Outecology is what kind of science?

Since the time when, in 1866, the German biologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) introduced into scientific terminology the concept of ecology as a science that studies the interrelations of the organism and environment, knowledge in this field has significantly expanded. Released in an independent branch of knowledge in the XX century, it gradually came to the development of various specializations and the allocation of more private environmental trends.

In this situation, the concept of classical ecology, its main component - biological ecology - is lost in a variety of names and terms, causing confusion. To systematize the general knowledge, let's start with the section that studies the interaction of one organism with the environment (outecology). This is correct from the standpoint of distinguishing three main directions in science: the study of the biosphere as a whole, of individual populations and, finally, of specific species.

General overview of concepts

Ecology as a science about the interaction of the organism and the environment has long been divided into many independent branches. Some were formed at the interface with other knowledge. It distinguishes such clusters as: practical and social ecology, mathematical, geoecology and others. The traditional part is called general and is a division of biology.

In turn, the actual ecology in the study of its subject is based on different types of classification:

• On the principle of private interaction of biological entities (autecology, synecology, demecology, eidecology);
• By the principle of taxonomic units of taxonomy (ecology of plants, animals, fungi and so on);
• On the principle of habitat (ecology of land, ocean).

The subject of this article are sections of ecology: autecology, synecology, demecology and eidecology.

The basis of environmental standards

Outecology is a cluster of ecological disciplines that deals with the study of interaction with the environment of an individual species representative of living organisms. The basis of the word is formed from the Greek autos - "self". The term was introduced in 1896 by botanist from Switzerland K. Schreter.

For example, infusoria shoes live in a particular environment. What will happen with its changes and how will this affect the living organism? The main method of cognition, which uses autecology, is a laboratory experiment. For example, how will the oxidation of the medium affect the ciliates? And what are the limiting values of acidity do not harm the vital functions of this organism?

Autecology studies the limiting indicators of environmental factors in assessing their impact on the normal functioning of a living being. It is on these data that the entire system of maximum permissible concentrations of substances in the definition of the ecology of food products is built. Thus, out-ecology is the basis of existing environmental standards used in modern product labeling.

There is safety in numbers

Demecology (from the Greek demos - "people") - a higher level of organization of a cluster of environmental disciplines. The subject of this section is the populations of organisms as homogeneous groups existing in a given medium. As is known, living beings do not live apart. They are in close relationship between themselves, other organisms and the environment.

It is the conditions of education, relations within the group and changes in the number of populations of one kind that demecology deals with. Therefore, the theory of maximum permissible standards and environmental standards should be considered in conjunction with "autecology-demecology". The information of one science complements the base of the other, and vice versa.

Kind - the structural unit of evolution

Today our knowledge of the species as a unit of the living system on the planet is expanded by the knowledge of genetics, biochemistry, biophysics and other sciences of recent decades. And the more information we get, the more blurred becomes the very concept of a species as a group of organisms that are similar in a number of characters (from morphological to genetic) capable of reproducing themselves and living in a certain territory. Therefore, a rather young cluster of sciences appeared - eidecology (from the Greek eidos - "image" or "form"). He continues to develop and accumulate a research base.

Ecology of Communities

Synecology (from the Greek sin - "together") is a cluster of sciences that considers a population of different species and different systematic taxa. In their interaction with each other and with environmental factors. Synecology is very close to geoecology and the ecology of biocenoses. This is the cluster that has the largest number of intersections with related humanities. It is part of the energy ecology as a structural unit.

Considering the traditional part of the described science from the point of view of biological organisms and natural groups that they form in nature, we come to an understanding of the interrelationships of all living things and mechanisms capable of both destroying these ties and preserving them. Ecological consciousness in the broad sense of the term, instilled since childhood, increases the chances of mankind to survive and preserve the biosphere of the planet in the conditions of a modern permanent species.