History of ecology

Question 1

Early origins of ecology

Answer 1

Evidence of it in ancient Greece (Aristotle, Theophrastus) and Rome (Pliny)

• Ecology had no firm beginnings. It evolved from the natural history of the ancient Greeks
• Aristotle’s attempted one of the first known classifications of animals into groups according to their behaviour and, most importantly, by the similarities and differences between their physiologies
• Theophrastus first described the interrelationships between organisms and between organisms and their nonliving environment.
• Also in ancient Rome, Pliny published the book “Natural History”, which was a compilation of ecological knowledge of the time.
• Remained largely unchanged until 18th century…

Question 2

Give a brief overview of the history of ecology

Answer 2

First evidence is from Ancient Greece and Rome (Aristotle, Theophrastus, Pliny)

• It remained largely unchanged until the 18th Century
• Then we saw a division emerge between Arcadian and Imperial approaches to ecology (Arcadian: harmonious, species among species, Imperial, dominant, religious thinking, utilitarian)
• Imperial approaches won out, also thanks to the success of Carl Linnaeus, but now we can reconsider this branching)
• In the 19th Century ecology became more defined such as through the emergence of binominal nomenclature (Linnaeus), geobotany (von Humboldt), natural selection and evolution (Wallace and Darwin), and through concepts of population growth and limits (Malthus).
• In the early 20th Century, and thanks to Haeckel’s previous definitions, it became formalised and institutionalised by the BES in 1913 and ESA in 1915.
• Then Tansley defined the ecosystem, Elton the ecological niche and trophic roles, and then Hutchinson developed the concepts of BGC cycles, and he became known as the “father of modern ecology.”
• Modern ecology has also influenced Social Sciences and Humanities, through Human ecology, Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis, considering the role of history, and now influences global policies and social norms.

Question 3

What do we mean by Arcadian ecology?

Answer 3

Arcadian ecology is named after a mountainous region of Greece, and refers to the idea of a simple, humble life for man with a harmonious relationship with nature, where humans are a species among species and need to coexist. This was also reflected in the poetry and artworks of the Accademia dell’Arcadia, a movement in the 17th century.

Question 4

What do we mean by imperial ecology?

Answer 4

This is a utilitarian approach, where man is dominant on the planet, as he was in the Garden of Eden, with strong ties to religious history and thought which suggested that nature exists for man’s benefit. It became the dominant ecological perspective also thanks to Linnaeus’ success and European colonialism and expeditions, where we can also see clear evidence of social-environmental injustice emerging on an international scale.

Question 5

Who was Carl Linnaeus?

Answer 5

1. one of the first to place humans in the same category as primates.
2. Originator of systemic studies in biodiversity (including Binomial Nomenclature seen in his Systema Naturae).
3. Influenced Darwinian evolution as he believed there could be change in a species within a genera.

Question 6

Who was von Humboldt?

Answer 6

1. in times of maritime commerce and expeditions for new natural resources and cataloguing them.
2. Looked at relationships between organisms and their environment.
3. Created geobotany by considering latitude and altitude of plants.

Question 7

Who were Wallace and Darwin and how were they connected?

Answer 7

1. First proposed “geography” of animal species.
2. Independently thought of evolution via natural selection,
3. Worked together with Darwin for many of the founding theories before Darwin published his theory of evolution

Question 8

Who was Malthus?

Answer 8

1. Wrote about population and population limits (now one of the 4 ecological rules).
2. Ideas on population control (lowering birth rates (preventive) and raising death rates (positive)) also influence economic theory of ecology.
3. He came up with the concept of how the means of subsistence control population numbers.

Question 9

Who was Haeckel?

Answer 9

He defined “ecology” as “body of knowledge concerning the economy of nature” and “study of complex interrelations referred to by Darwin as conditions for the struggle of existence”

Question 10

When was the term “ecology” first institutionalised?

Answer 10

First by the British Ecological Society (1913) and then Ecological Society of America (1915). But still different opinions on how to define it; e.g. sociology/economy of animals, natural history, science of a community, science of the environment…

Question 11

Who was Tansley?

Answer 11

1. Worked on concept of the ecosystem”
2. As the physical factors forming the environment of the biome (habitat factors in widest sense)
3. disagreed with Clements’ ideas about the emergent properties of biological community and focussed on ecosystem level.

Question 12

Who was Elton?

Answer 12

1. defined ecological niche as trophic role of species,
2. looked at food chains/web,
3. Therefore analysed matter exchanges in ecosystems

Question 13

Who was Hutchinson?

Answer 13

1. father of modern ecology,
2. worked on biogeochemical cycles and population dynamics, with idea of self-regulation capability of natural systems,
3. Concept of ecological niche as multidimensional space

Question 14

Who was Odum?

Answer 14

1. Published “Fundamentals of ecology” in 1953
2. Defined ecology is “the study of the structure and function of ecosystems”
3. Emphasised ecosystem and biogeochemical cycles

Question 15

What is the Gaia Hypothesis?

Question 16

Who came up with the theory of evolution?

Answer 16

Wallace and Darwin

Question 17

Who came up with the idea of ecological niches?

Answer 17

First Elton, then Hutchinson defined these as a multidimensional space based on the conditions and resources available, which each form an axis to create it.

Question 18

How did Elton define the ecological niche?

Answer 18

As the trophic role of a species

Question 19

How did Odum define ecology?

Answer 19

As “the study of the structure and function of ecosystems”

Question 20

What is geobotany and who came up with it?

Answer 20

Geobotany considers the abiotic factors that influence and can categorise plants, mostly through latitude and altitude - von Humboldt.

Question 21

Who first proposed a “geography” of animal species and what does this mean?

Answer 21

Wallace first came up with the theory of a geography of animal species, which tried to geographically map species distribution, connecting similarities in animal species with their environment and mapping this globally - it’s also known as biogeography.

Question 22

Who considered population limits? In what way?

Answer 22

Malthus discussed how means of subsistence influence and control population numbers, so there could be preventive influences (lowering birth rates) and positive influences (raising death rates). This also influence the economic theory of ecology.

Question 23

Who spoke about ecology and economy?

Answer 23

Malthus’s theories on population limits (through preventive and positive influences), led to the economic theory of ecology, and later Haeckel defined ecology as the “body of knowledge concerning the economy of nature”.

Question 24

What is philosophical determinism?

Answer 24

The idea that the present has been determined by past events, and therefore that the future is determined by past and present events. If we could perfectly understand exactly what has been happening in the present, we can reconstruct the past exactly, and would also be able to know the future.
It’s also known as Laplace’s Demon.

Question 25

What is the myth of inexhaustible resources?

Answer 25

This is when humans believe that ecosystem services, for example food or other energy sources, will never run out. There was an example in the 19th century when Huxley was asked to investigate fishing practices, and found that even if all fishermen caught maximum amounts every day, it wouldn’t make any difference to the overall cod population. As such, he concluded that regulating fisheries was pointless and that there were higher mortality rates to fish populations than human activities. But he’d based his findings on broad and generalised equations and assumptions, forgetting the interconnectedness of cod with other organisms and their environment.

Question 26

Who was Huxley?

Answer 26

Huxley was employed in the 19th century to investigate human fishing activity on cod populations. He concluded that it was essentially impossible to overfish the cod, and fuelled the myth of inexhaustible resources.