His pioneering work in ecology has changed the way we look at the natural world and our place in it. Odum would spend decades refining and spreading his holistic model of ecosystem ecology, which found a captive audience in the burgeoning environmentalist movement. In many ways, Odum had become the face of the movement, and his excitement was infectious. In all his public commentary, Odum never strayed far from his concept of holism. People in the university system were taking note of his accomplishments as well.
Odum produced a seemingly endless stream of books, international conference talks and journal articles, but he always held a special place in his heart for his textbook. Odum passed away at his Athens, Georgia, home in at the age of In , the Institute of Ecology was renamed in his honor as the Eugene P.
Odum School of Ecology. He provided several statements of the scope of ecology, including the difficult-to-interpret statement that ecology was simply environmental biology. Truest to his brand of ecosystem thinking was his definition of ecology as the study of the structure and function of nature. Although Odum's extreme reliance on emergent properties and resuscitation of superorganismic thinking have proven problematic to many ecologists, his loosening of the bonds of Haeckel's focus on the organism is useful.
The positive side of the first definition is that it is simple and it emphasizes both biotic and abiotic aspects of nature. On the negative side is its overemphasis on the organism as the focus. Haeckelian statements should always be cast as the study of relationships rather than the study of organisms in relation to environment. The difference in emphasis may appear to be minor, but it indicates the deficiency of Haeckel's definition.
The second definition is positive in its emphasis on quantifiable and unambiguous parameters, but it falls short because it omits a range of critical ecological subjects. To its credit, the third definition is not restricted to patterns or organisms and recognizes that ecology is about processes. All of the definitions take organisms as their starting point. Highlighting the importance of the interaction of organisms with their environment. Ecology is the study of earth's living systems and how they interact.
It is not environmentalism, a social and political movement. Ecology is one of the most complex sciences and is very new. As such we are only at the beginning of our understanding of how environmental systems react and how a change in one element might affect a whole system or one organisms in that system. Ecology is generally spoken of as a new science, having only become prominent in the second half of the 20th Century. More precisely, there is agreement that ecology emerged as a distinct discipline at the turn of the 20th Century, and that it gained public prominence in the s, due to widespread concern for the state of the environment [1].
Nonetheless, ecological thinking at some level has been around for a long time, and the principles of ecology have developed gradually, closely intertwined with the development of other biological disciplines. Thus, one of the first ecologists may have been Aristotle or perhaps his student, Theophrastus, both of whom had interest in many species of animals. Theophrastus described interrelationships between animals and between animals and their environment as early as the 4th century BC Ramalay, Throughout the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the great maritime powers such as Britain, Spain, and Portugal launched many world exploratory expeditions to develop maritime commerce with other countries, and to discover new natural resources, as well as to catalog them.
At the beginning of the 18th century, about twenty thousand plant species were known, versus forty thousand at the beginning of the 19th century, and almost , today. These expeditions were joined by many scientists, including botanists, such as the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt. Top 10 Ecology News in Here are the top 11 ecology news, ecology-related research, studies, and technology advancements in It is a truth universally acknowledged by scientists: climate change is real as well as global pollution of air, water, and soil.
In order for us to survive, we need to know as much as possible about the dangers of today. Top 10 Discoveries in Ecology Due to climate change and destructive human activity, news in the ecology area in is quite contrary.
Here are the top 10 discoveries in ecology Top 10 Ecology News of BioExplorer team presents the newest discoveries that showcase what is becoming of the ecosystems on our planet. Find top 10 ecology news of Bagley, M. Genetics: The Study of Heredity. Genetic Variation. Coley, N. Farabee, M. Development of the Evolutionary Theory.
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