic apparatus of cells. Under the influence of an extreme environmental factor, there is an increase in the load on the functional system. 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 the environmental factor only within certain limits and for a certain time. As a result of the impact on the body of factors that exceed the capabilities of adaptive mechanisms, disadaptation develops. It leads to dysfunction of the body systems. Consequently, there is a transition of an adaptive reaction to a pathological one - a disease. An example of diseases of disadaptation are cardiovascular diseases in non-indigenous peoples of the North.

15-TICKET.Biological activity of the organism. Analysis. The quantitative expression (dose) of the factor, corresponding to the needs of the organism and providing the most favorable conditions for its life, is considered as optimal. On the scale of quantitative changes in the factor, the range of fluctuations corresponding to the indicated conditions constitutes the optimum zone. The specific adaptive mechanisms inherent in the species give the organism the ability to tolerate certain deviations from optimal values ​​without disturbing the normal functions of the organism. These zones are defined as zones of norms, such as you see two, respectively, the 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 the factor reduces the effectiveness of the adaptive mechanisms and, as a result, disrupts the vital activity of the organism - this can manifest itself in the form of a slowdown and suspension of growth, disruption of the reproduction cycle, abnormal molting, etc. On the curve, this state corresponds to zones of pessimum with an extreme deficiency or excess of the factor. Outside these zones, life is impossible.

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, respectively, are resistant to this factor.

Species that are not resistant to changes in the factor are designated by the term with the same root, but with the prefix steno (from the Greek - narrow). So, stenothermic organisms are species that are unstable to temperature changes. Stenohaline species are mainly amphibian and freshwater organisms that do not tolerate large changes in water salinity. For the development of coconut palm seedlings, a temperature of at least 26 ° C and not higher than 41 ° C is needed for Siberian larch, the average temperature of the growing season should be not higher than 16°С. 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. are determined. In relation to a person, the concept of “living wage” is used, but there is no truth, the concept of “living wage”, from the point of view of ecology, it should also exist.

16-TICKET Relationships of organisms according to "interests". Relationships are classified by "interests", on the basis of which organisms build their relationships. The most common type of relationship is based on the interests of nutrition - food or trophic, which means the nutrition of one organism by another, its metabolic products or similar food. This includes pollination of plants by insects - entomophilous (raflesia) or birds, ornithophilous (hummingbird-orchid). On the basis of trophic links, food chains arise - pasture and detrital, when some organisms feed on others.

The next type of connections - phoric, 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, 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.

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

The roots of ecological knowledge go back to ancient times. The rock paintings made by primitive people testify that man's interest in the world around him was far from simple curiosity.

The idea of ​​nature conservation and, in particular, the beauty of natural forests was close to the inhabitants of ancient Greece. So, the ancient Greek poet Horace, in a letter to the patrician Fuscus Avidius, says: “In your gardens there are magnificent colonnades. Were they not built to close up groves and forests? Nature, which you drive away with blows of axes, which you drive through the doors of your houses, fortunately returns back through the window.

Ancient Greek thinkers passed the baton to Roman scientists, and they "threw the bridge" in the Renaissance.

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

A great contribution to the formation of ecological knowledge was made by the Swedish naturalist K. Linnaeus (1707-1778). His works "Economy of Nature" and "Social Organization of Nature" have not lost their relevance. By "economy" the scientist understood the relationship of all natural bodies, compared nature with a human community living according to certain laws.

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

Important observations that influenced the development of ecology were made by scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the course of expeditionary research conducted starting from the second half of the 18th century. Among the organizers and participants of these expeditions, S.P. Krasheninnikov (1711-1755), who became famous for his "Description of the land of Kamchatka", I.I. Lepekhin (1740-1802) - the author of the “Day Notes of the Journey of the Doctor and the Academy of Sciences Adjunct Ivan Lepekhin in Different Provinces of the Russian State” in 4 volumes, Academician P.S. Pallas (1741-1811), who prepared the major work "Description of Russian-Asian animals".

One of the founders of the evolutionary doctrine J.B. Lamarck (1744-1829), who believed that the most important cause of adaptive changes in organisms, the evolution of plants and animals is the influence of external environmental conditions.

Professor of Moscow University K.F. Ruler (1814-1858). In his writings and public lectures, he strongly emphasized the need to study the evolution of living organisms, the development and structure of animals, depending on changes in their habitat. The scientist formulated the principle underlying all the sciences of the living, the principle of the historical unity of the living organism and the environment.

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

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

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

The formation of ecology as a science

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

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

By the end of the XIX century. The term "ecology" began to be used by many biologists, not only in Germany, but also in other countries. In 1868 in Russia under the editorship of I.I. Mechnikov published in a concise presentation the work of E. Haeckel "General Morphology", where the word "ecology" was first mentioned in Russian.

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

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

If Haeckel can be considered the forefather of a new science, intuitively anticipating the entire significance and global nature of ecology, then Darwin laid its biological foundation - the foundation on which ecological knowledge was built. Initially, it had the practical goal of regulating the number of economically important animal species and changing natural communities (biocenoses) in a direction beneficial to humans.

In 1859 Darwin published The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Breeds in the Struggle for Life, which revolutionized biology.

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

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

Thus, K. Möbius was one of the first to apply a special approach to the study of wildlife objects, which today is called the systematic approach. This approach orients the researcher towards the disclosure of the integral properties of objects and the mechanisms that provide them, to the identification of diverse relationships in a biological system and the development of an effective strategy for its study. In modern science, the systemic paradigm (the dominant theoretical concept, system of views) dominates, and in ecology, the systemic approach to the consideration of wildlife objects is the main one.

As a recognized independent scientific discipline, ecology took shape around 1900.

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

However, each individual species, even when studied in relation to other species that directly influence it, is only the smallest particle among the thousands of similar plant, animal and microorganism species that live in the same zone. Awareness of this fact led to the emergence in the mid-20s. 20th century synecology (from the Greek sin - together), or biocenology, which studies the relationship of populations, communities and ecosystems with the environment. At the III International Botanical Congress in Brussels in 1910, synecology officially took shape as an integral part of ecology.

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

In the same period, the first fundamental ecological concepts appeared, such as the "pyramid of numbers", according to which the number of individuals decreases from plants (at the base of the pyramid) to herbivores and predators (at its top); "food chain"; biomass pyramid.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The interrelations in living nature that scientists have to deal with are extremely wide and diverse. Therefore, ideally, an ecologist should have a truly encyclopedic knowledge, concentrated in many scientific and social disciplines. The successful solution of real environmental problems requires joint interdisciplinary work of research groups, each of which represents different branches of science. That is why in the second half of the XX century. in ecology, ecological schools of botanists, zoologists, geobotanists, hydrobiologists, soil scientists, and others have developed.

Modern ecology

The concept of "ecology" is currently acquiring a global character, however, environmental scientists themselves introduce different meanings into the definition of this term.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The term "ecology" and the word "ecological" derived from it turned into the end of the 20th - the beginning of the 21st century. into common capacious words that cover and reflect the global changes that have occurred not only in the human environment, but also in human relationships.

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

Ecology can also be defined as the science of the "niches" of organisms in ecological systems.

CHRISTIAN HUMANITARIAN-ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY

Academic discipline: Applied ecology

"The history of the emergence and founders of the development of environmental sciences"

Odessa, 2007

Introduction

Chapter 3. Modern ecology

Conclusion

Introduction

Ecology is a science that studies the relationship of organisms with each other and with the environment. Often there is a translation of the term ecology as the doctrine of the house, dwelling. This is not accurate. The ancient Greeks understood this term much broader. Ecos they called any place where a person was: a good beach where people gathered for swimming, and a mountain pasture where shepherds grazed sheep.

The knowledge of nature has acquired practical significance since the dawn of mankind. In a primitive society, everyone had to have certain knowledge about the environment, the forces of nature, plants and animals. Even then, people influenced the abundance and diversity of animals and plants, but the lack of tools and hunting skills did not allow them to devastate the natural environment. Man accumulated empirical knowledge about the world around him by trial and error. People gradually learned the habits and ways of movement of the animals they hunted; useful and harmful properties of plants, features of their life cycles and places of growth; in search of shelters, they studied the terrain, etc.

Civilization arose when man learned to use fire and tools that allowed him to change his environment. More than 600 generations before us, agriculture appeared, which decided the future of mankind. “With this lever,” wrote V.I. Vernadsky (1925), - man has mastered all living matter on the planet. Man is profoundly different from other organisms in his effect on the environment. This difference, which was great from the beginning, has become huge with the passage of time.

The transition to agriculture and then to cattle breeding was a cardinal milestone in the history of mankind. The provision of food contributed to the growth of population: by 2500 BC. the population of the Earth has reached 100 million people. According to the theory of N.I. Vavilov, the most ancient civilizations originated precisely in the centers of origin of cultivated plants.

With the development of civilization, ecological knowledge and environmental problems have developed. Creating the first cities, people still unconsciously understood the need to comply with certain sanitary standards. The first of the city sewerage systems known today appeared in the III-I millennium BC. in India. In Rome, a water supply system was built, a sewerage system operated. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the 400s AD. in the cities of states formed on its ruins, up to the XIII-XIV centuries. unsanitary conditions reigned, because necessary knowledge was lost.

Already by the beginning of a new era, many ancient civilizations were dying due to inept management. So, for example, the Babylonian kingdom perished as a result of the ill-conceived construction of irrigation systems and the intensive use of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for irrigation purposes. According to L.N. Gumilyov (1990), another “victory over nature” ruined the great city: by the beginning of the new era, only ruins remained of it.

The same was observed in Egypt, Sumer, Assyria and other countries. The hieroglyphs on the pyramid of Cheops already warned: "People will die from the inability to use the forces of nature and from ignorance of the true world."

The French scientist F. Chateaubriand (1768-1848) said that forests preceded man, and deserts followed him.

Human needs associated with his main occupations - agriculture, domestication of animals, navigation, construction, etc., predetermined the need for environmental knowledge and the emergence of natural sciences.

The term ecology (gr. oikos - home, dwelling, homeland, logos - teaching, science) was first introduced in 1866 by a German biologist, professor at the University of Jena Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), who singled out the section biology, studying the totality of relationships between living and non-living components of the natural environment.

Solving 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 the objective laws of the development of natural, technogenic and social processes will make it possible to get along with nature and resolve social conflicts.

The history of the formation of ecology as an independent science can be divided into several periods:

Accumulation of empirical knowledge about nature in the era of ancient civilizations;

The study of the influence of natural conditions on living organisms in the Renaissance;

The emergence in the second half of the nineteenth century of the evolutionary teachings of Charles Darwin and the science of ecology;

Formation of a system concept in ecology;

Modern period in ecology.

Chapter 1. The origin of the foundations of ecology

The first period is characterized by the emergence of the foundations of ecological knowledge, which appear in the writings of many scientists of the ancient world and the Middle Ages. In ancient Egyptian, Indian, Chinese and European sources of the VI - II centuries. BC. you can find information about the life of animals and plants. The thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome showed particular interest in the questions of the origin and development of life on Earth, as well as in identifying the connections between objects and phenomena of the surrounding world.

Thus, the ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer Anaxagoras (c. 500¾428 BC) put forward one of the first theories of the origin of the world known at that time and the living creatures inhabiting it.

The ancient Greek philosopher and physician Empedocles (c. 487 ¾ c. 424 BC) paid more attention to describing the very process of the emergence and subsequent development of earthly life

One of the main problems that occupied the minds of ancient thinkers was the problem of the relationship between nature and man. The study of various aspects of their interaction was the subject of scientific interests of the ancient Greek researchers Herodotus, Hippocrates, Plato, Eratosthenes and others.

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 BC) connected the process of formation of character traits in people and the establishment of a particular political system with the action of natural factors (climate, landscape features, etc.).

The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460¾377 BC) taught that it is necessary to treat the patient, taking into account the individual characteristics of the human body and its relationship with the environment. He believed that environmental factors (climate, state of water and soil, lifestyle of people, laws of the country, etc.) have a decisive influence on the formation of bodily (constitution) and spiritual (temperament) properties of a person. The climate, according to Hippocrates, also largely determines the features of the national character.

The famous idealist philosopher Plato (428-348 BC) drew attention to the changes (mostly negative) that occur over time in the human environment, and to the impact these changes have on people's way of life. Plato did not connect the facts of the degradation of the living environment of a person with the economic activity carried out by him, considering them signs of natural decline, the rebirth of things and phenomena of the material world. Plato wrote: “Water did not disappear, as now, rolling into the sea over bare land, and what has been preserved, if compared with what existed before, looks like the emaciated body of a sick person; all the fertile, soft lands were wasted and disappeared, leaving only the skeleton of the land.

The ancient Greek scientist-geographer Eratosthenes (c. 276¾194 BC) attempted to give a strict description of the modern Oikumene ¾ of the part of the Universe inhabited by people. He made the most accurate map of the known world of his time, in which the land stretched from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east, from the land of Thule (the West coast of modern Norway) in the north to Taprobana (Ceylon) in the south. The entire Oikumene was subdivided by him into zones: hot, two temperate and two cold. Eratosthenes is considered the author of an approach to the study of the earth, according to which the earth is considered as the "home" of man.

The ideas of ancient people about the world in which they lived were not limited only to the framework of the Oikumene. According to Anaxagoras, the Earth is the upper base of a cylinder freely floating in space, around which the Sun and planets revolve. The Pythagorean Philolaus (c. 500¾400 BC) argued that in the center of the Universe there is a central fire, “hestna”, around which the Earth, which has a spherical shape, describes a circle every day, which is why the change of day and night occurs . The ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310¾230 BC) proposed the first heliocentric system of the world, "placing" the Sun at the center of the universe. However, this view of the world order has not received recognition for a very long time.

The study of the human environment and the relationship between man and nature, begun by ancient Greek scientists, was continued in the heyday of Ancient Rome.

The Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius Carus (c. 99¾55 BC), following his spiritual teacher, the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (c. 342¾270 BC), argued that certain laws govern nature, the knowledge of which designed to save people from the fear of death, the gods and the forces of nature and open the way to happiness and bliss. He left behind an unfinished poem "On the Nature of Things", in which, in particular, he outlined the natural history of the origin and development of the human race. Lucretius associated the growth of human power with the development of special mechanisms for adapting to the conditions of existence, which make people more competitive in comparison with other varieties of living beings (Empedocles had previously expressed similar thoughts). The basis of the worldview of Lucretius was a kind of Epicurean atomism, according to which everything that exists in the world is made up of the same smallest particles - ¾ atoms. Everything is made up of them and eventually breaks down into them. The atoms necessary for a living organism to maintain its existence are scooped up from the external environment, while those that are unnecessary or have lost contact with other particles are rejected outside.

The ancient Greek geographer, geologist and historian Strabo (c. 64¾24 BC) wrote a 17-volume "Geography" containing valuable information from the field of geology, physical geography, ethnography, zoology and botany. As a geologist, Strabo anticipated the controversy of "volcanists" and "Neptunists", assuming that the Earth's surface was formed under the influence of both factors of dynamic geology - water and underground heat. Strabo also suggested that beyond the Atlantic Ocean, in the west, there is an unknown mainland, possibly inhabited by other people, not similar to Europeans.

The Roman naturalist Pliny (23¾79 AD) compiled a 37-volume work "Natural History", a kind of encyclopedia of natural science, in which he presented information on astronomy, geography, ethnography, meteorology, zoology and botany. Describing a large number of plants and animals, he also indicated the places of their growth and habitat. Of particular interest is Pliny's attempt to compare man and animals. He drew attention to the fact that instinct dominates in animals in life, and a person acquires everything (including the ability to walk and talk) through learning, through imitation, and also through conscious experience.

The ancient period is characterized by a descriptive direction in science, based on empirical knowledge about nature. At the same time, man was isolated from nature and placed at the center of the universe. The deification of nature was replaced by anthropocentrism - man became the measure of all things.

In the Middle Ages, the sciences of nature developed slowly due to religious dogmatism and scholasticism. The scientific achievements of the ancient world are separated from modern history by a millennium of biblical dogmas that fettered the development of natural science.

Mention should be made, however, of the legendary physician Avicenna (980-1037), who was born and lived in Central Asia. World-famous is his book “The Canon of Medical Science”, which contains sections on the influence of the surrounding air, place of residence and seasons on the human body.

Another prominent scientist of that time was the German chemist and physician T. Paracelsus (1493 - 1541), whose ideas about the dosed influence of natural factors were developed in the 10th century in the works of J. Liebig and W. Shelford.

Most of the knowledge accumulated mainly by the Greeks was lost due to the destruction of the famous Library of Alexandria by J. Caesar in 48 BC. It was finally burned down by the Arabs in 642 AD.

The second period, which began in the Renaissance, during the great geographical discoveries, marked the beginning of modern natural science.

Colonization of new countries in the 15th-16th centuries. served as an impetus for the development of natural sciences. This period is characterized by a description of open lands, their flora and fauna. Much attention was paid to the influence of weather, climate and other factors on organisms. The situation changed with the onset of the Renaissance, the approach of which was heralded by the works of such eminent medieval scholars as Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon.

The Peru of the German philosopher and theologian Albert of Bolshtedt (Albert the Great) (1206¾1280) owns several natural science treatises. The works "On Alchemy" and "On Metals and Minerals" contain statements about the dependence of climate on the geographical latitude of the place and its position above sea level, as well as on the relationship between the inclination of the sun's rays and the heating of the soil. Here Albert speaks of the origin of mountains and valleys under the influence of earthquakes and floods; considers the Milky Way as a cluster of stars; denies the fact of the impact of comets on the fate and health of people; explains the existence of hot springs by the action of heat coming from the depths of the Earth, etc. In the treatise "On Plants" he analyzes the issues of organography, morphology and physiology of plants, gives facts on the selection of cultivated plants, and expresses the idea of ​​plant variability under the influence of the environment.

The English philosopher and naturalist Roger Bacon (1214-1294) argued that all organic bodies in their composition represent various combinations of the same elements and liquids that make up inorganic bodies. Bacon emphasized the role of the sun in the life of organisms, and also drew attention to their dependence on the state of the environment and climatic conditions in a particular habitat. He also spoke of the fact that man, no less than all other organisms, is subject to the influence of climate ¾ of its changes can lead to changes in the bodily organization and characters of people.

The advent of the Renaissance is inextricably linked with the name of the famous Italian painter, sculptor, architect, scientist and engineer Leonardo da Vinci (1452¾1519). He considered the main task of science to establish the laws of natural phenomena, based on the principle of their causal, necessary connection. Studying the morphology of plants, Leonardo was interested in the influence exerted on their structure and functioning by light, air, water and the mineral parts of the soil. The study of the history of life on Earth led him to the conclusion about the connection between the fate of the Earth and the Universe and the insignificance of the place that our planet occupies in it. Leonardo denied the central position of the Earth both in the Universe and in the solar system.

In 1543, the work of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473¾1543) “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres” was published, which outlined the heliocentric system of the world, reflecting the true picture of the universe. The Italian philosopher, a fighter against scholastic philosophy and the Roman Catholic Church, Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) made a significant contribution to the development of the teachings of Copernicus, as well as to freeing him from shortcomings and limitations. He argued that in the Universe there are countless stars similar to the Sun, a significant part of which is inhabited by living beings.

The invention of new means of studying the starry sky contributed greatly to the expansion of the boundaries of the known world. The Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564¾1642) designed a telescope with which he studied the structure of the Milky Way, establishing that it is a cluster of stars. Galileo, by his observation, deprived the Earth of the last privilege in relation to other planets of the solar system - a monopoly on the "ownership" of a natural satellite.

The onset of a fundamentally new stage in the development of science is traditionally associated with the name of the philosopher and logician Francis Bacon (1561-1626), who developed inductive and experimental methods of scientific research. He proclaimed the main goal of science to increase the power of man over nature. This is achievable, according to Bacon, only under one condition - science should allow a person to understand nature as best as possible, so that, obeying it, a person can eventually dominate in it and over it. Bacon wrote: “It should not be considered insignificant that long voyages and wanderings have discovered and shown in nature many things that can give a new light to philosophy.” F. Bacon intended to start work on the systematization of the accumulated observations, but his intentions rather gave impetus to other scientists in this direction.

The English naturalist Robert Hooke (1635¾1703) owns the first work ¾ "Micrography" ¾ telling about the use of microscope technology. One of the first microscopists, the Dutchman Anthony van Leeuwenhoek (1632¾1723), received lenses that made it possible to obtain an almost three hundredfold increase in the observed objects. Based on them, he created a device of an original design, with the help of which he studied not only the structure of insects, protozoa, fungi, bacteria and blood cells, but also food chains, population regulation, which later became the most important sections of ecology. Leeuwenhoek's research actually marked the beginning of the scientific study of the hitherto unknown living microcosm, this integral component of the human habitat.

In the XVIII century, botanical and zoological observations were summarized in the work "The System of Nature" by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707 - 1778), who developed the foundations of the scientific taxonomy of animals and plants. Although he formulated the hypothesis of the constancy of species: "there are as many of them as were created by the Creator", but, nevertheless, he recognized the formation of varieties under the influence of living conditions. He made a significant contribution to the formation of a true idea of ​​​​the place of man in nature, in the system of classification of the plant and animal world, according to which man was included in the system of the animal kingdom and belonged to the class of mammals, the order of primates, as a result, the human species was called Homo sapiens.

Among many scientists, the French naturalist Georges Louis de Buffon stands out. He published a huge work in 44 volumes "Natural History", from which germinated the sprouts of the evolutionary theory about the origin of organisms. Buffon writes: "We are faced with the question of the change of species, the question of transformations that have taken place since time immemorial, and, apparently, have taken place in every family." Georges Buffon expressed thoughts about the unity of the animal and plant world, about their vital activity, distribution and connection with the environment, defended the idea of ​​species variability under the influence of environmental conditions. He drew the attention of contemporaries to the striking similarity in the structure of the body of man and monkey. However, fearing accusations of heresy by the Catholic Church, Buffon was forced to refrain from speaking about their possible "kinship" and origin from a single ancestor.

In Germany, the champion of the natural origin of organisms, their relationship and gradual development was Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804).

A significant milestone in the development of the science of the way of life of various living organisms is the work of the English priest, economist and demographer Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), which provides equations for the exponential growth of populations as the basis of demographic concepts. He formulated the so-called "law of population", according to which the population increases exponentially, while the means of subsistence (primarily food) can only increase in arithmetic progression. Malthus proposed to deal with the overpopulation that inevitably arises with such a development of events by regulating marriages and limiting the birth rate. He also called in every possible way to "contribute to the actions of nature that cause mortality ...": to overpopulate houses, to make narrow streets in cities, thereby creating favorable conditions for the spread of deadly diseases (such as plague). The views of Malthus were subjected to severe criticism even during the life of their author, not only for their inhumanity, but also for their speculation.

Somewhat later, P.F. Verhulst proposed the equation for "logistic" growth. These works substantiated the ideas about the population dynamics. At the same time, in the works of the doctor V. Edwards, the philosopher O. Comte and the biologist I.I. Mechnikov laid the foundation for human ecology. Social aspects of human ecology are reflected in the works of O. Comte, D. Mill and G. Spencer, as well as American sociologists R. Park and E. Burgess.

In Russia, the evolutionary idea was paved by M.V. Lomonosov (1711 - 1765). He wrote that the face of the Earth changed many times, dry land appeared in place of the seas, and vice versa; the earth layers gradually rose and bent, forming mountain folds, the climate changed, the flora and fauna changed: "elephants and southern lands of grass in the north were important."

major event in the 18th century. was the emergence of the evolutionary concept of the French naturalist Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744¾1829), according to which the main reason for the development of organisms from lower to higher forms is the desire inherent in living nature to improve the organization, as well as the influence of various external conditions on them. Changing external conditions change the needs of organisms; in response to this, new activities and new habits arise; their action, in turn, changes the organization, the morphology of the being in question; the new traits thus acquired are inherited by the offspring. Lamarck believed that this scheme is also valid in relation to man. Jean Baptiste Lamarck is one of the greatest representatives of science of that time. In the book "Philosophy of Zoology" he first raised the question of the influence of the environment on organisms, but failed to explain the reasons for their "fitting" to the environment. J.B. Lamarck formulated the conclusions of his research in this way: “After many successive generations, individuals who belonged to one species by origin, in the end turn out to be transformed into a new species, different from the original one.”

Ecological trend in plant geography throughout the first half of the 19th century. was developed by the German encyclopedic naturalist, geographer and traveler Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm Humboldt (1769¾1859). He was one of the first naturalists who understood the need for a synthesis of sciences in the study of nature, its living and non-living elements. Speaking about the holistic study of nature in the generalized theoretical work "Cosmos", he wrote: "My attention will be directed to the interaction of forces, the influence of inanimate nature on the flora and fauna, their harmony." He studied in detail the features of the climate in various regions of the Northern Hemisphere and compiled a map of its isotherms, discovered the relationship between climate and the nature of vegetation, and attempted to identify botanical-geographic regions (phytocenoses) on this basis.

In Russia, the merit in the formation of the main provisions of ecology and the ecological worldview belongs to the famous Russian zoologist, prof. Moscow University Karl Frantsevich Rul'e (1814-1858), who, together with Alexander Humboldt, pointed to the unity of the environment and organisms existing in nature and their evolutionary development. He argued that nature is eternal; all its phenomena are interconnected and form a single whole. In nature, everything is formed by slow, unceasing changes. Even before the publication of E. Haeckel's work, he formulated the basic principle of the relationship between the organism and the environment, which he called the "Law of the duality of life principles." He also identified the problems of variability, adaptation, migration and human influence on nature. K. Roulier in his lectures and published works discussed the interaction of organisms with the environment from positions close to those of Darwin.

They were the forerunners of the evolutionary idea and a holistic perception of natural complexes, consisting of living and non-living components. A great contribution to the development of ecological ideas in this period was made by the Russian naturalists A.T. Bolotov (1738 - 1833), I.I. Lepekhin (1740 - 1802), P.S. Pallas (1741 - 1811).

In the second half of the XIX century. thanks to numerous expeditionary studies of flora and fauna (the works of A. Humboldt, A. Wallace, F Skletter), biogeography began to take shape as a separate science, which later became one of the foundations of modern ecology. In Russia, its development is associated with the works of K.M. Baer, ​​N.A. Severtseva and others.

Chapter 2

The emergence of the science of ecology was preceded by the publication on November 24, 1859 of Charles Darwin's famous book The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favorable Races in the Struggle for Life. Since that time, a new period in the history of the formation of ecology as an independent science begins.

The third period is marked by the emergence of a new evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin; similar provisions were simultaneously developed by the English scientist A. Wallace.

Later, V.I. Vernadsky wrote: “In the course of geological time, living matter changes morphologically, in accordance with the laws of nature. The history of living matter in the course of time is expressed in a slow change in life forms, forms of living organisms, genetically interconnected continuously from one generation to another, without interruption. For centuries, this idea has been raised in scientific research, in 1859 it finally received a solid justification in the great achievements of Charles Darwin and A. Wallace. It resulted in the doctrine of the evolution of species - plants and animals, including humans.

The key position in the teachings of Darwin is occupied by the theory of natural selection as a result of the struggle for existence. Usually many more living organisms are produced than can survive, so there is a struggle for existence either between individuals of the same or different species, or with the physical conditions of life. Darwin wrote that every organism depends not only on the conditions of its habitat, but also on all other creatures around it. As a result of natural selection, those organisms are preserved in which changes have taken place that give advantages for existence in given conditions.

Such a line of reasoning gave grounds to a contemporary and follower of Darwin, the German scientist Ernst Haeckel, to declare the expediency of isolating a new science about the relationship of living organisms and their communities with each other and with the environment. Ch. Darwin's views on the struggle for existence not only as a struggle of organisms with each other, but also with the surrounding inanimate environment served as the scientific foundation on which E. Haeckel in 1866 erected the building of a new science.

In Russia, K.A. was a passionate champion and popularizer of the evolutionary theory of Ch. Timiryazev. In 1939, in his work “Charles Darwin and His Teaching,” he wrote: “With the establishment of the concept of adaptation, a new field of science appeared, which received the name ecology invented by Haeckel.”

In his work “General Morphology” (1866), E. Haeckel gave the following definition of this branch of science: “Ecology is the knowledge of the economy of nature, the simultaneous study of the relationship of all living things with organic and inorganic components of the environment, including necessarily non-antagonistic and antagonistic relationships of animals and plants, in contact with each other. In a word, ecology is a science that studies all the complex relationships and relationships in nature, considered by Darwin as conditions for the struggle for existence. Predominantly, ecology studies living systems with a level of organization from the organism and above. Haeckel's work is built on the vast factual material accumulated by classical biology, and is mainly devoted to the direction that is now called autecology or the ecology of individual species. In addition, another important circumstance can be traced in the works of Haeckel - the understanding of ecology as the "economics of nature". Since that time, ecology has been transformed from a branch of biology into an interdisciplinary science covering many areas of knowledge.

An important step towards the formation of ecology should be considered the introduction in 1877. German hydrobiologist K. Möbius of the concept of biocenosis. Biocenosis (gr. bios - life, koinos - community) - a regular combination of different organisms that live in a particular biotope. Biotope (gr. bios - life, topos - place) - a set of environmental conditions in which the biocenosis lives (F. Dahl, 1903).

A significant contribution to the development of ecology was made by Russian scientists A.N. Beketov (1825 - 1902), N.A. Severtsev (1827 - 1885) and others.

At the very end of the 19th century, an outstanding Russian soil scientist V.V. Dokuchaev (1846 - 1903). It is the natural connection between “forces”, “bodies” and “phenomena”, between “dead” and “living” nature, plant, animal and mineral kingdoms, on the one hand, and man, his way of life and the spiritual world, on the other, and constitutes the essence of the knowledge of "nature," he believed. The practical implementation of these ideas is associated with the name of G.F. Morozov (1867 - 1920) - the creator of the doctrine of the forest. He emphasized that the forest and its territory should merge for us into a single whole, into a geographical individual. In 1925, these ideas were realized by the German hydrobiologist A. Tienemann, who considered lakes as an integral system, where biocenosis and biotope form an organic unity.

In the second half of the nineteenth - early twentieth centuries. much attention was paid to the study of the influence of individual factors (mainly climatic) on the distribution and dynamics of organisms. The pre-Haeckel period in the development of ecology includes, in particular, the work of the agronomist J. Liebig, who formulated the well-known rule of the “limiting factor”.

At the beginning of the 19th century, ecological schools of botanists, zoologists, and hydrobiologists took shape, each of which developed certain aspects of ecological science: animal ecology, plant ecology, microorganism ecology, insect ecology, lake ecology, forest ecology, etc.

The main attention began to be paid to the analysis of density, fertility, mortality, age structure, interaction of groups of organisms and their relationship with the environment.

This period, in comparison with the previous one, was more progressive. Thanks to him, a scientific direction was born in ecology - population ecology, the priority problem of which is biotic interactions in the biocenosis. The disadvantage of this direction is that even when studying a community, the essence of phenomena is reduced to the functioning of individual populations, i.e. to the decomposition of the biocenosis into its constituent elements.

The ideas about the integrity of natural systems that unite communities of living organisms and their living conditions into a single functional structure, formulated in the works of individuals, did not become dominant views in scientific circles at the end of the 19th century. A systematic approach to the study of biocenosis and biotope as a whole arose later in ecology.

Chapter 3. Modern ecology

Modern ecology is based on the basic concept of the content of this science - the system concept, which originated at the end of the 19th century and was formed only by the middle of the 20th century.

The fourth period in the history of ecology is associated with the special interest of the world scientific community in the work of the Russian geochemist V.I. Vernadsky (1863-1945). The teachings of V.I. Vernadsky about the biosphere played an important role in preparing a holistic perception of natural processes as a system. The study of planetary processes began after the publication in 1926 of the book by V.I. Vernadsky "Biosphere", where the properties of "living matter" and its functions in the formation of both the modern face of the Earth and all life environments on the planet (water, soil and air) are considered. The predecessor and like-minded V.I. Vernadsky was V.V. Dokuchaev (1846-1903), who created the doctrine of the soil as a natural-historical body. VI Vernadsky again drew the attention of the scientific world to the problem of the interaction of living organisms with inanimate nature. The biosphere appeared as a global system, the functioning of which is based on the dynamic unity and interaction of "inert", "living", and "bio-inert" components. In his doctrine of the biosphere, not only the basic properties of “living matter” and the impact of “inert” nature on it were considered, but also the huge reverse influence of life on inanimate nature and the formation of “bio-inert natural bodies” (such as, for example, soil or lake) .

IN AND. Vernadsky substantiated the role of living matter as the most powerful geochemical and energy factor - the leading force in planetary development. In his works, the significance for the cosmos of life on planet Earth, as well as the significance of cosmic connections for the biosphere, is clearly traced. Subsequently, this cosmic line in ecology was developed in the works of A.L. Chizhevsky, the founder of the modern science of heliobiology. V.I. Vernadsky reveals the leading role of living organisms in the accumulation of solar energy and the transformation of substances that make up the shells of the Earth: “In essence, the biosphere can be considered as an area of ​​the earth’s crust occupied by transformers that convert cosmic radiation into effective terrestrial energy,” he wrote. . "Living matter" performs a huge "geochemical" work, forming the composition and structure of the Earth's surface. Clays, limestones, dolomites, ironstones, bauxites are all rocks of organic origin.

IN AND. Vernadsky traced the evolution of the biosphere and came to the conclusion that the activity of modern man, who transforms the surface of the Earth, has become commensurate in scale with the geological processes on the planet. As a result, it became clear that the use of the planet's natural resources occurs without taking into account the laws and mechanisms of the functioning of the biosphere. Nevertheless, he considered the emergence of the noosphere, the sphere of the mind, to be the final stage in the evolution of the biosphere. IN AND. Vernadsky noted that life in the geologically foreseeable period has always existed in the form of biocenoses - complexly organized complexes of different organisms. At the same time, living organisms have always been closely connected with the environment, forming integral dynamic systems. In the course of the development of life, one group of organisms was repeatedly replaced by another, but a more or less constant ratio of forms performing certain geochemical functions was always maintained.

In 1927, C. Elton published the first textbook-monograph on ecology. It described the originality of biocenotic processes, gave the concept of an ecological niche, substantiated the "rule of ecological pyramids", formulated the principles of population ecology. Soon, mathematical models of population growth and their interaction were proposed (V. Volterra, A. Lotka), laboratory experiments were carried out to test these models (G.F. Gause). Thus, in the 1920s and 1930s, the direction of population ecology was formed, and in the 1930s, the concept of an ecosystem. With particular persuasiveness, these conclusions were formulated by the English geobotanist A. Tansley, who has the honor of introducing them in 1935. The term for an ecological system is an ecosystem. An ecosystem was understood as a set of organisms and non-living components of their habitat, during the interaction of which a more or less complete biotic cycle occurs (with the participation of producers, consumers and decomposers). At the same time, extensive quantitative studies of the functional characteristics of various ecosystems continued - their structure, productivity, conditions for their stability, trophic relationships in ecosystems. A. Tansley consistently developed the view of the ecosystem as a formation of a supra-organismal level, including not only organisms, but also the entire set of physical conditions of the habitat. He drew attention to the impossibility of separating organisms from their environment, together with which they form one system - an ecosystem - an integral subsystem of nature, in which both organisms and inorganic factors are in a relatively stable balance.

In the domestic scientific literature, ideas about ecosystems appeared in 1942 in the works of V.N. Sukachev (1880-1967), who substantiated the concept of biogeocenosis (a synonym for the term "ecosystem"), which was of great importance for the development of the theoretical basis of ecology. In the 1950s, a general ecology was formed, in which the main attention is paid to the study of the interaction of organisms and the structure of the systems they form. This doctrine reflects the ideas about the unity of organisms with the physical environment, about the laws that underlie such connections, about the exchange of matter and energy between them.

The middle of the 20th century was marked by the expansion of complex studies of ecosystems (V.I. Zhadin, G.G. Vinberg, R. Lindeman, G. Odum and Yu. Odum, R. Margalef and many others). In 1956, under the editorship of V.I. Zhadina published a 4-volume work "The Life of Fresh Waters"; in 1961, a monograph by V.I. Zhadin and S.V. Gerd "Rivers, lakes and reservoirs of the USSR". These works describe the features of aquatic ecosystems. In 1964, a team of authors led by V.N. Sukachev, the book "Fundamentals of Forest Biocenology" was published. In it, an attempt is made to reveal the quantitative patterns of functioning and evolution of such a complex dynamic system as forest biogeocenosis by synthesizing information.

In the twentieth century within the framework of ecology, an independent direction of physiology was formed, dedicated to the study of adaptation mechanisms. In our country, representatives of this trend, which flourished in the 60-70s of the twentieth century, were N.I. Kalabukhov, A.D. Slonim, and in recent years - Acad. I.A. Shilov.

However, the effective implementation of the methodology of a systematic approach to the study of ecosystems became possible only in the early 1970s, when ecologists received powerful computers and developed methods for modeling dynamic systems, which, together with experiments and observations, were called system analysis.

Advances in the study and modeling of ecosystems, especially the implementation of projects within the framework of international cooperation, contributed to the final approval in the second half of the 20th century of the ecosystem concept as the basis of modern ecology.

By the 70s of the XX century. there were directions called "physiological" and "evolutionary" ecology. Nowadays, "quantitative" ecology and mathematical modeling of biospheric and ecosystem processes have been developed.

In parallel with the above, geographical and geological areas of ecology developed, namely landscape ecology and dynamic geology - a system of sciences about the interaction of the Earth's geospheres and the impact of anthropogenic factors on them.

The fifth period in the history of ecology is modern ecology. In the last two decades, the view of ecology as a purely biological science has changed. Since the beginning of the century, in ecology, in addition to the anthropocentric (gr. anthropos - man) direction, which considers the human community as a separate kingdom, towering above the kingdoms of minerals, plants and animals, a biocentric direction has appeared. Representatives of the latter consider man a product of the evolution of the biosphere; people, like other mammals, obey the laws of nature, and their development goes in parallel with the development of other organisms. Therefore, now Homo sapiens (the Homo sapiens) with all its diverse activities are included in the sphere of interests of the science of ecology.

The growing public interest in environmental issues has had a profound effect on academic ecology. Before 1970 it was looked at mainly as one of the branches of biology. Although even now ecology has its roots in biology, it has gone beyond it, has grown into a new integrated discipline that links the natural, technical and social sciences. Some major universities in developed countries have introduced interdisciplinary qualification degrees in ecology. Views on ecology as a science not only about natural, but also man-made ecosystems are gaining more and more recognition.

Modern ecology not only studies the laws of functioning of natural and anthropogenic ecosystems, but also looks for optimal forms of the relationship between nature and the human community.

This point of view has become dominant in modern society, which has realized the danger of an ecological crisis, catastrophic transformations of the planetary system. It is possible to prevent the destruction of the biosphere only on the basis of ecological knowledge, which helps to rationally exploit natural resources, manage natural, agricultural, technogenic and social systems in accordance with the objective laws of nature. “And there is no force on Earth,” wrote V.I. Vernadsky (1940), “that could keep the human Mind in its striving.” He believed that the course of future events could be determined by the will and mind of man, the planet would enter a new stage of evolution - the noosphere (gr. noos - mind, sphaira - area) - an era controlled by the human mind, which guarantees progressive development based on environmentally competent use and augmentation of natural resources. “The whole of humanity, taken together, represents an insignificant fraction of the mass of the planet. Its power is connected not with matter, but with its brain. In the history of the biosphere, a huge future opens up before humanity if it does not use its mind and labor for self-destruction ”(cited from the book:“ V.I. Vernadsky ”. M., 1994).

The main task of modern ecology is to find ways to preserve the biosphere and manage natural, anthropogenic systems and human society in accordance with the laws of nature, and not contrary to them, to find harmony between the economic and environmental interests of man.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can once again note the main periods in the history of the formation of ecology as an independent science.

The period of ancient civilization, covering the end of the old and the beginning of the new chronology, is characterized by the accumulation of empirical knowledge about nature.

The Renaissance is a period from the 15th to the 18th centuries, which is characterized by progressive observations of naturalists, comprehension of accumulated empirical knowledge and the study of the influence of natural factors on living organisms.

The emergence of the science of ecology in the 19th century was a period that was marked by the evolutionary doctrine of Charles Darwin on the origin of species, which pointed to the interdependence and mutual influence of all forms of animate and inanimate nature. On the basis of the doctrine of the evolution of living organisms, E. Haeckel erected the building of a new science - ecology, which studies all relationships in nature. This science began to develop rapidly through the efforts of many foreign and Russian scientists, who found more and more evidence of the unity of dead and living nature. The terms biocenosis and biotope are introduced. Within the framework of biology, various ecological schools are being formed. However, man with his spiritual world is, as it were, separated from the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms. Ideas about the unity of living organisms and environmental conditions have not yet become the dominant system of views.

The beginning of the 20th century - V.I.Vernadsky for the first time convincingly revealed the huge reverse influence of "living matter" on the "inert" nature and the formation of "bioinert natural bodies". A. Tansley introduced the term ecosystem to denote integral functional natural systems of the supraorganismal level. He pointed out the impossibility of separating organisms from the environment. Comprehensive research on ecosystems is expanding. New directions appear - autecology, synecology, population ecology. Ecosystem concept is approved in ecology.

The second half of the 20th century is characterized by the concern of the world community with the threat of an ecological crisis caused by the unreasonable power of man over nature. A biocentric direction in ecology is being approved. The role of man as a part of nature and his dependence on the resources of the planet and natural processes are recognized. Man also becomes a subject of ecology. There is a growing interest in the ecology of all sectors of society. The development of science and technology gives people the tools to study ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole. System analysis is being developed as a methodological basis of ecology. Ecology studies not only the totality of relationships in natural ecosystems, it goes beyond biology, turning into an integrated science that builds bridges between natural, technical and social disciplines, explores general patterns that are valid for both nature and society.

In table. 1 shows a calendar of events illustrating the long path of the formation of ecology as a science.

Table 1

Calendar of the formation of ecology as a science (according to K.M. Petrov, with additions)

			Environmental Information
6th-4th centuries BC.	-----	ancient india	The epic poem "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" - a description of the lifestyle and habitat of about 50 species of animals is given.
490 - 430 BC	Empedocles of Acragas	Ancient Greece	Considered the relationship of plants with the environment
384 - 322 BC	Aristotle	Ancient Greece	"History of Animals" - led the classification of animals that have a color associated with living conditions
372 - 287 BC	Theophrastus (Theophrastus)	Ancient Greece	"Research about plants" - described about 500 plant species and their communities
79 - 23 BC	Pliny the Elder	Ancient Rome	"Natural History" - summarized data on zoology, botany, forestry
1749	C. Linnaeus	Sweden	"Economics of nature" - described the typology of habitats. Fundamentals of systematics.
1749	J. Buffon	France	"Natural History" - expressed the idea of ​​the variability of species under the influence of the environment
1798	T.Malthus	England	"Experiments on the law of population" - proposed an equation for geometric (exponential) population growth, presented the first mathematical model of population growth
1802	J.-B. Lamarck	France	"Hydrogeology" - laid the foundations for the concept of the biosphere, proposed the term "biology"
1809	J.-B. Lamarck	France	"Philosophy of Zoology" - gave an idea of ​​the essence of interactions in the system "organism - environment"
1836	C. Darwin	England	Round the world trip on the ship "Beagle" - described the ecological observations that formed the basis of the work "The Origin of Species ..."
1840	Y. Liebig	Germany	Formulated the law of limiting factors
1845	A. Humboldt	Germany	"Cosmos", in 5 volumes - formed the laws of geographical zonality and vertical zonality in the distribution of plants and animals
1859	C. Darwin	England	"The Origin of Species..." - gave a lot of material on the influence of abiotic and biotic environmental factors on the variability of organisms
1861	I.M. Sechenov	Russia	“... an organism without an external environment supporting its existence is impossible; therefore, the scientific definition of an organism must also include the environment that influences it.”
1866	E. Haeckel	Germany	Introduced the concept of "ecology"
1870	G. Spencer	England	"The study of sociology" - laid the foundations of human ecology
1875	E. Suess	Austria	He proposed the concept of "biosphere"
1877	K. Möbius	Germany	He proposed the concept of "biocenosis"
1895	E. Warming	Denmark	"Ecological geography of plants" - first used the term "ecology" in relation to plants; proposed the concept of "life form"
1896	W. Hudson	England	He proposed the concept of "waves of life" to describe the dynamics of the number of animals
1898	A. Schimper	Germany	"The geography of plants on a physiological basis is one of the first works in ecophysiology
1903	C. Raunkier	Denmark	He created the doctrine of the life forms of plants based on the concept introduced by E. Warming
1910	---	---	The decision of the III International Botanical Congress fixed the division of ecology into the ecology of organisms (autecology) and communities (synecology)
1911	W. Shelford	USA	Formulated the law of tolerance
1912	G.F.Morozov	Russia	"Teaching about the forest" - a classic work on the study of forest communities
1915	G.N.Vysotsky	Russia	He proposed the concept of "ecotope"
1915	I.K. Pachosky	Russia	He proposed the concept of "phytocenosis"
1918	H. Gums	Switzerland, Austria	He proposed the concept of "biocenology" as a science of communities of living organisms; "phytocenology" - the science of plant communities
1921	H. Burroughs	USA	"Geography as human ecology" - formulated the task of studying the relationship between a person and the territory on which he lives
1926	V.I.Vernadsky	USSR	"Biosphere" - determined the global functions of living matter
1927	E. Leroy	France	He proposed the concept of "noosphere", which was further developed in the works of T. de Chardin, V. I. Vernadsky
1933	D.N. Kashkarov	USSR	"Environment and Communities", "Fundamentals of Animal Ecology" - the first domestic textbooks on ecology
1935	A. Tansley	USA	Introduced the concept of "ecosystem"
1939	F. Clements, W. Shelford	USA	Introduced the term "bioecology" by publishing a monograph of the same name
1939	K. Troll	Germany	Substantiated a new scientific direction - "landscape ecology"
1942	V.N. Sukachev	USSR	He proposed the concept of "biogeocenosis", laid the foundations of biogeocenology
1942	R. Lindeman	USA	Developed the concept of trophic levels and the "pyramid of energies", established the 10% rule
1944	V.I.Vernadsky	USSR	"A few words about the noosphere"
1953	Y. Odum	USA	"Fundamentals of Ecology" and "Ecology" are among the best modern textbooks on ecology. Reissued several times. Russian translations - 1975 and 1986
1963	V.B. Sochava	USSR	He proposed the concept of "geosystem"
1968	J. Forrester, D. Meadows	USA	Put forward the ideas of global ecology in the works of the Club of Rome
1971	B. Commoner	USA	"The closing circle" - formulated four laws of ecology. Russian translation - 1974
1994	N.F. Reimers	Russia	"Ecology (theories, laws, principles and hypotheses)" - systematized the concepts of modern "big ecology"

Literature

1. L.I. Tsvetkova, M.I. Alekseev, F.V. Karmazinov; E.V. Neverova - Dziopak, B.P. Usanov, L.I. Zhukov. Ecology. Textbook for technical universities. St. Petersburg, 2001.

2. V.P. Maksakovskiy. Geographical picture of the world. Part 2. - Yaroslavl: Upper-Volzh. book. publishing house, 1995.

3. N.F. Reimers. Ecology (theory, laws, rules, principles and hypotheses) - M.: Rossiya Molodaya, 1994.

4. V.M. Khachaturian. History of world civilizations from ancient times to the beginning of the twentieth century./Ed. IN AND. Ukolova. - M.: Bustard, 1997.

5. N.I. Nikolaikin, N.E. Nikolaykina, O.P. Melekhov. Ecology. Textbook for high schools. M.: Bustard, 2003.

6. V.I. Korobkin, L.V. Peredelsky. Ecology in questions and answers. Uch. allowance. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2002.

7. A.A. Gorelov. Ecology. Uch. allowance. M.: Center, 2002.

8. V.A. Sitarov, V.V. Pustovoitov. Social ecology: Proc. Allowance for students. higher ped. textbook establishments. ¾ M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2000.