History
of Ecology
In 1869, Earnst Haeckel
coined the term “ecology”. It comes from the Greek word Oikos
meaning “household” and logos meaning “study of”,
therefore the “study of nature’s household”.
Relating this definition
to science, ecology becomes the study of the management of the natural
environment which includes the relations of organisms with one another and to
their surroundings.
It is said that ecology
as a scientific discipline is a multidisciplinary one. It often encompasses
several fields like biology, geography, and Earth science.
. History of Ecology As A
Science
Many researchers has
given great contribution in the field of ecology.
During the pre-18th
Century
4th Century
B.C.E: Ecological thought is said to derive its roots from the early teachings
of philosophy, ethics, and politics.
Aristotle and
Theophrastus were considered as the one of the first
ecologists who had the interest of studying plants and animals.
Theophrastus had
described several interrelationships that exist between living organisms and
their environment.
During the 19th Century
Early 19th century:
Countries such as Great Britain, Portugal, and Spain have set several
expeditions to discover new natural resources and to make records about them.
1804:
Alexander von Humboldt reported an impressive number of species, particularly
plants, for which he sought to explain their geographic distribution with
respect to geological data. One year after, he published his work entitled Idea
for Plant Geography.
Alexander von Humboldt
was considered as the father of ecology by many scholars.
1859:
In this year, Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution and
adaptation.
According
to this theory, organisms change over time because of their inherited traits
and characters. Such evolutionary changes are what then allow them to adapt
better to their environment. These changes also ensure survival by increasing
the likelihood of producing more offspring. Check out the history of evolution
here.
Charles
Darwin’s fame can be greatly attributed to his idea of natural selection
or more commonly referred to as “survival of the fittest”.
Charles
Darwin published all his observations, proposed mechanisms, and discoveries in
his book entitled On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
1869:
Ernst Haeckel coined the term “ecology”. Since then, ecology became
the study of the relationships of organisms with their environment.
1875:
Eduard Seuss first defined the term biosphere (from Greek bios = life,
sphaira, sphere) as the system composed of living organisms and their
environment.
1895: Eugen
Warming introduced the discipline of biogeography. Biogeography, as its
name suggests, is the study of the geographic distribution of living
things. Under this discipline, abiotic
factors like wind, fire, temperature, etc. are being studied.
The study of ecology was
greatly enhanced by the discovery of nitrogen cycle by Antoine
Lavoisier and Theodore de Saussure. Nitrogen is considered as one of the
major nutrients important for the survival of all living organisms
20th Century up to the
present
1920: The study of human ecology emerged. The goal
of this discipline was to increase the role of ecological science in the
management of cities and residential places.
1926: Vladimir I. Vernadsky in his book
entitled The Biosphere, redefined biosphere as the global ecological
system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including
their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere,
and atmosphere. Here is an excerpt from his work.
1935: Arthur Tansley coined the term ecosystem
as the biological community of interacting organisms and their physical
environment. Because of this, ecology became the science of ecosystems.
1950: The harmful effects of pollution to
ecosystems became known to people.
1953: Eugene Odum and Howard Odum wrote
the first ecology textbook and ecology became a university course.
1971: UNESCO launched the research
program Man and Biosphere in the goal of increasing the awareness of
humans about their relationship with nature. More info can be found here.
