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DEFINITION OF ECOLOGY

The total view of the environment as it relates to the organisms dominated by humans is
called ecology
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HISTORY OF ECOLOGY

The history of ecology started perhaps around 300 BC with a Greek named
Theophrastus
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He was interested in the
interrelationship between organisms and the living environment
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The term oekologie was coined by a German zoologist Ernst Haeckel
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” Haeckel defined it as the relationship
of animals both to their organic as well as to their inorganic environment
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The European group concentrated on
the composition, structure and distribution of plant communities
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Other groups developed a liking for animal ecology
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This was
the beginning of ecology as a formal field of study
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The study of population received special attention from a British economist, Thomas
Malthus, in the early nineteenth century
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In the early 1920s, famous mathematicians like R
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Voltera
developed mathematical foundations for the study of populations
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It should be noted though that the very roots of ecology started way before this
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Early man as a hunter
Early man knew how to make use of his environment
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However, this knowledge did not include knowing how to conserve his natural
resources
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As soon as he exhausted his resources, he would move
on to another place and repeat the same cycle
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He learned how to weave, make
pots and manufacture tools
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As he increased in knowledge and skills, he
learned to shape his environment to fit his needs
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Man planted the same crops
storing the fertility of the soil which could be done by treating the land with organic wastes
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Unfortunately, destructive land use practices have not been confined to ancient
people
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Infrastructure which aims to
enhance the economic and cultural life of the people have been constructed at the
expense of the environment
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Ecology Prior to the Seventeeth Century
Ecological knowledge began with the development of biology and medicine as
scientific disciplines
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Theophratus systematically studied plant types and forms in relations to altitude,
moisture and light exposure
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The “Parable of the Sower” which illustrates the dependence of seed germination on
the soil shows that the early Hebrews has ecological awareness
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In the late 16th century, Robert Boyle, sometimes known as the first modern chemist,
related chemistry to vital processes in plants and animals
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Of great concern today is the tremendous pressure on the world’s natural resources
as a result of the rapid growth in world population
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This means
more consumption of things from the environment
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So serious are these problems
that we have been seeing the growth of environmental movements, a clamor for
environmental literacy and increase in environmental legislature all aimed at protecting
the environment
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