Module 1.1

oikos

The term “ecology” is from which Greek word?

house or habitation

What does oikos mean?

Haeckel

Who coined the term ecology?

Ecosystem

This is a model for the cycles of matter and energy that include organic entities and their linkages to the inorganic.

Resilience

A measure of the degree of change a system can undergo while still maintaining its basic elements or relationships. 

Stability

A measure of the speed with which a system returns to equilibrium after absorbing disturbances.

1. Natural

2. Semi-natural

3. Artificial

What are the 3 types of ecosystems?

Natural Ecosystems

• Not perceptibly altered by humans

• The actual and historical role of humans in the functioning of the ecosystem is nil or almost nil. Species composition and species numbers are uninfluenced. Geomorphic, ecological, and biological processes are almost undisturbed by humans.

• Examples are: Highest parts of mountains, Undisturbed parts of the seas, lakes, rivers, tundras, etc, and Primeval natural forest ecosystems.

Semi-natural Ecosystems

• Altered by human actions, but which retain significant native elements

• May range from unaltered species composition to just using the natural background-soil and or water by man. 

• Almost all ecosystems resulting from “traditional” forms of agricultural land use as steppes, puszta's and wooded meadows fall in this category.

Artificial ecosystems

• Human-made system of plants, animals and people living in an area together with their surroundings

• Zoo parks often create artificial ecosystems by placing animals in human-made areas similar to their natural habitat. People can also create lakes in the middle of desserts and keep penguins in warm climates, but only if they create an artificial ecosystem.

Family

The basic foundation of social organization comprised of individuals associated by blood relationship, legal union, adoption, or consensual affiliation.

Organizations

• These can be a random group of people who come together spontaneously to address a short-term need, such as collecting litter along a specific stretch of road.

• Or, it might be a carefully collected, aligned, and integrated group of people who came together for the long term to address a long-term need, such as stopping poverty in a certain country.

Community according to the theory of human ecology

The structure of relationships through which a localized population meets its daily requirements’. It points out its key role of providing support to its members for its survival by forming relationship of care.

Systems theory

This theory identifies community as the amalgamation of different units or sub-systems that jointly work towards achievement of community goals.

Human Settlements

The totality of the human community – whether city, town, or village – with all the social, material, organizational, spiritual, and cultural elements that sustain it.

1. Nature

2. Man

3. Society

4. Shells

5. Networks

What comprises human settlements?

1. Actor based model

2. Ecosystem-based model

3. Social system with the ecosystems model

4. Human ecosystems model

What are the 4 Human Ecological Frameworks?

Actor-based model

What human ecological framework is this?

Ecosystem-based model

What human ecological framework is this?

Social system with the ecosystems model

What human ecological framework is this?

Human ecosystems model

What human ecological framework is this?

Ecology

The entire science of the relations of the organism to the surrounding exterior world, to which relations we can count in the broader sense all the conditions of existence. These are partly of organic, partly of inorganic nature. (Haeckel, 1870)

Ecosystem

A model for the cycles of matter and energy that include organic entities and their linkages to the inorganic.

Ecosystem

All organisms depend on energy and on matter. Such relationships, taken together, constitute a vast network of individuals exchanging the energy, nutrients, and chemicals necessary to life; humans and bacteria alike are involved in the same process.

Carrying capacity

Amount of organisms within a region that the environment can support sustainably.

Overshoot

This occurs when the population growth exceeds the carrying capacity, leading to a die off for the individuals in the population.

Unstable equilibrium

The fluctuation of the population above and below the carrying capacity, changing based on the relationship between natality and mortality.

Degraded carrying capacity

May be due to resource destruction during an overshoot, carrying capacity is not static.

Natural

Type of ecosystem wherein:

• The actual and historical role of humans in the functioning of the ecosystem is nil or almost nil.

• Species composition and species numbers are uninfluenced. Geomorphic, ecological, and biological processes are almost undisturbed by humans.

2% to 3%

How much of the Earth’s land remains ecologically intact?

Semi-natural

Type of ecosystem wherein:

• Altered by human actions, but retains significant native elements.

• May range from unaltered species composition to just using the natural background soil and or water by man.

• Examples: Almost all ecosystems resulting from “traditional” forms of agricultural land use, such as steppes, puszta, and wooded meadow, fall in this category.

Human Systems

• Interconnected networks where individuals interact and influence each other.

• These systems are not isolated; they are embedded within larger societal structures and shaped by various factors.

• Understanding these systems is crucial for addressing individual and collective well-being.

1. Environmental Determinism

2. Environmental Possibilism

3. Cultural Ecology

4. Ecosystem-based Model

5. Actor-based Model

6. Systems Model

What are the 6 parts of the development of conceptual approaches to human ecology?

Environmental Determinism

Part of the development of conceptual approaches to human ecology, where in:

• Humans are complete products of their environments and must adapt to its conditions.

• All aspects of human culture and behavior are caused directly by environmental influences.

Environmental Possibilism

Part of the development of conceptual approaches to human ecology, where in:

• Presence or absence of environmental factors placed limits on developments

• Development of civilizations can be explained by their responses to environmental challenges

Cultural Ecology

Part of the development of conceptual approaches to human ecology, where in:

• cultural differences and similarities are a result of environmental and technological adaptations

Ecosystem-based Model

Part of the development of conceptual approaches to human ecology, where in:

• Human beings constitute simply another population among the many populations of plants and animal species that interact with each other and with the nonliving components (climate, soil, water) local ecosystem.

Actor-based Model

Part of the development of conceptual approaches to human ecology, where in:

• Adaptation occurs at the level of individuals rather than of cultures or populations.

• From this perspective, any higher levels of organization (communities, ecosystems, or human social systems) exist only as the outcome of interactions.

Systems Model

Based on General Systems Theory (von Bertalanffy, 1968). Concerned with the general properties of the structures and functions of systems, rather than with their specific contents.

1. Inputs and Outputs

2. Feedback Loops

3. Open Systems

What are the characteristics of the Systems Model of HE?

Inputs and Outputs

Characteristic of the Systems Model of HE that pertains to the exchange of energy, matter, and information?

Feedback Loops

Characteristic of the Systems Model of HE that pertains to changes in one system affect another.

Open Systems

Characteristic of the Systems Model of HE that pertains to it being influenced by neighboring systems.

individual, family, community, larger ecosystem

What are the 4 levels of the locus of concern in HE?

1. Human Health and Nutrition

2. Human/Family Development

3. Community Governance

4. Environmental Planning and Sustainability

What are the 4 human-environment interactions?

1. The inner environment

2. Family and home (immediate environment)

3. The Community and the Bigger Human society

4. Ecosystem (Socio-cultural, Biological, Physical)

What are the 4 levels of the domains of HE?