Ecology

Ecology

The scientific discipline of ecology addresses the full scale of life, from tiny bacteria to processes that span the entire planet. Ecologists study many diverse and complex relations among species, such

as predation and pollination. The diversity of life is organized into different habitats, from terrestrial(middle) to aquatic ecosystems.

Human ecology
Human ecology is the interdisciplinary investigation into the ecology of our species. "Human ecology may be defined: (1) from a bio-ecological standpoint as the study of man as the ecological dominant in plant and animal communities and systems; (2) from a bio-ecological standpoint as simply another animal affecting and being affected by his physical environment; and (3) as a human being, somehow different from animal life in general, interacting with physical and modified environments in a distinctive and creative way. A truly interdisciplinary human ecology will most likely address itself to all three."[161] The term human ecology was formally introduced in 1921, but many sociologists, geographers, psychologists, and other disciplines were interested in human relations to natural systems centuries prior, especially in the late 19th century.[161][162] Some authors have identified a new unifying science in coupled human and natural systems that builds upon, but moves beyond the field human ecology.[163] Ecology is as much a biological science as it is a human science.

Ecology (from Greek: , "house") is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Ecology is a human science as well. There are many practical applications of ecology inconservation biology, wetland management, natural resource management (agriculture, forestry,fisheries), city planning (urban ecology), community health, economics, basic and applied science and human social interaction (human ecology). Ecosystems sustain every life-supporting function on the planet, including climate regulation, water filtration, soil formation (pedogenesis), food, fibers, medicines, erosion control, and many other natural features of scientific, historical or spiritual value.[1][2][3]

Population ecology
The population is the unit of analysis in population ecology. A population consists of individuals of the same species that live, interact and migrate through the same niche and habitat.

Community ecology

Interspecific interactions such aspredation are a key aspect of community ecology.

Community ecology is the study of the interactions among a collection of interdependent species that cohabitate the same geographic area. An example of a study in community ecology might measure primary production in a wetland in relation to decomposition and consumption rates. This requires an understanding of the community connections between plants and the decomposers (e.g., fungi and bacteria).[66] or the analysis of predator-prey dynamics affecting amphibian biomass.[67]

Ecosystem ecology
These ecosystems, as we may call them, are of the most various kinds and sizes. They form one category of the multitudinous physical systems of the universe, which range from the universe as a whole down to the atom. Tansley
[70]:299

Figure 1. A riparian forest in the White Mountains,New Hampshire (USA), an example of ecosystem ecology

The concept of the ecosystem was fully synthesized in 1935 to describe habitats within biomes that form an integrated whole and a dynamically responsive system having both physical and biological complexes. However, the underlying concept can be traced back to 1864 in the published work of George Perkins Marsh("Man and Nature").[71][72] Within an ecosystem there are inseparable ties that link organisms to the physical and biological components of their environment to which they are adapted.

Ecological complexity
Complexity is easily understood as a large computational effort needed to piece together numerous interacting parts exceeding the iterative memory capacity of the human mind. Global patterns of biological diversity are complex. This biocomplexity stems from the interplay among ecological processes that operate and influence patterns at different scales that grade into each other, such as transitional areas or ecotonesspanning landscapes. Ecology and evolution are considered sister disciplines of the life sciences.

Social ecology
Social ecological behaviors are notable in the social insects, slime moulds, social spiders, human society, and naked mole rats where eusocialism has evolved.

Human
Early beginnings
Ecology has a complex origin due in large part to its interdisciplinary nature.[217] Ancient philosophers of Greece, including Hippocrates andAristotle were among the first to record their observations on natural history. However, philosophers in ancient Greece viewed life as a static element that did not require an understanding of adaptation, a modern cornerstone of ecological theory.

Eco-consciousness The human mind, including thought and will, become divided from the world of nature. Ego stands in opposition to the Eco. The ego thinks of itself as separate from the Eco, separate from nature. Nature becomes mere object of mind, as the self/ego subject is thought to be transcendental and independent of nature. This is often how it all seems to be; nature and objects of the world out there, whole I am reflecting upon nature from a separated distance. So there are these two poles, as it were, the subject and object, the ego and eco. And yet there is an inherent spiritual impulse within to experience more of a unity or wholeness with the world and nature.

Eco-Conscious Gear and Clothing From Other Brands Currently, the best means we have for identifying eco-conscious items from our vendors is looking for key specs (organic cotton, recycled content, etc.) in the product information they provide us. It's not yet an exact science. The format and context for information is far from being standardized, consistent and reliable across the supply chain. Accurately defining environmental impact is complex work and many eco-conscious concepts are continuing to evolve. There are trade-offs made with nearly every decision in the design, manufacturing, transportation, use and end-of-life stages. We believe that what we're calling eco-conscious today might not qualify as eco-conscious tomorrow. But we also understand that our customers want to support products that are making progress. To help make your shopping decisions easier in this respect, we've collected these items, along with our ecoSensitive clothing, all in one place:

Environmentalism today

Environmentalism has also changed to deal with new issues such as global warming and genetic engineering. Many youth of today's society have become more aware of the state of the planet

and are deeming themselves environmentalists. School Eco Clubs are now working to create new ideals for the future through sustainable schools and other minor changes in student lives like buying organic food, clothing and personal care items. In the future, many of the jobs opening up will have environmentalist aspects.
Environment The term "environment" means the surroundings of a living creature. It can also refer to all the factors of the external world that affect biological and social activities. There are abiotic (nonliving) environmental factors such as sunlight, air, and water. There are also biotic (living or recently living) environmental factors such as plants, animal predators, and food. The total environment of an organism is the sum total of the biotic and abiotic environments. The study of the relationships between living creatures and their environments is called ecology. A human's abiotic environment includes things such as weather (sun-light, wind, air temperature) and items which give protection from the weather (clothes or houses). Other abiotic factors are the soil and water, and chemicals in the soil and water. A human's biotic environment includes things such as food (plants and animals), other humans, animals, trees, and grasses. The biotic environment also includes how living creatures interact with each other and their abiotic environments. Therefore, a human's biotic environment also consists of social or cultural surroundings. Humans learn from each other how to behave in socially acceptable ways. They also pass along knowledge about language, science, and art. The major components of Earth's physical environment are the atmosphere, climate and weather, land, and bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. The term "environment" is commonly associated with the impact that humans have made on the natural world. Increasing human population and industrial activities have led to problems associated with the pollution of air, water, and soil. Pollution has a negative impact on humans in terms of health and quality of life, as well as on other animals and plants. Human activities such as the dumping of industrial wastewater and poorly treated sewage water have led to the pollution of fresh and salt water. Groundwater, water beneath the land surface that often serves as drinking water for humans, has also been negatively affected. Accidental oil spills from ships and untreated storm-water runoff from urban and agricultural areas also degrade bodies of water. Air pollution results from human activities such as burning fossil fuels (oil, coal, and gasoline) to create electricity and power automobiles, and manufacturing industrial products such as chemicals and plastic. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, adding billions of extra tons of carbon to the natural carbon cycle. Deforestation and poor soil management also add carbon. Most scientists believe that the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere contributes to the potentially devastating warming of the global climate, the so-called "greenhouse effect." Another human impact on the atmosphere has been depletion of the ozone layer. The ozone layer helps filter ultraviolet light and protects Earth's surface from harmful doses of radiation. Many scientists believe that chlorofluoro-carbons used as coolants in air conditioners and refrigeration units destroy ozone when released into the atmosphere. Land pollution is caused by poor agricultural practices, mining for coal and minerals, and dumping industrial and urban wastes. The widespread usage of pesticides has led to pollution of both soils and bodies of water. As more and more environmental problems become evident, humans will have to assess their activities and their impact on the natural world.

Global variable The use of global variables makes software harder to read and understand. Since any code anywhere in the program can change the value of the variable at any time, understanding the use of the variable may entail

understanding a large portion of the program. They make separating code into reusable libraries more difficult because many systems (such as DLLs) don't directly support viewing global variables in other modules. They can lead to problems of naming because a global variable makes a name dangerous to use for any other local or object scope variable. A local variable of the same name can shield the global variable from access, again leading to harder to understand code. The setting of a global variable can create side effects that are hard to understand and predict. The use of globals make it more difficult to isolate units of code for purposes of unit testing, thus they can directly contribute to lowering the quality of the code. Some languages, like Java, don't have global variables. In Java, all variables that are not local variables are fields of a class. Hence all variables are in the scope of either a class or a method. In Java, static fields (aka class variables) exist independently of any instances of the class and one copy is shared among all instances; hence static fields are used for many of the same purposes as global variables in other languages because of their similar "sharing" behavior.

Agriculture and the environment Agricultureand theenvironmentare intimately linked and much debate has taken place in recent years about thesustainability of some farming practices. Farming efficiencies, technological innovations and organic farming are all used to reduce the environmental impact of farming.

History
Agriculture was developed at least 10,000 years ago. In recent decades there has been a trend towards intensive farming, industrial agriculture and the use of genetic engineering.

Effects
AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS Agricultural chemicals CLIMATE CHANGE FERTILIZERS Fertilizers are often used to replenish the loss of nutrients due to farming. Overuse of fertilizers can result in nutrient runoff polluting nearby water bodies and is a cause of eutrophication. An innovative approach to best management practices (BMPs) for fertilizer is the Right Source, Right Rate, Right Time, Right Place concept. It is also known as 4R nutrient stewardship. It can be applied to managing either crop nutrients in general (including organic sources) or fertilizers in specific. This concept can help farmers and the public understand

how the right management practices for fertilizer contribute to sustainability goals for agriculture. In a nutshell, the 4R nutrient stewardship concept involves crop producers and their advisers selecting the right source-ratetime-place combination from practices validated by research conducted by agronomic scientists. Goals for economic, environmental and social progress are set byand are reflected in performance indicators chosen bythe stakeholders to crop production systems. LIVESTOCK Livestock accounts for 40% of agricultural gross domestic product but is not a major global economic player. The farming of livestock has an effect on water supplies, biodiversity and climate change and there is an increasing trend towards intensification and industrialisation. POLLUTION Agricultural practices can result in point source and non-point sources of pollution. WATER ABSTRACTION Irrigation is used to supplement the natural availability of water and in some cases " water wars" have been the result.

Mitigation
Sustainable agriculture ORGANIC FARMING

Definition: What is literature? Why do we read it? Why is literature important?

Literature is a term used to describe written or spoken material. Broadly speaking, "literature" is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. Why do we read literature?

Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. But, literature is more important than just a historical or cultural artifact. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. We learn about books and literature; we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays; and we may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.

Ultimately, we may discover meaning in literature by looking at what the author says and how he/she says it. We may interpret the author's message. In academic circles, this decoding of the text is often carried out through the use of literary theory, using a mythological, sociological, psychological, historical, or other approach.

Whatever critical paradigm we use to discuss and analyze literature, there is still an artistic quality to the works. Literature is important to us because it speaks to us, it is universal, and it affects us. Even when it is ugly, literature is beautiful. Also Known As: Classics, learning, erudition, belles-lettres, lit, literary works, written work, writings, books. Example."The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish." -- Robert Louis Stevenson s.

DIMEN SION FACET S INDICATO RS .its shows literature in global environmental

AFFECTI VE Perceived severity of environmental conditions Assessment of global environmental conditions Support for general worldview Level of agreement with the statement: We are too concerned about the environment and not about prices or the current job situation Support for specific pro-environmental measures Endorsement of different measures to improve water management CO GNITI VE Information and knowledge Extent to which respondents consider themselves to be informed about environment-related issues Index of specific environmental knowledge DI SPOSITIONAL Attitude towards

individual pro-environmental behaviour (personal moral norm and self-efficacy) Level of agreement with the statement: It is very difficult for a person like me to be able to do anything for the environment Attitude regarding the personal costs of pro-environmental measures Level of agreement with the pro-environmental proposal to pay more for water ACTI VE* Engagement in low-cost individual behaviours Index of the extent of recycling (glass, paper, plastic) Engagement in collective pro-environmental action

Comparison of global passenger transport models and available literature

Report | 28-06-2002

Over the last decade transport has been strongest growing sector in terms of worldwide energy demand. As a result, proper modelling of transport has become more important in models describing global climate change. RIVM has developed the energy model TIMER as part of the global integrated assessment model, IMAGE (Integrated Model to Assess the Global Environment) to study long-term energy scenarios, related environmental problems and available options for mitigation (up to 2100). In the research project described, the aim was to find a modelling approach and identify determinants of transport energy demand to improve the projections of TIMER, focusing on passenger transport. Global transport models were compared by means of a literature study. The literature that could be reviewed for this project focused mainly on passenger transport in OECD countries. In addition, four global transport models were studied - i.e. two models from the World Energy Council, one from the International Energy Agency, and a model described by Schafer and Victor. On the basis of this review, it became clear that the best improvements could be achieved in transport modelling in the context of TIMER by adopting an updated version of the transport model by Schafer and Victor. Such a model would take into account the determinants, technology, spatial organisation (population density), prices and possible demographic factors other than population size (e.g. age).

Literature is the study of literature beyond the confines of one particular country, and the study of the relationships between literature on one hand and other areas of knowledge and belief, such as the arts (e.g. painting, sculpture, architecture, music), philosophy, history, the social sciences, (e.g. politics, economics, sociology), the sciences, religion, etc., on the other. In brief it is the comparison of one literature with another or others, and the comparison of literature with other spheres of human expression. Henry Remak, Comparative Literature: Method and Perspective (1961)

"Comparative Literature is the whole study of the whole of literature as far as ones mind and life can stretch. By its very scope Comparative Literature is a presumptuous study. Lowry Nelson, Poetic Confirgurations (1988)

The premises and protocols characteristic of [comparative literature] are now the daily currency of coursework, publishing, hiring, and coffee-shop discussion. The transnational dimension of literature and culture is universally recognized even by the specialists who not long ago suspected comparatists of dilettantism. .. Comparative teaching and reading take institutional form in an ever-lengthening list of places. Comparative literature now is the first violin that sets the tone for the rest of the orchestra. Our conclusions have become other peoples assumptions. Haun Saussy, Comparative Literature in an Age of Globalization (2006)

conclusion
Noting their prescience regarding 9/11 and the 21stcentury crisis of global capitalism, the Conclusion shows how the texts analysed afford critical purchase on the global market, and on French coimplication in it. It argues that by exploring the enduring potential of the turning point, Angot, Echenoz, Houellebecq, and Redonnet evidence an implicit commitment to literary agency. The conclusion then identifies how these writers intersect and diverge in reflecting, perpetuating, and challenging the misogyny and symbolic violence of the mass media and global market. Fin de millnaire prose fiction is established as both problematic and problematizing, inviting and begging the question of how literature may challenge dominant discourses and represent or shape the future. The aesthetics of crisis of fin de millnaire prose fictions, then, demonstrate both the need to intervene in political and ethical questions and the enduring agency critical and creativeof literature.