Geography
Ecological Terms
Ecological terms refer to concepts and terminology related to the study of ecosystems, interactions between organisms and their environment, and the distribution of species. Key terms include biodiversity, ecological niche, food chain, and habitat. Understanding these terms is essential for comprehending the complex relationships and processes that shape the natural world.
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12 Key excerpts on "Ecological Terms"
eBook - ePub- J. A. Taylor(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
It is obvious, however, that the notion of the ecosystem is neither simple nor straightforward in its interpretation; it includes and implies a number of dimensions or aspects, and it can be used in a number of different ways in scientific praxis. Nor should it be expected that its use by geographers should in any way be different in essence from its employment by biologists. Even the common strategy of trying to base a distinction on spatial or locational emphases is trivial and effete, for the traditional use of the basic Tansleyian concept by ecologists inevitably involves a locational and spatial specificity by virtue of the incorporation of biotope into its essential content. This becomes even more obvious when the notion is expanded in scale to describe major biomes; indeed then the spatial extent and locational factors become paramount.From this two necessary observations follow. First, that in speaking of the ecosystematic approach to biogeographical studies, we can refer only to a broad and diffuse set of approaches, and not to a closely-defined structured method of study. Second, we can refer only to a broad spectrum of interests and problems to which both biological and geographical ecologists have made a contribution. Such attention as is given here to the geographical contribution in no way implies a devaluation of the biological contribution, which, in many fields, has been significantly more distinguished than that of those working in the ambience of geography, particularly in North America. It is perhaps most helpful to view ecosystem studies as a developing field in broadly defined ecological science to which both trained biologists and competent geographers have a major contribution to make. There are encouraging signs of co-operation in some institutions even now.The Ecosystem in Geography
The complexity of the concept contributes the versatility in its use. On the broadest scale it serves as an organising principle for systematising diverse theoretical material . At another level it can be treated as an object of study in itself in order to develop specific theory of ecosystems . Then it can be used as a specific concept defining a problem-solving approach . It can also be used as an empirical category denoting the visible expression of a specifiable set of ecological relationships
eBook - PDF- John A Agnew, David N Livingstone, John A Agnew, David N Livingstone, SAGE Publications Ltd(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
Huggett (1980) in his more introductory text makes ecosystem more central, with many illustrations involving plants and animals. The area of geography most closely allied to ecology is called biogeography. While this term too might seem straightforward, it too is contested in that what is actually studied and taught under this title, at least at graduate levels, in geography programs it is more like what is called ecology than called biogeogra-phy in biology programs or their direct descendents (i.e. academic departments of ecology and evolution). So we might expect that in geography biogeographers would be affected by the developments of ecosystem in much the same way as their colleagues in ecology. Given that biogeography is largely seen as a subfield within physical geography [although it once was held as a third pole along with physical and human geography by Kuchler (1953)] and that rest of physical geography is about the inorganic or abiotic portion of the environment, it would be easy to imagine that systems ecology would find allies and/or direct competitors among bio-geographers. Wrong! Biogeographers mostly have not engaged in systems ecology. Calls for such participa-tion (e.g. Morgan and Moss 1965; Gersmehl 1976) have gone unheeded. Some of the work of Meentemeyer (1984, for example) on litter decomposition or Chadwick (Chadwick et al . 2003, for example) and Doyle and Stanley’s (2006) recent study of nutrient retention in a stream are among the very few biogeography studies that would meet the standards of systems ecology (here I am not considering where geographers contribute via remote sensing or GIS). Where ecosystems ecology has been linked to geog-raphy it has been in studies, especially models, of global climate change where the collaborations of geographers are in remote sensing or climatology, with systems ecolo-gists doing the ecology.
eBook - ePub- Robert A. Francis, James D.A. Millington, George L.W. Perry, Emily S. Minor, Robert A. Francis, James D.A. Millington, George L.W. Perry, Emily S. Minor(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
Table 1.2 briefly summarizes other terms that may often be used within the context of landscape ecology. For further examples of definitions, see Wu (2013).Table 1.2Sample definitions of some common terms used in landscape ecology literatureTerminology Definition and description Assemblage Populations of different species coexisting within a defined spatial area (see ‘community’). Biocoenosis A spatially-defined ecological community, essentially the organisms associated with a particular biotope. Biodiversity The most formal and widely accepted definition comes from the Convention on Biological Diversity: The variability among living organisms from all sources, including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.Biotope An area of relatively uniform environmental and biological conditions. Usually defined by the particular biological assemblages that require such conditions and therefore characterize the biotope. Generally considered to exist at fine spatial scales.Community Utilized in two ways. First, it can be an expression of two or more populations of species coexisting within a defined area (i.e. a discrete spatial unit). Second, it can be the formal classification of particular species associations, such as a typical old-growth woodland community for a given biogeographical region. This latter definition does not, therefore, have a spatial dimension. In both cases, the definition usually includes species within similar taxa (so plant community or microbial community), but it does not have to be so restricted. To avoid confusion, and to acknowledge the non-typical and stochastic aggregations of species that are actually found in nature, especially where influenced by humans, the term ‘assemblage’ is sometimes used instead of the first definition.
eBook - PDF- James Petersen, Dorothy Sack, Robert Gabler, , James Petersen, James Petersen, Dorothy Sack, Robert Gabler(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
291 11 BIOGEOGRAPHY IS THE STUDY OF how environmental factors affect the locations, distributions, and life processes of plants and animals. Basically, this discipline seeks explanations for the geography of life forms. Biogeographers map the geographic boundaries of natural environments and investigate how and why environmental characteristics change spatially and over time. Along with ecologists and other scientists, biogeographers study ecosystems, communities of organisms and their environments. Biogeography is also concerned with human and natural impacts on organisms and ecosystems and how those external influences affect the environmental conditions that support life. Ecology is an old science. Beginning in the fifteenth century, voyages of discovery carried explorers and colonists to uncharted lands with exotic environments. Eventually, scientists accompanied exploratory voyages to distant places, to record descriptions and illustrations of previously unknown flora and fauna. It became clear that plants and animals were directly related to the climate and environment in which they lived. As information about global environments became better known, early biologists studied plant communities and classified the world’s vegetation types. By the early twentieth century, naturalists began to divide Earth’s life forms into biotic associations. Today, relationships among plants and animals and their physical environments remain a focus of attention. The study of biogeography provides excellent opportunities for demonstrating the environmentally integrative nature of physical geography. Relationships and interactions among different climate types, their associated vegetation, and certain soils were introduced in Chapters 9 and 10. This chapter takes a closer look at biogeography, ecology, and the nature of certain environments.
- Richard Chorley, Peter Haggett(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Taylor & Francis(Publisher)
Evans (1956) insists on the categorical nature of the term ecosystem, which includes a hierarchy of systems at different levels of complexity and extent. The whole terrestrial ecosystem has been termed the ecosphere, derived from ecosystem and biosphere, by Cole (1958). A parallel development has been that of the Russian school of ecologists, using the terms geocenosis for the physical habitat and biocenosis for the biome, the two uniting to form the geobiocenosis (Sukachev, 1944, 1950 and 1958; Blydenstein, 1961). Sukachev’s work has had considerable influence on Soviet ‘landscape science’ (Perel’man, 1961; Yefremov, 1961; Prokayev, 1962), and its use in geography has been discussed by Morgan and Moss (1965). The term geobiocenosis, however, is an unwieldy one, and fails to communicate the single most important characteristic of the ecosystem: that it is a system and not simply a random aggregation of discrete phenomena. Lindeman inclusively defined the ecosystem in his classic paper of 1942 as ‘any system composed of physical-chemical-biological processes within a space-time unit of any magnitude’ (Lindeman, 1942, p. 400), a definition which clearly includes the operational range of geography. The ecosystem concept has four main properties which recommend it in geographical investigation, First, it is monistic : it brings together environment, man and the plant and animal worlds within a single framework, within which the interaction between the components can be analysed. Hettner’s methodology, of course, emphasizes this ideal of unity, and some synthesis was achieved in the regional monographs of the French school, but the unity here was aesthetic rather than functional, and correspondingly difficult to define
eBook - PDF- Khushboo Chaudhary, Pankaj Kumar Saraswat, Aniruddh Kumar Pareek(Authors)
- 2023(Publication Date)
- Delve Publishing(Publisher)
PART IV: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND AGROECOLOGY ECOLOGY - DEFINITION, DIVISION AND SIGNIFICANCE CHAPTER14 INTRODUCTION Ecology- The study of the relationships between different species in a given area is known as ecology. Biosphere- Sphere of the Earth in which all living things exist. It is found from the atmosphere all the way into the lithosphere figure 14.1. Level of Organization Species- a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring Population- Groups of individuals of a certain species living in a certain area Community- Different populations that live in the same area. Ecosystem- Collection of both the community and the abiotic factors in a certain area Biome- Group of ecosystems that have the same climatic conditions We can’t do experiments on the whole, natural ecosystems. Instead, we use several tools to explore ecosystems: • Observations- We watch and take detailed notes about an ecosystem Basics of Plant Sciences 120 • Experimenting-Taking an artificial environment and using the scientific method on it. Modeling- Using computers to show what has happened and what will happen in an ecosystem. Biotic Factors Living Factors that influence an ecosystem, Plant life and animal life Abiotic Factors Physical, non-living factors that influence an ecosystem e.g. temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, nutrients, sunlight. Figure 14.1: Ecosystem. The area where an organism lives is called its habitat. Habitats provide wildlife populations with food, water, shelter and space. A niche is the full range of physical and biological conditions in which an organism lives and the way in which the organism uses those conditions. It is an organism’s occupation. Energy and Matter Flow Both Energy and Matter flow through an ecosystem. Energy flows into and out of the ecosystem. The matter is usually recycled.
eBook - PDF- Noel Castree, David Demeritt, Diana Liverman, Bruce Rhoads, Noel Castree, David Demeritt, Diana Liverman, Bruce Rhoads(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
These subfields overlap and coalesce into the ‘borderlands’ of environmental geography (Zimmerer, 2007). Indeed, the multi-faceted qualities of biodiversity are entwined intricately, as shown throughout this entire chapter, with the approach of environmental geography. Biodiversity’s intricate interweaving, emblematic of environmental geography, is centred on the complex interactions, agency, and embedding of biodiversity as biogeophysical nature within the lives and livelihoods of humans as created through social, economic, and cultural practices (for an earlier discussion see Zimmerer, 1996, pp. 15–25). BIODIVERSITY 51 Perspectives on biodiversity Several interdisciplinary perspectives delimit the contemporary status of biodiversity as a far-reaching concept in contemporary environmental studies and sciences. Primary perspectives include: (i) biological and ecological sciences; (ii) environmen-talism and conservation; (iii) economics and ethics; and (iv) public environmental science. The biological sciences, associated particularly with ecology and evolution, provide a predominant perspective on biodiversity as the ‘the variety and variability among organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur’ (the familiar definition mentioned above). Taxonomy frequently functions as a scientific lingua franca . It sees biodiversity as objects of nature that are classified according to sys-tematic categories (‘things’ is the term chosen in environmental geography using a humanities inflection; see Section see pages 60–61 and Bakker and Bridge [2006] inter alia ). The species is the most common taxonomic unit of biodiversity. Approxi-mately 1.4 million species have been identified, but the actual number is likely between 10 and 100 million. Subspecific units (e.g., genetic- and population-levels) and multi-specific ecological groupings (e.g., guild-, habitat- and ecosystem-levels) are also integral to biodiversity.
eBook - ePub- Gordon Dickinson, Kevin Murphy(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
How can we make sense of the complex and constantly changing interactions between the living world, with its myriad species and individuals, and the multifaceted and dynamic environment which life inhabits? In this book we examine this basic question, starting from the idea of the ecosystem as the basic unit of living organisms in the environment. Understanding how ecosystems operate, and how they support the existence of groups of organisms, is not just a question of scientific interest. At a gathering pace since the 1940s, there has been increasing concern about harmful effects caused by human actions on the planet’s life support system. Although concerns were, at first, confined to a small group of scientists and environmental activists, it is now a global issue at the top of the international political agenda. Exactly what has occurred and what may happen in the future is not clear. However, most informed people agree that at best the consequences may be uncomfortable for humankind, and at worst may be catastrophic.The ecosystem concept is fundamental to examination of human impacts on life on Earth. It provides a way of looking at the functional interactions between life and environment which helps us to understand the behaviour of ecological systems, and predict their response to human or natural environmental changes.In this chapter we describe the evolution of the ecosystem concept, and its contemporary definitions. Many people have some idea of what is meant by the term ecosystem (see Definition Box).Two definitions of the term ecosystemDefinition- ‘An energy-driven complex of a community of organisms and its controlling environment’ (Billings 1978).
- ‘An ecosystem is a community of living organisms together with the physical processes that occur within an environment’ (Pullin 2002).
These two definitions, nearly 25 years apart, provide consistent statements on the key attributes of ecosystems. These key attributes are directly related to the concepts of functional ecology which are used in this book. In particular, interactions between the physical environment and organisms, and between organisms and other organisms direct the evolutionary trends of competition, tolerance of stress, and tolerance of disturbance. These interactions are central to the functional processes specified in the definitions of ecosystems.Ecosystems can be analysed using the concepts of system theory. This approach provides definitions and general rules which allow very complex structures to be understood and predicted. When allied to mathematical modelling techniques, system theory provides the framework for a highly effective general approach to the study of ecosystems. We examine below some of the main issues in system theory, and relate these ideas to the ecosystem concept.
eBook - PDFLandscape Ecology
Concepts, Methods, and Applications
- Francoise Burel(Author)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
This definition situated the elementary landscape unit (or ecological type) in a higher bioclimatic framework: the framework of ecological regions. The mapping of ecological systems demands a complete and relatively detailed ecological inventory. Even if some ecological types (elementary landscape units) do not figure directly in the map, they must be analysed and classified. Knowledge of them is essential to add a biological dimension to the map. By its overall geographic dimension, mapping of ecological systems allows us to describe the landscapes of a territory on a given scale and constitutes a frame of reference for its ecological determination. It also sheds light on problems of land management and ecological planning. 1 .2 .1 2 . T he g eosy stem Bertrand (1978) introduced the notion of geosystem in France (Beroutchachvili and Radvanyi, 1978). The geosystem is characterized by a morphology and function. The term denotes a natural, homogeneous geographic system associated with a territory. It is characterized by a morphology, that is, by vertical spatial structures (geohorizons) and Definition of a Discipline 9 horizontal spatial structures (geofades). It has a function that encompasses all the transformations assoriated with solar or gravitational energy, water cydes, biogeocydes, as well as movements of aerial masses and processes of geomorphogenesis. It has a specific behaviour in that changes of state intervene in the geosystem for a given time sequence. These authors compare the geosystem to the ecosystem by way of analogous concepts: there is a biocentric and metabolic approach in the ecosystem, while in the geosystem there is no preferential approach. Biotic and abiotic processes are understood overall. It is the natural hierarchy of elements as they appear in the quantitative analysis of concrete space-time that determines the analysis priorities.
- George Van Dyne(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
Competition between plants is certainly the most important fact in their phytosociological and ecological relationships (Braun-Blanquet, 1964; Harper, 1964; Major, 1958, 1961 ; Walter, 1960; Ellenberg, 1953, et seq.). Another term equivalent to the ecosystem, which technically has pri-ority, is the entomologist Friederichs' holocoen or coen (1927) which is frequently referred to in the German ecological literature (Scamoni, 1966), but should not be unknown in English (Friederichs, 1958). As a pedologist-phytosociologist and later university rector and president of the Swiss Schulrat, Pallmann (1948) spoke of the biochore. His student Etter (1954) later discussed the description of this ecosystem-under-another-name more fully. Present Swiss plant ecology is a splendid ex-ample of the acceptance and use of the ecosystem idea. Man is part of the ecosystem, even economic man, but only some eco-nomics seems ecological. Still, if Adam Smith presented a deductive view of economics which stopped short of its logically inherent, deadly conclusions, Karl Marx observed and recorded accurately the realities of his time and made his picture ecological. Geographers have used the term landscape for an idea very much like the ecosystem (Berg, 1958). They naturally often emphasize the choro-logical side of their object of study rather than the biological, but from Passarge's first suggestion (1913) right up to Troll (1950) and Polynov (1925, 1946), the relationship to ecosystem is clear. The plant geog-rapher Troll's ecotope (1950), the soil scientist Polynov's elementary landscape (1925), Abolin's epimorph (1914), the Polish geographer Wodziczko's physiocoenose (1950, already suggested in 1932 according to Isachenko, 1956), the range scientist Larin's microlandscape (1926), the ecologist Ramenski's facies or epifacies (1938), Cain's natural area (1947), and Markus' nature complex (1926) all attempted to cut ecologi-cal units out of the landscape.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Learning Press(Publisher)
________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Chapter 1 Introduction to Ecology ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ The scientific discipline of ecology encompasses areas from global processes (above), to the study of marine and terrestrial habitats (middle) to interspecific interactions such as predation and pollination (below). Ecology is the scientific study of the relation of living organisms with each other and their surroundings. Ecosystems are defined by a web, community, or network of individuals that arrange into a self-organized and complex systems and several levels of bigger systems constituting systems of smaller systems within them. Ecosystems create biophysical feedback between living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) components of an environment that generates and regulates the biogeochemical cycles of the planet. Ecosystems provide goods and services that sustain human societies and general well-being. Ecosystems are sustained by biodiversity within them. Biodiversity is the full-scale of life and its processes, including genes, species and ecosystems forming lineages ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ that integrate into a complex and regenerative spatial arrangement of types, forms, and interactions. Ecology is a sub-discipline of biology, the study of life. The word ecology (Öko-logie) was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919). Ancient philosophers of Greece, including Hippocrates and Aristotle, were among the earliest to record notes and observations on the natural history of plants and animals. Modern ecology later branched out of the natural history that flourished as a science in the late 19th century.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- The English Press(Publisher)
Today, theory and application of landscape ecology continues to develop through a need for innovative applications in a changing landscape and environment. Landscape ecology relies on advanced technologies such as remote sensing, GIS and models. There has been associated development of powerful quantitative methods to examine the interactions of patterns and processes. An example would be determining the amount of carbon present in the soil based on landform over a landscape, derived from GIS maps, vegetation types and rainfall data for a region. Relationship to ecological theory Landscape ecology theory may be slightly outside of the “classical and preferred domain of scientific disciplines” because of the large, heterogeneous areas of study. However, general ecology theory is central to landscape ecology theory in many aspects. Landscape ecology consists of four main principles: the development and dynamics of spatial heterogeneity, interactions and exchanges across heterogeneous landscapes, influences of spatial heterogeneity on biotic and abiotic processes and the management of spatial heterogeneity. The main difference from traditional ecological studies, which frequently assume that systems are spatially homogenous, is the consideration of spatial patterns. Important terms in Landscape ecology Landscape ecology not only created new terms, but also incorporated existing Ecological Terms in new ways. Many of the terms used in landscape ecology are as interconnected and interrelated as the discipline itself. Landscape can be defined as an area containing two or more ecosystems in close proximity. Scale and heterogeneity (incorporating composition, structure and function) A main concept in landscape ecology is scale . Scale represents the real world as translated onto a map, relating distance on a map image and the corresponding distance on earth. Scale is also the spatial or temporal measure of an object or a process, or amount of spatial resolution.
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