Scope and

History of
Ecology
Objectives
1. Establish the scope and
conceptual framework of
ecology
2. Identify key historical
personalities that led to the
growth of the science of
ecology
3. Summarize the brief
beginnings of ecology

Adapted from Supplementary Readings in Biology 150 by

Cervancia , Cuevas and Sierra.
Ecology defined

• study of the interactions of

organisms in and with their
environment

• Greek “oikos” (house/home)

• term was coined by Ernst

Haeckel (1869)

• study of the economy of

resources
“By ecology, we mean the body of knowledge
concerning the economy of nature – the investigation of
the total relations of the animal both to its organic and
to its inorganic environment; including above all, its
friendly and inimical relation with those animals and
plants with which it comes directly or indirectly into
contact – in a word, ecology is the study of all the
complex interrelationships referred to by Darwin as the
conditions of the struggle for existence.”
Father of Ecology

Alexander von
HUMBOLDT-

Father of Biogeography

Interactions between
organisms and the
environment
Late 1800s European and Immense body
of knowledge
American
scientists - about the world
around us

materialism
technology and
Increasing
ecologists

Accelerated
deterioration
of the earth’s
environment
Upon which
humanity Ecological understanding
depends for is needed more than ever
food, water, To learn the best
protection policies for
against natural managing natural
catastrophes, resources –
and public environmental
support systems
health
The Realm of Ecology
within the hierarchy of the different levels of organization

Earth → Solar Systems → Galaxies → Clusters → Super Clusters → Universe

Biosphere
Multiverse???
Biomes

Ecosystems

Communities

Populations

Elementary Particles Organisms

Atoms → Molecules → Protoplasm → Cells → Tissues → Organs

 The Biology “layer cake”
“basic” (horizontal), “taxonomic” (vertical) divisions

TAXONOMIC
DIVISIONS
BASIC “slices”
DIVISIONS
“layers”

ornithology
entomology
bacteriology
mycology
bryology
The Biology “layer cake”
“basic” (horizontal), “taxonomic” (vertical) divisions
Subdisciplines of Ecology
• Organismal Ecology • Microbial Ecology
• Population Ecology • Plant Ecology
• Community Ecology • Animal Ecology
• Ecosystem Ecology
• Landscape Ecology

• Physiological Ecology
• Genetic Ecology
• Behavioral Ecology
• Systems Ecology
Sciences Allied to Ecology

Natural History

Environmental
Science

Resource
Management Sciences
Conceptual Framework for Ecological Research

• Scientific Method

• Reductionism vs. Holism

• Limitations of Experimental Manipulation

• Making inferences from comparative studies

• Statistical Analysis and Mathematical Modeling

• Proximate and Ultimate Explanations

Ecology is relatively new

• basic subject matter of ecology is acquired

from other fields like physiology, geology and
climatology, etc.
Modern ecology traces its roots
to natural history
Sometimes connotes anecdotal,
unsystematic and causal
investigation

A true naturalist requires:

• attention to details
• precision of recording
• recognition and manipulation
of variable influences of the
observations
History…Greek inquiry

ARISTOTLE wrote
Historia Animalium -
based on second hand
data

THEOPHRASTUS
observed plants and
animals brought to him
by those who
accompanied Alexander
the Great
HERODOTUS and
PLATO “Nature
provides for all
organisms.” -
Providential Ecology
 History…16th to 18th century
GESNER and
ALDROVANDI
described
interactions of
plants and animals
BUFFON-
LINNAEUS – different regions
phenology and have distinct
flowering of plants plants and
animals

RÈAUMUR- HUMBOLDT-
“natural checks” Father of
in insect Ecology and
populations Biogeography
History…19th century

DARWIN and
WALLACE on the
Theory of Natural
Selection

WARMING considered
both abiotic and biotic
factors in the assembly
of communities

BATES first to
scientifically
document
mimicry
ECOCLIMATOLOGY
branch of bioclimatology which studies the relationship
between living organisms and their climatic environment

G. Clarke (1939)- studied the effect of solar energy on aquatic

organisms

R. Geiger (1941)- demonstrated the importance of microclimate

for the survival of organisms

Bullock (1945)- studied the response of poikilotherms to

temperature changes
ECOPHYSIOLOGY
studies the adaptation of organism's physiology to
environmental conditions

Justus von Liebig -

Law of the Minimum

(1830s)

-a plant's development is
limited by the one
essential mineral that is in
relatively shortest supply

-visualized as "Liebig's
barrel"
ECOPHYSIOLOGY
studies the adaptation of organism's physiology to
environmental conditions

Frederick Frost Blackman–

extended Liebig’s Law of
Minimum;

Law of Limiting Factors

(1905)

-when a process depends on a

number of factors, its rate is
limited by the pace of the
slowest factor
ECOPHYSIOLOGY
studies the adaptation of organism's physiology to
environmental conditions

Victor Ernest Shelford–

Law of Tolerance (1911) - each individual or population has a

certain minimum, maximum, and optimum environmental factor or
combination of factors that determine success
POPULATION ECOLOGY

Thomas Robert Malthus

(1798)- "The power of population
is indefinitely greater than the
power in the earth to produce
subsistence for man."
POPULATION ECOLOGY

Pierre Verhulst-
(1844/45)
proposed the
logistic growth
model
POPULATION ECOLOGY

Lotka and Volterra-

predator and prey model
POPULATION ECOLOGY

Georgii Gause -

Competitive Exclusion
Principle (1934)

-two species competing for

the same resources cannot
coexist if other ecological
factors are constant
COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

Mobius (1877)- proposed the term

“biocoenosis” to describe the
community of organisms

Cowles (1899) – studied succession in

plants

Tansley- proposed and clearly defined

the term “ecosystem”