Abiotic factors – the impact on the body of the components of inanimate nature.

Autotrophs – organisms that use carbon dioxide as a source of carbon, that is, organisms that can create organic matter from inorganic ones - carbon dioxide, water, mineral salts (plants and some bacteria). These include phototrophs and chemotrophs.

Agroecosystems (agricultural ecosystems, agrocenoses) – artificial ecosystems, arising as a result of human agricultural activities (arable land, hayfields, pastures).

Morphological adaptations – changes in the structure of organisms. For example, leaf modification in desert plants.

Physiological adaptations – changes in the physiology of organisms. For example, the ability of a camel to provide the body with moisture by oxidizing fat stores.

Ethological adaptations – changes in the behavior of organisms. For example, seasonal migrations of mammals and birds, hibernation in winter.

Adaptation – adaptation to the environment, developed in organisms in the process of evolution.

Allelopathy(antibiosis) is a special case of amensalism, in which the waste products of one organism are released into the external environment, poisoning it and making it unsuitable for the life of another. Distributed in plants, fungi, bacteria.

Allergens – factors that can cause allergies. Allergens can be pathogenic and non-pathogenic microbes, house dust, animal hair, plant pollen, medicines, gasoline, chloramine, meat, vegetables, fruits, berries, etc.

Allergy – perverted sensitivity or reactivity of the body to a particular substance, the so-called allergen.

Amensalism – a relationship in which one organism affects another and suppresses its vital activity, and itself does not experience any negative influences from the suppressed one. For example, spruce and lower-tier plants.

Anabiosis - a complete temporary stop of life. In a state of suspended animation, organisms become resistant to various influences (rotifers, tardigrades, small nematodes, plant seeds and spores, bacterial and fungal spores). Anabiosis is a rather rare phenomenon and is an extreme state of dormancy in wildlife, the state of suspended animation is possible only with an almost complete dehydration of organisms. Cm. Hypobiosis and Cryptobiosis.

Obligate anaerobes – organisms that are unable to live in an oxygenated environment (some bacteria).

Anaerobes optional- organisms that can live both in the presence of oxygen and without it (some bacteria and fungi).

Anemophilia - a way to pollinate plants with the wind. All gymnosperms and about 10% of angiosperms (beech, birch, walnut, hemp, casuarine, haze, sedge, cereals, etc.) belong to anemophilic plants.



Anemochoria - resettlement with the help of air currents. Anemochoria is characteristic of spores, seeds and fruits of plants, protozoan cysts, small insects, spiders, etc.

Antibiosis – cm. Allelopathy.

Anthropogenesis – the origin of man, his formation as a species.

Anthropogenic factors – the impact on the body of human activity.

Anthropogenic circulation (metabolism) of substances – circulation (metabolism) of substances, the driving force of which is human activity. Due to the openness of the anthropogenic cycle, it is often called exchange.

Anthroposphere – the sphere of the Earth, where humanity lives and where it temporarily penetrates (with the help of satellites, etc.). The concept of "anthroposphere" is used to characterize the spatial position of mankind and its economic activity.

Anthropocentrism – a type of social consciousness based on the concept of "human exclusivity", the opposition of man to nature.

Upwelling - the rise of cold waters from the depths of the ocean, when winds move water from a steep continental slope, and instead of it, water rises from the depths, enriched biogenic elements.

Area – the space in which population or view in general, it occurs throughout its entire life.

Atmosphere – continuous air shell of the Earth, consisting of a mixture of gases, water vapor and dust particles.

Outwelling – introduced nutrients from land to coastal water bodies, which are ecotones between freshwater and marine ecosystems(estuaries, estuaries, river mouths, coastal bays, etc.).

Autecology(ecology of individuals, factorial ecology) - a section of ecology that studies the relationship of individuals (an organism) with the environment.

Acidophiles – plants living on soils with pH<6,7.

Aerobes – organisms that can live only in an oxygen environment (animals, plants, some bacteria and fungi).

Basiphils – plants living on soils with pH> 7.0.

Benthal – the bottom of the ocean or sea as a habitat for benthic organisms - benthos.

Benthos – organisms living on the bottom and in the ground (attached algae and higher plants, crustaceans, molluscs, starfish, etc.). Allocate phytobenthos and zoobenthos.

Biogenic substance – inanimate bodies formed as a result of the vital activity of living organisms (some sedimentary rocks: limestone, chalk, etc., as well as oil, gas, coal, atmospheric oxygen, etc.).

Biogenic elements – chemical elements that are included

in the composition of living organisms and at the same time perform biological functions.

Biogeochemical circulation (biogeochemical cycles) – part biological circulation, composed of exchange cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur and others biogenic elements.

Biogeocenosis – homogeneous area of ​​the earth's surface with a certain composition of living (biocenosis) and inert (biotope) components united by metabolism and energy into a single natural complex.

Bioindicators – living organisms, by the presence, state and behavior of which one can judge about changes in the environment.

Bioindication – detection and determination of biologically and ecologically significant anthropogenic loads based on the response of living organisms and their communities to them.

Bioinert substance – bioinert bodies, which are the result of the joint activity of living organisms and geological processes (soils, silts, weathering crust, etc.).

Biological products (productivity) – growth biomass in an ecosystem created per unit of time. It is divided into primary and secondary products.

Biological rhythms – periodically repeating changes in the intensity and nature of biological processes and phenomena. For example, rhythm in cell division, synthesis of DNA and RNA, secretion of hormones, daily movement of leaves and petals towards the Sun, autumn leaf fall, seasonal lignification of wintering shoots, seasonal migrations of birds and mammals, etc.

The body's biological clock- endogenous biological rhythms, giving the body the ability to navigate in time and prepare in advance for the upcoming environmental changes.

Biological (biotic) circulation- circulation of substances, the driving force of which is the activity of living organisms. The main source of energy of the cycle is solar radiation, which generates photosynthesis.

Biome – a set of different groups of organisms and their habitat in a certain landscape-geographical zone (for example, in the tundra, taiga, steppe, etc.).

Biomass – mass of organisms of a certain group (producers, consumers, reducers) or the community as a whole.

Biosphere – the shell of the Earth, the composition, structure and properties of which, to one degree or another, are determined by the present or past activity of living organisms.

Biosphere reserves – components of the series state nature reserves, used for background monitoring of biosphere processes.

Biota – a historically formed set of living organisms united by a common area of ​​distribution. For example, tundra biota, soil biota, etc.

Biotic factors – impact on the body of other living organisms.

Biotope – a certain territory with its characteristic abiotic environmental factors habitat (climate, soil).

Biotrophs – heterotrophic organisms that use other living organisms as food. These include zoophages and phytophages.

Biocenosis – aggregate populations different species, living in a certain area.

Gross primary production – general biomass, created by plants during photosynthesis. Part of it is spent on maintaining the vital activity of plants - spending on respiration (40–70%). The remainder is called net primary production.

Demographic explosion – a sharp increase in population, as a result of a decrease in mortality against a background of high birth rates. Its causes are associated with changes in socio-economic or general environmental conditions of life (including the level of health care).

Biological species – a set of individuals with hereditary similarities in morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, capable of crossing with the formation of fertile offspring, adapted to certain living conditions and occupying a certain area in nature (area).

Species structure of biocenosis – the number of species forming a given biocenosis, and the ratio of their number or mass.

Species diversity of biocenosis – the number of species in a given community. Distinguish between α-diversity - species diversity in a given habitat, and β-diversity - the sum of all species of all habitats in a given area.

Vicarious (replacement) species – ecologically similar, but not related species, capable of occupying the same ecological niches.

Violent(siloviki) - species that suppress all competitors (for example, trees forming indigenous forests).

Renewable natural resources which are constantly restored as they are used (fauna, vegetation, soil).

Age structure (age composition) of the population – ratio in populations individuals of different age groups.

"Second nature" – changes natural environment, artificially caused by people and characterized by a lack of self-support, that is, gradually collapsing without a supporting human influence (arable land, forest plantations, artificial reservoirs, etc.).

Secondary production- biomass, consumers.

"Minor" types - few and rare in biocenosis views.

Survival – the absolute number of individuals (or percentage of the original number of individuals) preserved in populations for a certain period of time.

Altitudinal zonality – a natural change in the natural environment with an ascent to the mountains from their foot to the peaks.

Halophiles – animals of saline soils. Halophytes – plants of saline soils.

Obligate heliophytes (light-loving plants) – plants that live in good lighting conditions.

Optional heliophytes (shade-tolerant plants) – plants that can live in both good lighting and shading conditions.

Helophytes – variety hydrophytes - plants that live in swamps and marshy meadows.

Hemicryptophytes – plants whose renewal buds are at the level of the soil surface, or in its most superficial layer, often covered with litter (most perennial grasses).

Genetic structure of the population – ratio in populations different genotypes and alleles.

Gene pool – the set of genes of all individuals population.

Geobionts – animals that constantly live in the soil, the entire development cycle of which takes place in the soil environment.

Geoxenes – animals that occasionally visit the ground for temporary shelter or refuge.

Geological circulation – circulation of substances, the driving force of which are exogenous and endogenous geological processes.

Geophiles - animals, part of the development cycle of which (usually one of the phases) necessarily takes place in the soil.

Geophytes – a kind of crypto-fit.

Heterothermic organisms – group homeothermal organisms, in which periods of persistently high body temperature are replaced by periods of its decrease when hibernating in an unfavorable period of the year (ground squirrels, marmots, hedgehogs, bats, etc.).

Heterotrophs – organisms that use organic compounds as a carbon source, that is, organisms that feed on ready-made organic matter (animals, fungi and most bacteria).

Hygrophiles – moisture-loving organisms.

Hygrophytes – plants of wet habitats that cannot tolerate water scarcity. These include, in particular, aquatic, plants - hydrophytes and hydatophytes.

Hydatophytes – aquatic plants, wholly or for the most part, submerged in water (for example, pond, water lily).

Hydrosphere – discontinuous water shell of the Earth, located between atmosphere and lithosphere and includes everything: oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, as well as groundwater, ice, snow of the polar and high mountain regions.

Hydrophytes - aquatic plants attached to the ground and submerged in water only with their lower parts (for example, reeds).

Guilds – groups of species in a community that have similar functions and niches of the same size, that is, the role of which in the community is the same or comparable (for example, tropical forest vines are represented by many plant species).

Hypobiosis ( forced peace) - inhibition of activity, or numbness, arises under the direct pressure of unfavorable conditions (with a lack of heat, water, oxygen, etc.) and stops almost immediately after these conditions return to normal (some species of arthropods, for example collembolans, a number of flies , ground beetles, etc.). Cm. Anabiosis and Cryptobiosis.

Global modeling – forecasting the future of the whole world based on mathematical models and computer technology.

Homeostasis - dynamic balance of processes occurring in the body, population, biocenosis, ecosystem.

Homeothermic organisms – organisms capable of maintaining core body temperature at a relatively constant level regardless of ambient temperature (birds and mammals).

Horizontal zoning – natural change in the natural environment in the direction from the equator to the poles.

State nature reserves – territories and water areas that are completely withdrawn from ordinary economic use in order to preserve the natural complex in their natural state.

State standard (GOST) - a normative and technical document establishing a set of norms, rules, and requirements that are binding.

Humus – bulk of organic matter soil, completely lost the features of the anatomical structure.

Soil degradation – deterioration in quality soil as a result of the decline fertility.

Demecology(population ecology, population ecology) - a section of ecology that studies the relationship of a population, a species with the environment.

Dendrological parks and botanical gardens – collections of trees, shrubs and herbs created by man for the purpose of preserving biodiversity and enriching the flora, as well as for scientific, educational and cultural and educational purposes.

Detritus - small particles of the remains of organisms and their excretion.

Detrital food chains (decomposition chains)- food chains, starting with dead plant remains, carcasses and animal excrement. For example, detritus → detritivores → predators → microphages → predators → macrophages.

Detritus feeders - detritus-eating organisms. Saprotrophs.

Jute - mass deaths of livestock as a result of ice, depriving animals of food.

Dominant species - species prevailing in biocenosis by number.

Medium capacity – quantitative characteristics of the set of conditions that limit the growth of the population.

Rigid control – direct, direct impact on nature, grossly violating natural processes with the help of technical means, a radical transformation of the very mechanisms and systems of nature. For example, plowing land, building dams on rivers.

Living matter – living organisms that inhabit the Earth.

Life form of an organism – morphological type of adaptation of a plant or animal to certain living conditions and a certain way of life.

Pollution – bringing into environment or the emergence of new (usually not typical for it) harmful chemical, physical, biological, information agents. Pollution can occur as a result of natural causes (natural) or under the influence of human activities (anthropogenic pollution).

Pollutant – any natural or anthropogenic agent that enters the environment or arises in it in quantities that go beyond the natural background. An object that serves as a source of environmental pollution is also called a pollutant. The English word "pollutant" is also used.

Pollutant – chemical causing pollution.

Reserves – territories created for a certain period (in some cases permanently) to preserve or restore natural complexes or their components and maintain an ecological balance. In zakazniks, the population density of one or several species of animals or plants is preserved and restored, as well as natural landscapes, water bodies, etc.

Replaceable natural resources- Natural resources, which can be replaced by others now or in the foreseeable future (all minerals, energy resources).

Tolerance zone – range of quantitative values environmental factor between the upper and lower endurance limits.

Zoobenthos – animal component of benthos (crustaceans, molluscs, starfish, etc.). Zooplankton – animal component of plankton (unicellular animals, crustaceans, jellyfish, etc.).

Zoophages – heterotrophic organisms that use live animals as food. Cm. Biotrophs.

Zoocenosis – animal component biocenosis.

Invasion - the penetration of the settling individuals into the territories not yet occupied by the species, their settlement and the formation of new populations.

Exhaustible natural resources- Natural resources, the number of which is limited both absolutely and relatively (minerals, soils, biological resources). They are divided into non-renewable and renewable natural resources.

Natural resource inventories – it is a set of economic, environmental, organizational and technical indicators that characterize the quantity and quality of a natural resource, as well as the composition and categories of users of this resource.

Cannibalism – a special case of predation, when the killing and eating of their own kind occurs.

Carcinogens – factors that can cause malignant and benign neoplasms (ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays, benzpyrene, some viruses, etc.).

Environmental quality – set of indicators characterizing the state environment, the degree to which the environment of a person's life corresponds to his needs.

Lodging – cm. Sinoykia.

Acid rain - rain or snow acidified to pH< 5,6 из-за растворения в атмосферной влаге антропогенных выбросов (диоксид серы, оксиды азота, хлороводород и пр.).

Climax community – a community in balance with the environment.

Climate – long-term regime weather.

The colony – a group settlement of sedentary animals, both long-existing and emerging only for the breeding season (loons, bees, ants, etc.).

Command and control management – management of users of natural resources based on the establishment of norms, standards, rules for the use of natural resources and the corresponding targets for environmental protection enterprises and punishments from reprimand to imprisonment or termination of work and payment of fines to enterprises and its management.

Commensalism – a relationship in which one of the partners benefits from cohabitation, and the other is indifferent to the presence of the first. Cm. Trophobiosis and Sinoykia.

Convergence – external similarity that occurs among representatives of different unrelated groups and species as a result of a similar lifestyle.

Competition – relationships in which organisms compete with each other for the same resources of the external environment with a lack of the latter. Competition happens indirect (passive)- consumption of environmental resources required by both types, and direct (active)- suppression of one type by another; intraspecific– rivalry between individuals of the same species, and interspecific- rivalry between individuals of different species.

Consortium – structural unit biocenosis, uniting autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms on the basis of spatial (topical) and food (trophic) connections around the central member (nucleus). For example, a freestanding tree or group of trees (edificator plant) and associated organisms.

Constructive impact – human activity aimed at restoring the natural environment disturbed as a result of human economic activity or natural processes. For example, reclamation of landscapes, restoration of the number of rare species of animals and plants, etc.

Consumptions(macroconsumptions, phagotrophs) - heterotrophic organisms that consume organic matter producers or other consumers (animals, heterotrophic plants, some microorganisms). Consumables are of the first order (herbivorous animals), second order (primary predators feeding on herbivorous animals), third order (secondary predators feeding on carnivores), etc.

Environmental monitoring – verification of compliance of indicators environmental quality(water, atmospheric air, soil, etc.) to the established norms and requirements (MPC, VAT, MPE, MPHV, etc.).

Coprophages – excrement-eating organisms, mainly mammals. Cm. Saprotrophs.

Indirect (indirect) impact – change in nature as a result of chain reactions or secondary phenomena associated with human economic activity.

Cosmopolitans – species of plants and animals, representatives of which are found in most of the inhabited areas of the Earth (for example, housefly, gray rat).

Inert substance - inanimate bodies formed as a result of processes not associated with the activity of living organisms (rocks of magmatic and metamorphic origin, some sedimentary rocks).

Co-evolution of society and nature – joint, interconnected evolution of society and nature.

Edge effect – increase in species diversity in transition zones between communities (ecotones).

"Red tides" – mass development of pyrophytic algae associated with excessive discharge of organic matter into the ocean. They were recorded off the coast of Florida, India, Australia, Japan, the Black Sea, etc.

Survival curves – curves reflecting how, with aging, the number of individuals of the same age decreases in population.

Cryophiles – organisms that live in low temperatures.

Cryptobiosis ( physiological rest) – the state of reduced vital activity as a result of partial inhibition of metabolism is associated with a complex of physiological rearrangements in the body, which occur in advance, before the onset of unfavorable seasonal changes (plant seeds, cysts and spores of various microorganisms, fungi, algae, mammalian hibernation, deep plant dormancy). Cm. Anabiosis and Hypobiosis.

Cryptophytes – plants whose renewal buds are hidden in the soil (geophytes) or under water (hydrophytes)(bulbous, tuberous and rhizome plants).

The cycle of substances – multiple participation of substances in the processes taking place in atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere, including in those layers that are part of the Earth's biosphere.

Xenobiotics – pollutants the environment from any class of chemical compounds that are not found in natural ecosystems.

Xerophiles – dry-loving organisms.

Xerophytes – plants in dry habitats that can tolerate overheating and dehydration. These include succulents and sclerophytes.

K-strategists (K-species, K-populations) – populations of slowly breeding, but more competitive individuals (humans, trees, etc.)

Limiting the use of natural resources – the payment for over-limit use of natural resources and environmental pollution is several times higher than the payment for use and pollution within the standards (limits) established by the enterprise.

Limiting (limiting) factor- environmental factor, the quantitative value of which goes beyond endurance limits species.

Limnic zone – water column to a depth where only 1% of sunlight penetrates and where it fades photosynthesis.

Littoral zone - the water column where sunlight reaches the bottom.

Lithosphere – outer hard shell of the Earth, including the earth's crust and the upper solid layer of the mantle.

Lithophytes (petrophytes) – plants that settle on stones, rocks or in their cracks.

Maximum Life Expectancy (NLM) – this is life expectancy, to which only a small fraction of individuals can survive in real environmental conditions.

Low waste technology – a production method that ensures the most efficient use of raw materials and energy, with a minimum of waste and energy losses.

Material incentives for environmental protection – ensuring the profitability of nature conservation activities for users of natural resources.

Mesotrophs – plants requiring a moderate amount of ash elements.

Mesophiles - organisms that live in both wet and dry habitats.

Mesophytes – plants of moderately humid habitats;

intermediate group between hydrophytes and xerophytes.

Habitat – is the territory or water area occupied population (species), with a complex of environmental factors inherent in it.

Microbocenosis – microbial component biocenosis.

Mixotrophs – organisms that can both synthesize organic substances from inorganic ones and feed on ready-made organic compounds (insectivorous plants, representatives of the department of euglena algae, some bacteria, etc.). Cm. Autotrophs and Heterotrophs.

Mineralization – transformation of organic residues into inorganic substances.

Mosaic – horizontal structure biocenosis.

Environmental monitoring (environmental monitoring) - a system for monitoring, assessing and predicting the state of the natural environment surrounding a person. Monitoring happens background (basic)- tracking natural phenomena and processes occurring in a natural environment, without anthropogenic influence (carried out on the basis of biosphere reserves); impact– tracking anthropogenic impacts in especially hazardous areas, global- tracking the development of global biospheric processes and phenomena (for example, the state of the ozone layer, climate change), regional- tracking natural and anthropogenic processes and phenomena within a certain region (for example, the state of Lake Baikal), local- monitoring within a small area (for example, monitoring the air condition in a city).

Mutagens – factors that can cause mutations (ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays, high or low temperatures, benzpyrene, nitrous acid, some viruses, etc.).

Mutualism(obligate symbiosis) - mutually beneficial cohabitation, when either one of the partners or both cannot exist without a cohabitant. For example, herbivorous ungulates and cellulose-destroying bacteria.

Soft control - mainly indirect, indirect impact on nature using natural mechanisms of self-regulation, that is, the ability of natural systems to restore their properties after anthropogenic interference. For example, agroforestry.

Freelogging – cm. Trophobiosis.

National parks – relatively large natural territories and water areas, where three main goals are achieved: ecological (maintaining the ecological balance and preserving natural ecosystems), recreational (regulated tourism and recreation of people) and scientific (development and implementation of methods for preserving the natural complex in conditions of mass admission of visitors). There are zones of economic use in national parks.

Non-renewable natural resources- exhaustible natural resources, which are absolutely not recovered (coal, oil and most other minerals) or recover much more slowly than their use is going (peatlands, many sedimentary rocks).

Irreplaceable natural resources- Natural resources, which cannot be replaced by other natural resources (atmospheric air, water, genetic fund of living organisms).

Inexhaustible natural resources- Natural resources, the number of which is not limited, but not absolutely, but relative to our needs and the duration of existence (waters of the World Ocean, fresh water, atmospheric air, wind energy, solar radiation, energy of sea tides).

Neuston – organisms living near the surface of the water.

Neutralism – cohabitation of two types on the same territory, which has neither positive nor negative consequences for them. For example, squirrels and moose.

Neutrophils – plants living on soils with pH = 6.7–7.0.

Necrophages - heterotrophic organisms that use animal corpses as food.

Necrophages(corpse eaters) - organisms that feed on the corpses of animals. Cm. Saprotrophs.

Nekton – animals actively moving in water (fish, amphibians, cephalopods, turtles, cetaceans, etc.).

Unintentional impact is unconscious when a person does not assume the consequences of his activities.

Irrational use of natural resources – human economic activity leading to exhaustion (and even extinction) natural resources, environmental pollution, violation of the ecological balance of natural systems, that is, to ecological crisis or disaster.

Nitrophils – plants that prefer nitrogen-rich soils.

Noosphere – the sphere of the mind, the highest stage of development biosphere, when reasonable human activity becomes the main determining factor in its development.

Environmental quality regulation – establishment of a system of quantitative and qualitative indicators (standards) of the state the environment(for air, water, soil, etc.), which provide favorable conditions for human life and sustainable functioning of natural, ecosystems.

Abundance of species – the number or mass of individuals of a given species per unit area or volume of space it occupies.

"The ozone hole" – significant space in ozonosphere planets with significantly reduced (up to 50% and more) ozone content.

Ozonosphere – layer atmosphere with the highest ozone concentration at an altitude of 20–25 (22–24) km.

Natural environment – natural habitat and activity of man and other living organisms, including the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere and near-earth space. Inside the natural environment, they emit natural resources and natural conditions.

Oligotrophs – plants that are content with a small amount of ash elements.

Optimum (zone of optimum, zone of normal life) – such amount environmental factor, at which the intensity of the vital activity of organisms is maximum.

Osmotrophs – heterotrophic organisms that absorb organic matter from solutions through cell membranes (fungi, most bacteria).

Specially Protected Natural Areas (SPNA) – territories or water areas within which their economic use is prohibited and their natural state is maintained in order to maintain ecological balance, as well as for scientific, educational, cultural and aesthetic purposes.

Nature protection (natural environment) – a system of international, state and public events aimed at the rational use, reproduction and protection of natural resources and improving the state of the natural environment in the interests of meeting the material and cultural needs of both existing and future generations of people. In other words, a system of measures to optimize the relationship between human society and nature.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – type of activity to identify, analyze and account for direct, indirect and other consequences of impact on environment planned economic and other activities in order to make a decision on the possibility or impossibility of its implementation.

Risk assessment – scientific analysis of the occurrence of risk (the possibility of a dangerous situation) in order to identify the hazard, determine the degree of hazard in specific conditions. It characterizes the likelihood of a negative event (accident, release, epidemic, etc.).

Monuments nature – unique, non-reproducible natural objects of scientific, ecological, cultural and aesthetic value (caves, age-old trees, rocks, waterfalls, etc.). In the territory where they are located, any activity that violates their safety is prohibited.

Panmixia – free crossing between individuals of the same species.

Greenhouse (greenhouse, greenhouse) effect – warming up the lower layers atmosphere, due to the ability of the atmosphere to transmit short-wave solar radiation, but retain long-wave thermal radiation from the earth's surface. The greenhouse effect is facilitated by the entry into the atmosphere of anthropogenic impurities (carbon dioxide, dust, methane, freons, etc.).

Parcel – structural part in horizontal dissection biocenosis, differing from other parts in the composition and properties of the components. For example, areas of broadleaf trees in a coniferous forest.

Grassland food chains (grazing chains)- food chains, starting with living photosynthetic organisms. For example, phytoplankton → zooplankton → fish microphages → fish macrophages → birds ichthyophages.

Patents – species that can survive in adverse conditions ("shade-loving", "salt-loving", etc.).

Pedosphere(soil cover) - the shell of the Earth formed by the soil cover; upper (daytime) part of the lithosphere on the land.

Pelagial – the water column in the ocean or sea as a habitat for pelagic organisms - plankton and nekton.

Primary production- biomass, created per unit of time producers. It is divided into gross and clean products.

Rolls – shallow areas of rivers with a fast current (bottom without silt, there are mainly attached forms periphyton and benthos).

Periphyton - organisms attached to the leaves and stems of aquatic plants or other protrusions above the bottom of a body of water.

Pessimum (zone of pessimum, zone of oppression) – such amount environmental factor, in which the vital activity of organisms is inhibited.

Biomass pyramid – graphical representation of the relationship between producers and consumers of different orders, expressed in units of biomass. Shows the change in biomass at each next trophic level: for terrestrial ecosystems, the biomass pyramid narrows upward, for the ocean ecosystem it has an inverted character.

Pyramid of numbers (Elton's numbers)- graphic representation of the relationship between producers and consumers of different orders, expressed in units of the number of individuals. Reflects a decrease in the number of organisms from producers to consumers.

Energy (production) pyramid – graphical representation of the relationship between producers and consumers of different orders, expressed in units of energy contained in the mass of living matter. It is universal in nature and reflects a decrease in the amount of energy contained in the products created at each subsequent trophic level.

Food web – complex weave in the community food chains.

Food chain (food chain, food chain) – the sequence of organisms through which the energy contained in food is transmitted from its original source.

Plankton – organisms, mainly passively moving due to the current (unicellular algae, unicellular animals, crustaceans, jellyfish, etc.). Allocate phytoplankton and zooplankton.

Payment for the use of natural resources – payment for the use of almost all natural resources, for environmental pollution, the placement of production waste in it and for other types of impact.

Plyosy – deep-water sections of rivers with a slow current (at the bottom there is a soft muddy substrate and burrowing animals).

Fertility of soils – ability soils to satisfy the need of plants for nutrients and water, to provide their root systems with sufficient heat and air for normal activity and the creation of a crop.

Density – number of individuals or biomass populations, per unit area or volume.

Human behavior – a complex complex of motor acts aimed at satisfying the needs of the body.

Weather – the continuously changing state of the atmosphere near the earth's surface, up to an altitude of 20 km (the border of the troposphere).

Poikilothermic organisms – organisms with a variable internal body temperature that changes depending on the temperature of the external environment (microorganisms, plants, invertebrates and lower vertebrates).

Sex structure (sex composition) of the population – ratio in populations individuals of the male and female sex.

Population – a set of individuals of the same species capable of self-reproduction, which exists for a long time in a certain part area relatively apart from other aggregates of the same kind.

Threshold (minimum effective) concentration – the minimum concentration of a chemical that causes minor but significant changes in the body or environment.

Potential natural resources -Natural resources, which are currently not used by humans at all or are used insufficiently (the energy of the Sun, sea tides, wind, etc.).

Human needs – a source of activity, a state that expresses a person's dependence on the conditions of existence.

The soil – it is a surface horizon of the earth's crust, forming a layer of small thickness, formed as a result of the interaction of soil formation factors: climate, organisms, parent rocks, terrain, age of the country (time), human economic activity.

Upper endurance limit - maximum amount environmental factor,

Endurance limit lower – minimal amount environmental factor, in which the vital activity of organisms is still possible.

The maximum permissible anthropogenic (ecological) load on the environment (the maximum permissible harmful effect - MPE) is the maximum intensity of anthropogenic impact on the environment, which does not lead to a violation of the stability of ecological systems (or, in other words, to the exit ecosystems beyond the ecological capacity).

Maximum allowable concentration (amount) (MPC) – the amount of a pollutant in the environment (soil, air, water, food), which, with constant or temporary exposure to a person, does not affect his health and does not cause adverse effects in his offspring. MPC is calculated per unit volume (for air, water), mass (for soil, food) or surface (for the skin of workers).

Maximum permissible harmful effect (MPHV)- see Maximum permissible anthropogenic (ecological) load on the environment.

Maximum permissible emission (MPE) or discharge (MPD) – the maximum amount of pollutants that a particular enterprise is allowed to discharge into the atmosphere or into a water body per unit of time, without causing them to exceed the maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants and adverse environmental consequences.

Maximum permissible level (MPL) – it is the maximum level of exposure to radiation, noise, vibration, magnetic fields and other harmful physical influences, which does not pose a danger to human health, the state of animals, plants, their genetic fund. MPL is the same as MPC, but for physical influences.

Intentional impact is conscious when a person expects certain results of his activities.

Natural resource potential – part natural resources, which can be involved in economic activities given the technical and socio-economic capabilities of society, with the condition of preserving the environment of human life. In a narrower economic sense, a set of natural resources available with given technologies and socio-economic relations.

Natural parks – territories with a special ecological and aesthetic value, with a relatively mild protection regime and used mainly for organized recreation of the population. They are simpler in structure than national natural parks.

Natural resources – elements of nature (objects and phenomena) necessary for a person for his life support and involved in material production (atmospheric air, water, soil, solar radiation, minerals, climate, vegetation, fauna, etc.). They are divided unreal and potential, replaceable and irreplaceable, exhaustible and inexhaustible natural resources.

Natural conditions – elements of nature (objects and phenomena) that affect human life and activities, but are not involved in material production (some gases of the atmosphere, species of animals and plants, etc.). As science and technology develop, natural conditions become natural resources.

Nature management – the use of natural resources in order to meet the material and cultural needs of society. Nature management (as a science) is a field of knowledge that develops the principles of rational (reasonable) nature management. Nature management can be rational and irrational.

Life span – the duration of the existence of an individual. Distinguish physiological, maximum and average life expectancy.

Producers – autotrophic organisms capable of producing organic matter from inorganic, using photosynthesis or chemosynthesis(plants and autotrophic bacteria).

Spatial structure of biocenosis – distribution of organisms of different species in space (vertically and horizontally).

Spatial and ethological structure of the population – distribution of individuals populations within area.

Protocooperation(optional symbiosis) - a mutually beneficial, but not obligatory, coexistence of organisms, from which all participants benefit. For example, hermit crabs and sea anemones.

Profundal zone – the bottom and the water column, where sunlight does not penetrate.

Direct (direct) impact – change in nature as a result of the direct impact of human economic activity on natural objects and phenomena.

Psammophytes – sand plants.

Destructive (destructive) impact – human activity leading to the loss of the natural environment of its qualities useful to man. For example, the clearing of rain forests for pastures or plantations, as a result of which the biogeochemical circulation of substances is disrupted, and the soil loses its fertility in 2-3 years.

Rational use of natural resources – human economic activity that ensures economical use natural resources and natural conditions, their protection and reproduction, taking into account not only the present, but also the future interests of society.

Real natural resources- Natural resources, which are currently used by humans in industrial activities.

Reducers(microconsuments, destructors, saprotrophs, osmotrophs) - heterotrophic organisms that feed on organic residues and decompose them to mineral substances (saprotrophic bacteria and fungi).

Recirculation – reuse of material resources to save raw materials and energy and reduce waste.

Fertility (fertility rate) – the number of new individuals that appeared in populations per unit of time as a result of reproduction. .

r-strategists (r-species, r-populations) – populations of rapidly multiplying, but less competitive individuals (bacteria, aphids, annual plants, etc.).

Saprotrophs – heterotrophic organisms that use organic matter from dead bodies or excrement (excrement) of animals as food. These include saprotrophic bacteria, fungi, plants (saprophytes), animals (saprophages). Among them there are detritus feeders(feed on detritus) necrophages(feed on animal corpses), coprophages(feed on excrement), etc.

Saprophages – saprotrophic animals. Cm. Saprotrophs.

Saprophytes – saprotrophic plants. Cm. Saprotrophs.

Sinoykia (lodging) – a form of commensalism where one species uses the body or dwelling of another species as a refuge or dwelling. For example, sea anemones and tropical fish.

Sinusia – structural part in vertical dissection biocenosis, limited in space (or in time). For example, in a pine forest one can distinguish pine synusia, lingonberry synusia, green moss synusia, etc.

Synecology(community ecology, population ecology) - a section of ecology that studies communities of organisms (biocenoses, ecosystems).

System of standards in the field of environmental protection (SSOP) – complex of interrelated standards, aimed at the conservation, restoration and rational use of natural resources.

Sclerophytes – xerophytic plants with rigid shoots, due to which, with a water deficit, they do not observe an external picture of wilting (for example, feather grass, saxaul). Cm. Xerophytes.

Population growth rate – the change population size per unit of time. It depends on the indicators fertility, mortality and migration (resettlement - immigration and eviction - emigration).

Mortality (mortality rate) - the number of individuals killed in populations per unit of time (from predators, diseases, old age and other reasons).

Smog- a poisonous mixture of smoke, mist and dust. There are two types of smog: London and Los Angeles.

Habitat – it is a part of nature that surrounds living organisms and exerts a certain influence on them.

Life expectancy (ALE) – this is the arithmetic mean life expectancy all individuals of the population.

Stabilizing effect - human activity aimed at slowing down the destruction (destruction) of the natural environment as a result of both human economic activity and natural processes. For example, soil conservation measures aimed at reducing soil erosion.

Herd - longer than a flock, or a permanent association of animals, in which, as a rule, all vital functions of the species are performed: protection from enemies, obtaining food, migration, reproduction, raising young animals, etc. (deer, zebras, etc.).

Standards (norms, regulations) – legally permitted concentrations (contents) pollutants in objects the environment or the magnitude of the impact.

Station - habitat of any species (population) land animals.

Flock – temporary unification of animals, facilitating the performance of any function: protection from enemies, obtaining food, migration (wolves, herring, etc.).

Stenobionts – ecologically low-tolerant species with a narrow zone of tolerance (ecological valence).

Dominance degree - the ratio of the number of individuals of a given species to the total number of all individuals of the considered group.

Population structure – ratio in populations groups of individuals by sex, age, size, genotype, distribution of individuals over the territory, etc. (gender, age, size, genetic, spatial and ethological, etc.).

Succulents – xerophytic plants with succulent, fleshy leaves (for example, aloe) or stems (for example, cactus), in which water-storage tissue is developed. Cm. Xerophytes.

Succession series – a sequential series of communities replacing each other in the succession.

Succession - successive change biocenoses (ecosystems), expressed in changes in the species composition and structure of the community. Successions are natural- occurring under the influence of natural causes not related to human activities, and anthropogenic- caused by human activity; autogenous(self-generating) - arising from internal causes (changes in the environment under the influence of the community) and allogeneic(generated from the outside) - caused by external causes (for example, climate change); primary- developing on a substrate not occupied by living organisms (on rocks, cliffs, loose sands, in new reservoirs, etc.), and secondary- developing on the site of already existing biocenoses after their disturbance (as a result of felling, fire, plowing, volcanic eruption, etc.).

Sciophytes(shade-loving plants) - plants that do not tolerate direct sunlight.

Teratogens – factors that can cause deformities (ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays, benzpyrene, some viruses, etc.).

Thermophiles - organisms that live in high temperatures.

Therophytes - annual plants that do not have renewal buds; reproduce only by seeds.

Technogenesis – a set of geochemical processes caused by human production and economic activities.

Technosphere – part of the biosphere (over time, apparently, the entire biosphere), transformed by human technical activity. The concept of "technosphere" is used when they want to emphasize the material side of the relationship between man and nature, as well as the fact that at the present stage, the economic activity of people is not so reasonable as to talk about noosphere.

Toxicants – chemicals with the property toxicity.

Toxicity – toxicity, that is, the ability to have a harmful or even fatal effect on a living organism.

Topical connections – relationships between species when one species changes the habitat of another species. For example, under a coniferous forest, as a rule, there is no grass cover.

"Third nature" - an artificial world created by man and having no material-energy analogy in natural nature (cities, interior space, asphalt, concrete, synthetics, etc.).

Trophic connections – connections between species, when one species feeds on another: live individuals, dead remains, waste products.

Trophic level – link place in the food chain.

Trophobiosis (parasitism) – a form of commensalism, when one species consumes food leftovers from another species. For example, the relationship between large predators and scavengers.

Ubiquists- species of plants and animals with a wide ecological valence, able to exist in a variety of environmental conditions, have extensive ranges (for example, common reed, wolf).

Natural systems management – measures, the implementation of which makes it possible to change natural phenomena and processes (to strengthen or limit them) in the direction desirable for a person. Management of natural systems is soft and tough.

Natural resource management(environmental protection management and rationalization of the use of natural resources) - ensuring the norms and requirements limiting the harmful impact of production processes and products on the environment, and rational use of natural resources, their restoration and reproduction. Management of natural resource users is command and control and economic.

Urbanization – This is a historical process of increasing the role of cities in the life of society, associated with the concentration and intensification of non-agricultural functions, the spread of urban lifestyles, and the formation of specific socio-spatial forms of settlement.

Urbosystems (urban systems) – artificial systems (ecosystems), arising as a result of the development of cities and representing the concentration of the population, residential buildings, industrial, domestic, cultural objects, etc.

Living conditions – a complex of environmental factors under the influence of which all the basic life processes of organisms are carried out, including normal development and reproduction.

Factory connections – connections between species, when one species uses waste products, dead remains, or even living individuals of another species for its structures. For example, birds use tree branches, grass, down and feathers from other birds to build nests.

Phagotrophs(holozoi) - heterotrophic organisms that swallow solid pieces of food (animals).

Health factors- a set of factors that are not the direct cause of a particular disease (risk factors) and factors that are the direct cause of the disease.

Risk factors - factors that are not the direct cause of a particular disease, but increase the likelihood of its occurrence.

Fanophytes – plants whose regeneration buds are high above the ground (above 30 cm) (trees and shrubs).

PAR – photosynthetic activity of solar radiation.

Fauna – a set of animal species inhabiting a certain area.

Physiological Life Expectancy (LPL) – this is life expectancy, which could be in an individual of a given species if limiting factors did not influence it during the entire life.

Physiological rhythms -endogenous biological rhythms, supporting the continuous vital activity of organisms (heartbeat, respiration, the work of the endocrine glands, etc.).

Financing of environmental activities – provision of funds for environmental protection measures.

Phytobenthos – plant component of benthos (attached algae and higher plants).

Phytoplankton - vegetable component plankton(unicellular algae).

Phytophages – heterotrophic organisms that use live plants as food. Cm. Biotrophs.

Phytocenosis – vegetable component biocenosis.

Flora – a set of plant species that live in a certain area.

Phoric connections – relationships between species, when one species participates in the distribution of another species. For example, the transfer of seeds, spores, pollen by animals.

Photoperiodism – the reaction of organisms to the length of daylight hours. For example, leaf fall, bird flights.

Photosynthesis(photoautotrophy) - synthesis of organic compounds from inorganic ones due to the energy of light.

Phototrophs – autotrophic organisms that use light energy for biosynthesis (plants, cyanobacteria). Cm. Autotrophs.

Freons (chlorofluorocarbons or FHU) – highly volatile, chemically inert substances near the earth's surface, widely used in production and everyday life as refrigerants (refrigerators, air conditioners, refrigerators), foaming agents and sprayers (aerosol packages). Freons, rising to the upper atmosphere, undergo photochemical decomposition with the formation of chlorine oxide, which intensively destroys ozone.

Hamefits – plants, whose renewal buds are located at the soil surface or not high (no higher than 20-30 cm), in winter may be under snow (dwarf shrubs and small shrubs).

Chemosynthesis(chemoautotrophy) - the process of synthesis of organic compounds from inorganic (CO 2, etc.) due to the chemical energy of oxidation of inorganic substances (sulfur, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, iron, ammonia, nitrite, etc.).

Chemotrophs – autotrophic organisms that use the energy of chemical reactions of oxidation of inorganic compounds for biosynthesis (chemotrophic bacteria: hydrogen, nitrifying, iron bacteria, sulfur bacteria, etc.). Autotrophs.

Predation – a relationship in which one of the participants (predator) kills the other (prey) and uses him as food. For example, wolves and hares.

Blooming waters – the massive development of phytoplankton, causing a change in water color from green and yellow-brown to red. It is due to the significant input of biogenic elements (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, etc.) into water bodies.

Circadian (circadian) rhythms – repeated changes in the intensity and nature of biological processes and phenomena with a period from 20 to 28 hours.

Circassian (near-annual) rhythms – repeated changes in the intensity and nature of biological processes and phenomena with a period of 10 to 13 months.

Frequency of occurrence – the percentage of the number of samples or counting sites where the species occurs to the total number of samples or counting sites.

Number – number of individuals in population.

Net primary production- biomass, which is not spent on maintaining the life of plants and is further used consumers and reducers, or accumulates in the ecosystem.

Environmental emergency – cm. Environmental crisis.

Eurybionts – ecologically hardy species with a wide zone of tolerance (ecological valence).

Eutrophication(eutrophication) - an increase in the biological productivity of water bodies as a result of the accumulation of biogenic elements (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, etc.) under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. A negative consequence of eutrophication is the deterioration of the physicochemical conditions of the habitat of fish and other aquatic organisms due to the massive development of phytoplankton, the decomposition of dead organisms and the toxicity of their decay products. Cm. Blooming waters, Red tides.

Eutrophs – plants that need a large amount of ash elements.

Euphotic zone – the entire lit water column. It includes littoral and limnic zone.

Edifiers(builders) - species that determine the microenvironment (microclimate) of the total biocenosis(as a rule, these are plants).

Exogenous (external) rhythms- biological rhythms, arising as a reaction to periodic changes in the environment (change of day and night, seasons, solar activity).

Exogenous processes (processes of external dynamics) - geological processes occurring under the influence of the external energy of the Sun. Exogenous processes include the geological activity of the atmosphere, hydrosphere (rivers, temporary streams, groundwater, seas and oceans, lakes and swamps, ice), as well as living organisms and humans.

Environmental Safety – a set of actions, states and processes that do not directly or indirectly lead to vital damage (or threats of such damage) caused to the natural environment, individuals and humanity.

Environmental valence (plasticity, tolerance, sustainability) – the degree of adaptability of the species to changes in environmental conditions; its ability to tolerate quantitative fluctuations in the action of the environmental factor to one degree or another.

Environmental disaster (environmental disaster) – ecological ill-being, characterized by profound irreversible changes in the environment and a significant deterioration in the health of the population.

Ecological niche – a set of all environmental factors within which the existence of a species in nature is possible.

Ecological pyramid – graphical representation of the relationship between producers and consumers of different orders, expressed in units of biomass (biomass pyramid), number of individuals (pyramid of numbers) or the energy contained in the mass of living matter (energy pyramid).

Environmental survival strategy – complex of properties populations, aimed at increasing the likelihood of survival and leaving offspring. Cm. r-strategists and K-strategists.

Ecological structure of biocenosis – ratio in biocenosis organisms of different ecological groups.

Environmental assessment – assessment of the level of possible negative impacts of the planned economic and other activities on the environment, natural resources and human health.

Ecological rhythms- endogenous biological rhythms, arising as an adaptation of living organisms to periodic changes in the environment (daily, annual, tidal, lunar, etc.).

Environmental factors – these are separate elements of the habitat that affect organisms.

Environmental equivalents – species that occupy the same niches in different geographic areas (for example, the large kangaroos of Australia, the bison of North America, the zebras and antelopes of Africa, etc.).

Environmental audit - independent, comprehensive, documented assessment of compliance by a business entity and other activities with the requirements, including standards and regulations in the field environmental protection, requirements of international standards and making recommendations for improving such performance.

Environmental control - activities of state bodies, enterprises and citizens to comply with environmental norms and rules. Distinguish between state, industrial and public environmental control. Cm. Environmental monitoring.

Environmental crisis (environmental emergency) – ecological ill-being, characterized by persistent negative changes in the environment and posing a threat to human health.

Environmental passport of the enterprise – regulatory and technical document, including data on the use of resources by the enterprise (natural, secondary, etc.) and determining the impact of its production on environment. Includes a set of data and indicators in accordance with GOST 17.0.0.04–90.

Environmental risk – the likelihood of an event having adverse consequences for the natural environment and caused by the negative impact of economic and other activities, natural and man-made emergencies.

Ecological disaster – cm. Ecological catastrophy.

Ecological well-being of the ecosystem - condition ecosystems, which is characterized by the normal reproduction of its main links.

Environmental law – a set of environmental and legal norms (rules of conduct) governing public (environmental) relations in the field of interaction between society and nature with the aim of protecting the environment, preventing harmful environmental consequences, improving and improving the quality of the natural environment around humans.

Ecology – the science of the relationship of living organisms with each other and with their environment. The term "ecology" was first introduced by the German biologist E. Haeckel (1866). By ecology, he understood "the sum of knowledge related to the economy of nature."

Human ecology – chapter ecology, studying the patterns of interaction between man and the human community with the surrounding natural, social, ecological-hygienic and other factors.

Environmental economics – a branch of economics that studies mainly the issues of economic (in some cases, non-economic) assessment of natural resources and damage from environmental pollution.

Economic management – management of natural resources based on economic incentives, when using various levers (prices, payments, tax incentives and punishments) the state makes it more profitable for enterprises materially, that is, more profitable, to comply with environmental legislation than to violate it.

Ecosystem(ecological system) - a system of living organisms living together and their conditions of existence, connected by the flow of energy and the circulation of substances.

Ecotones – transition zones between communities.

Ecocentrism – a type of social consciousness based on an understanding of the need for co-evolution of man and the biosphere.

Explorents(filling) - species that can quickly appear where indigenous communities are disturbed - in clearings and burnt-out areas (aspen), in shallows, etc.

Emergence – the presence of a system of special, qualitatively new properties that are not inherent in the sum of the properties of its individual elements. For example, you cannot predict the properties of water based on the properties of oxygen and hydrogen.

Endemics – plant and animal species that have small, limited ranges (often found on islands of oceanic origin, in mountainous areas and isolated bodies of water).

Endogenous (internal) rhythms- biological rhythms, generated by the body itself (the rhythm of the synthesis of DNA, RNA and proteins, cell division, heartbeat, respiration, etc.).

Endogenous processes (processes of internal dynamics) – geological processes under the influence of the internal energy of the Earth: the energy of radioactive decay, chemical reactions of mineral formation, crystallization of rocks, etc. Endogenous processes include tectonic movements, earthquakes, magmatism, metamorphism.

Epiphytes – plants living on other plants (on branches, tree trunks), without connection with the soil.

Ethology – the science of the characteristics of the behavior of organisms.

Aestillation(from lat. " aestes" - summer) – summer hibernation of small mammals (murine rodents, some ground squirrels, insectivorous chanterelles, etc.) in deserts.

Ephemeroids – perennial herbaceous plants, which, like ephemera, a very short growing season is characteristic.

Ephemera – annual herbaceous plants that complete their full development cycle in a very short and usually humid period.

Group effect - optimization of physiological processes, leading to an increase in the viability of individuals in coexistence.

Tiered – vertical structure biocenosis.

In recent decades, the word "ecology" has become very popular. Most often it is used when talking about the unfavorable state of the nature around us. Sometimes this term is used in combination with words such as society, family, culture, health. Is ecology such a vast science that it is able to cover most of the problems facing humanity? Is it possible to give a concrete answer to the question - what is she studying?

Ecology(from the Greek words "oikos" - house and "logos" - doctrine) - the science of the relationship of organisms between themselves and the environment. This name was given to her by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) in 1866 (literally: “This is the knowledge of the economics of nature, the simultaneous study of all relationships of living things with organic and inorganic components of the environment, including non-antagonistic and antagonistic relationships of animals and plants in contact with each other. In a word, ecology is a science that studies all complex interconnections and relationships in nature, considered by Darwin as conditions for the struggle for existence ").

Modern science provides several definitions of ecology:

- this is a part of biology that studies the relationship of organisms (individuals, populations, biocenoses, etc.) between themselves and the environment;

- This is a discipline that studies the general laws of the functioning of ecosystems at various hierarchical levels;

- is a complex science that studies the habitat of living beings, including humans;

- a field of knowledge that considers a certain set of objects and phenomena from the point of view of a subject or object (usually living or with the participation of a living), taken as central in this set;

- This is a study of the position of man as a species and society in the ecosphere of the planet, his connections with ecological systems and measures of influence on them.

Thus, if in the time of E. Haeckel, ecology was understood as a science that is part of a biological complex of knowledge (as part of biology), then in our time the interpretation of this concept has expanded significantly, including not only the relationship between living and inanimate nature, but also between nature and society (including associations of people of different levels (state, ethnic group, family, etc.) and even individuals).

More and more often, experts define ecology as a complex (or system) of scientific disciplines associated with the study and assessment of the relationship between society and nature and with the ultimate goal of their optimization (harmonization). There are three main components in this complex:

1) general (including global) ecology;

2) human ecology;

3) sectoral ecology (bioecology, geographic ecology, geological ecology, etc.).



It is necessary to distinguish ecology as a field of knowledge and an ecological approach, which is of general scientific importance. The ecological approach takes place in the event that a certain set of objects or phenomena (system) is considered and (or) evaluated from the point of view of the "subject" taken as central in this set (that is, all connections are closed on it). In this case, as a rule, for such a central "subject" is taken either humanity as a whole, or some of its parts.

As an independent science, ecology took shape only in the twentieth century, although the facts that make up its content have attracted human attention for a long time. The views of ancient Greek scientists are very interesting: Aristotle (384–322 BC), Theophrastus (371–280 BC), Pliny the Elder (23–79). Later, environmental issues were reflected in the writings of scientists around the world. The English chemist Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was the first to carry out an ecological experiment; he published the results of a comparative study of the effect of low atmospheric pressure on various animals. A significant contribution to the formation of ecological knowledge was made by such outstanding scientists as the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1744–1778), the French nature explorer Georges Buffon (1707–1788), the author of the first evolutionary doctrine, Frenchman Jean Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829) .), the great English natural scientist Charles Darwin (1809–1882), the German biologist Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919).

Among the Russian scientists who have made a great contribution to the development of ecology, it is necessary to name Academician Peter Simon Pallas (1741-1811), Professor of Moscow University Karl Frantsevich Roulye (1814-1858), the famous zoologist Nikolai Alekseevich Severtsov (1827-1885). ), world famous scientists: botanist Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev (1843-1920), soil scientist Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev (1846-1903), the largest Russian scientist of the twentieth century. Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863-1945).

The role of ecology as a science especially increases by the middle of the twentieth century. This is due to the fact that the growth of the world's population and the increasing human impact on the natural environment have put him in front of the need to solve a number of new vital tasks. To satisfy his needs for water, food, clean air, a person needs to know how the nature around him is arranged and how it functions.

During its inception, ecology studied the relationship of organisms with the environment and was an integral part of biology, modern ecology covers an extremely wide range of issues and is closely related to a number of different sciences, primarily such as biology (botany and zoology), geography, geology, physics, genetics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, agronomy, architecture, etc.

By the nature of the objects under study, a number of ecology subdivisions can be distinguished:

1) autecology (studies organisms and their environment);

2) population, or demecology (studies populations and their environment);

3) synecology (studies biotic communities, ecosystems and their environments);

4) geographical, or landscape ecology (studies large geosystems, geographical processes with the participation of living things and their environment);

5) global ecology (megaecology) studies processes affecting the entire Earth.

In relation to the subjects of study, one can distinguish the ecology of fungi, animal ecology, plant ecology, and human ecology. At the same time, some of them are sometimes studied, for example, in studies of the animal world, the ecology of birds, the ecology of fish, etc. are distinguished. In addition, according to the nature of the subject of study, industrial (engineering) ecology, agricultural ecology (agroecology), etc. are distinguished. The division of ecology is also used in relation to environments or territories. In this case, they talk about the ecology of the land, the ecology of reservoirs, the ecology of the forest, the ecology of the Far North, the ecology of the city, etc. Analytical, synthetic and dynamic ecology are distinguished according to the methods of study.

It should be borne in mind that each specific section can also be divided into corresponding levels. Thus, human ecology includes social ecology (the relationship of social groups with their environment of life), the ecology of individuals and the ecology of human populations, which differ from each other.

The following are definitions of some of the more common divisions or branches of ecology.

1. Biosphere ecology- studies the global changes that occur on our planet as a result of the impact of human economic activity on natural phenomena.

2. Forest ecology- investigates the influence of the ways of using forest resources (timber, game animals, berries, mushrooms, etc.) with their constant restoration and the role that forests play in maintaining the structure and rhythms of landscapes.

3. Ecology of the tundra- studies the impact of nature management in the tundra and forest-tundra (reindeer husbandry and hunting) on ​​natural systems. An important direction in the ecology of the tundra in the last decade has been the study of the impact on ecosystems of oil and gas production and the development of ways to reduce the harmful effects of industry.

4. Ecology of the seas- explores the impact of human economic activity on marine ecosystems: pollution during offshore oil and gas production; when dumping industrial and household waste into water, including from sea vessels. This science develops methods for the restoration and maintenance of marine ecosystems.

5. Agricultural ecology(agroecology) studies methods of obtaining agricultural products without depleting soil resources, while preserving the environment and obtaining environmentally friendly (i.e., not contaminated with substances hazardous to human health) products.

6. Industrial ecology- considers the impact of industrial emissions on the environment and the possibility of reducing this impact by improving technologies and treatment facilities.

7. Urban ecology- studies the state and possibilities of improving the human environment in the city.

8. Medical ecology- investigates human diseases associated with pollution or destruction (transformation) of the environment, and ways to prevent and treat them. The health of the population of any territory is the best indicator of the state of its habitat.

Some sciences of the ecological complex are distinguished not by the object of study, but by the methods they use.

9. Mathematical ecology- simulates ecological processes, i.e. changes in nature that will occur when environmental conditions change.

10. Chemical ecology- develops methods for determining pollutants that enter the atmosphere, water, soil, food, methods of chemical cleaning of the environment from gaseous, liquid and solid waste, as well as new production technologies, in which the amount of waste is reduced.

11. Economic ecology- develops economic mechanisms for rational use of natural resources, assessment of the cost of resources (water, timber, oil, gas, etc.) and the size of payments and fines for pollution.

12. Legal ecology(environmental law) - creates a system of laws aimed at protecting nature. Environmental lawyers act as Nature's advocates in litigation related to environmental crimes and violations of natural resource laws.

Thus, modern ecology is a universal, rapidly developing, complex science of great practical importance.

Basic concepts used in the tutorial

Atmosphere – a gas envelope that surrounds the Earth and rotates with it. Near the earth's surface it is mainly composed of nitrogen (78.08%), oxygen (20.95%), argon (0.93%) and carbon dioxide (0.03%). At an altitude of about 30 km, there is a layer of ozone (O 3).

Biogeocenosis – an elementary ecological system covering a section of space with living conditions and organisms inhabiting them almost evenly distributed on it.

Biosphere (ecosphere) – the lower part of the atmosphere, the entire hydrosphere and part (upper) of the Earth's lithosphere, inhabited by living organisms, "the area of ​​existence of living matter" (VI Vernadsky); the largest ecosystem.

Biocenosis- any community of interconnected organisms living on any part of land or water body.

Biotope (ecotope)- a relatively homogeneous space in terms of substrate properties, humidification and air composition, occupied by a community of interconnected organisms (biocenosis).

Geosystem- a special kind of material system, consisting of interdependent natural components, interconnected in their location and developing in time as a part of the whole. The term is close to the term "ecosystem", but, according to some geographers, it also covers such concepts as territorial-production complexes, systems of human settlement, etc.

Geospheres- concentric layers covering the entire planet: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, their subdivisions (for example: basaltic shell).

Hydrosphere – the totality of all the waters of the globe: oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, swamps, groundwater, glaciers and snow cover.

Pollution – the introduction into the environment or the emergence in it of new, usually uncharacteristic for it, physical, chemical, informational or biological agents.

Depletion of natural resources – the approximation of the costs of extracting a natural resource to the obtained effect, making the use of a natural resource socially and economically unprofitable.

Components of the natural environment – rocks, air, surface and underground waters, soils, vegetation, fauna.

Maximum permissible concentration (MPC ) – standard - the amount of a harmful substance in the environment, with constant contact or when exposed for a certain period of time, does not affect human health and does not cause adverse consequences in his offspring. MPCs are also established for other organisms: animals, fungi, plants.

Ecological crisis – a tense state of relations between man and nature, characterized by a discrepancy between the development of productive forces and production relations in human society with the resource-ecological capabilities of the biosphere.

Lithosphere – the outer sphere of the "solid" part of the Earth. The surface of the lithosphere on land is an area of ​​development of terrestrial ecosystems.

Trace element – a chemical element necessary for organisms in negligible quantities, but determining the success of their development or painless existence.

Niche ecological – a set of requirements of a species to the environment, reflecting the functional role of the species in the community.

Noosphere – The "thinking shell", the sphere of reason, the highest stage of development of the biosphere, associated with the emergence and development of humanity in it, will be formed when intelligent human activity becomes the main determining factor in the development of the biosphere.

Environmental hazard (ECO) – a set of negative factors, phenomena and their interrelationships inherent in certain anthropogenic and natural systems. Distinguish between potential and real environmental hazards. Real IVF is, for example, the toxicity of the extracted mineral raw materials. Potential IVF is a set of probable, perceived threats to natural systems and humans. IVF can be small (low), moderate, medium, high, etc.

Protection of Nature- a system of state and public events that ensure the preservation of the atmosphere, flora and fauna, soil, water and the earth's interior, as well as their complexes.

Population – a set of individuals of the same species, for many generations inhabiting a certain space, inside which a random, equally probable crossing for all individuals is practically carried out. The population is separated from neighboring similar populations by some degree of isolation.

Nature management – the totality of all forms of exploitation of natural resources. The author of the term Yu. N. Kurazhkovsky believes that "the tasks of nature management as a science are reduced to the development of general principles for the implementation of any activity associated either with the inconsistent use of nature and its resources, or with changes in its effects."

Resources – any used and potential sources of satisfaction of certain needs of society.

Community – a system of organisms living together within a certain natural volume (space). Communities of microorganisms (microbocenoses), plants (phytocenoses), animals (zoocenoses) can be distinguished. Sometimes community is understood as synonymous with biocenosis.

Wednesday –

1) the substance and / or space surrounding the object in question;

2) natural bodies and phenomena with which the organism is in direct or indirect relationships;

3) a set of physical (natural), natural-anthropogenic (cultural landscapes, populated areas, etc.) and social factors of human life.

The environment surrounding a person- a set of natural and living and inanimate natural factors modified by the activities of people that affect a person.

Succession- sequential change in time of some biocenoses by others on a certain area of ​​the earth's surface.

Technosphere- a part of the biosphere radically transformed by man into technical and man-made objects (buildings, roads, mechanisms, etc.).

Factors(in ecology) - external and internal forces that determine the direction and speed of processes occurring in organisms and ecosystems (abiotic, biotic, anthropic).

Ecological system(ecosystem) - a natural system in which living organisms and their habitat are combined into a functional whole through the metabolism and energy, close causal relationship and dependence of its constituent ecological components.

Ethnos- biosocial, ecological-socio-economic and historical-cultural unity of a significant group (population) of people who objectively compose and perceive themselves as a single whole and oppose their community to other similar groups. Ethnic groups represent tribes, nationalities, nations. Sometimes ethnos denotes a group of peoples (for example, Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Poles make up a Slavic ethnos) or separate groups (parts) within a people (ethnographic groups such as the Normans in France).

BIOSPHERE

The term “biosphere” was introduced into science by the Austrian geologist E. Suess in 1875. He referred to the biosphere all that space of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere (hard shell of the Earth) where living organisms are found.

VI Vernadsky (1863–1945), using this term, in contrast to E. Suess, considered not just the presence of living organisms as a feature of the biosphere, he emphasized that they are the main transforming force. Moreover, he showed that in nature there is no more powerful geological force than living organisms and their waste products.

The biosphere includes ׃

- living matter, that is, the totality of all living organisms (plants, fungi, animals, microorganisms);

- biogenic substance, i.e. organo-mineral or organic products created by living matter (peat, coal, oil);

- bioinert substance created by living organisms together with inanimate (inert) nature (water, atmosphere, rocks) - soil cover.

Very complex processes are taking place in the biosphere. All living organisms are closely related to each other and to their environment, which consists of elements of inanimate nature ׃ water, air, soil, light, temperature.

Organisms not only depend on external conditions, but they themselves have a huge impact on the world around them. In other words, living organisms and inanimate nature are closely related and are in constant interaction.

According to modern concepts, the development of the lifeless geosphere, that is, the shell formed by the Earth's matter, took place in the early stages of the existence of our planet, billions of years ago. Changes in the appearance of the Earth were associated with geological processes taking place in the earth's crust, on the surface and in the deep layers of the planet, and manifested themselves in the form of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, movements of the earth's crust, mountain building.

With the emergence of life (self-developing, stable organic forms), at first slowly and weakly, and then more and more rapidly, the influence of living matter on the course of geological processes began to manifest itself.

The activity of living matter, which penetrated all corners of the planet, led to the emergence of a new formation - the biosphere, a closely interconnected single system of geological and biological bodies and processes of energy and matter transformation. The dimensions of the transformations carried out by living matter have reached planetary proportions, significantly altering the appearance and evolution of the Earth.

The biosphere, having arisen and formed 1–2 billion years ago (the earliest of the discovered remains of living organisms belong to this time), is in constant dynamic equilibrium and development.

The cycles of energy and substances in the biosphere established over many millions of years are self-sustaining on a global scale, although local (local) changes in the structure and characteristics of individual ecosystems (biogeocenoses) that make up the biosphere can be significant.

Even in the early stages of evolution, living matter spread throughout the lifeless spaces of the planet, occupying all places potentially available for life, changing them and turning them into habitats. And already in ancient times, various life forms and types of plants, animals, microorganisms, fungi occupied the entire planet. Living organic matter can be found in the depths of the ocean, and on the tops of the highest mountains, and in the eternal snows of the polar regions, and in the hot water springs of volcanic territories.

Living matter is the basis of the biosphere, although it makes up an extremely insignificant part of its mass. If you distribute living matter evenly over the surface of the planet, it will be a layer about 2 cm thick (or 0.01% of the mass of the entire biosphere). The reasons for the huge role of living matter in the development of our planet are determined by its properties. First of all, living organisms, thanks to biological catalysts (enzymes), are able to increase the rates of chemical reactions by an order of magnitude or several orders of magnitude in comparison with inanimate nature. Other specific properties of living matter are ׃

1) the ability to quickly occupy (master) all free space. VI Vernadsky called it “the all-roundness of life”;

2) movement is not only passive, but also active (against the current, wind, etc.);

3) stability during life and rapid decomposition after death (inclusion in the cycles of substances and elements);

4) high adaptive capacity (adaptation) to a variety of conditions;

5) phenomenal rate of reaction;

6) a high rate of renewal of living matter, which is on average 8 years for the biosphere (while for land it is equal to 14 years, and for the ocean, where short-lived organisms, such as plankton, prevail, 33 days).

The above properties of living matter are determined by the concentration of large reserves of energy in it. IN AND. Vernadsky believed that only lava formed during volcanic eruptions can compete with organisms in terms of energy saturation.

There are several functions of living matter in the biosphere. According to A.V. Lapo (1979), there are 9 of them: energy, gas, redox, concentration, destructive (destructive), transport, environment-forming, scattering, informational.

ABIOTIC ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS - a set of conditions of the inorganic environment that affect organisms.

ABRASIA - the destruction of the shores of large reservoirs by waves and surf.

ABSORPTION - the absorption of matter or energy by the entire mass (volume) of the absorbing body.

AUTOTROPHISM ( trophe - food) - feeding organisms (auto-trophs) with inorganic substances through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. Primary production is created due to autotrophy.

AUTOTROPHICITY OF HUMANITY - a concept proposed by V.I. Vernadsky (1937) to denote the process of obtaining food and energy by mankind at the expense of the energy of the sun without the participation of producers.

AUTOTROPHIC - feeding on inorganic substances.

AUTOTROPHIC ORGANISMS - organisms that use carbon dioxide to build their body as the only or main source of carbon and have both a system of enzymes for assimilation and the ability to synthesize all components of the cell.

AUTOTROPHES are organisms whose food source, carried out by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, is inorganic substances (carbon dioxide, ammonia, etc.). These include green plants (including algae) and some microorganisms. They play an essential role in the circulation of substances in nature.

AGROBIOGEOCENOSIS ( agrobiocenosis, agrocenosis) - secondary, man-made artificial elementary units of the biosphere (arable land, orchard, vegetable garden, pastures, etc.).

AGROINDUSTRIYA - agricultural production on an industrial basis.

AGROLESOMELIORATSIYA - creation of forest belts and plantations on steep slopes, along gullies and ravines, on sands, etc.

AGROECOSYSTEMS is an unstable, artificially created and regularly maintained ecosystem of cultural biosystems. Like natural ecosystems, agrosystems are elementary units of the biosphere (fields, artificial pastures, vegetable gardens, orchards, vineyards, forest plantations, etc.).

AGROCENOSIS is a biotic community created for the purpose of obtaining agricultural products and regularly maintained by humans, which has low ecological reliability, but high productivity (productivity) of one or several selected species (varieties, breeds) of plants or animals.

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION - the transition of mankind about 10 thousand years ago from a collecting economy to a producing one, the emergence of agriculture and cattle breeding.

ADAPTIVE STRATEGY OF INTENSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION is an alternative technogenic strategy of farming, fully involving qualitatively new ecological and agrobiological factors (species, varieties, agrocenoses) into the agrarian process, ensuring high productivity and ecological sustainability of agroecosystems.

ADAPTATION ( lat. adaptation - adaptation) - a complex of adaptive morphophysiological, behavioral and information-biocenotic reactions, providing an increase in resistance to the effects of environmental factors and success in competition.

ADSORPTION - absorption of a substance from a gaseous medium or solution by the surface of another substance (body).

ADRENALINE - adrenal hormone increases oxygen consumption and blood pressure, stimulates metabolism.

ACCLIMATION ( lat. hell - to, for, at + gr. klima (climatos) - slope / the ancient Greeks associated the climatic features of the area with different inclination of the sun's rays to the earth's surface /) - stable adaptation to life in new conditions and a set of measures for the introduction of a species into new habitats.

ACCELERATION - a sharp acceleration of growth and maturation of individuals, as well as an increase in their size, recorded with the change of generations.

AKME ( other Greek.) - the pinnacle of life, its focus, in which comes - according to the idea of ​​Hellenic culture - the most complete flowering of all human forces and aspirations.

ALLERGY - an altered reactivity of the body to repeated effects of various stimuli (microbes, foreign proteins, etc.) - allergens that cause the formation of antibodies in it. Allergy causes the development of diseases such as hay fever, bronchial asthma, urticaria, etc.

DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES ( fr. alternative, from lat. alter-one of two) - development options, both mutually exclusive and intermediate between them.

ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY is a branch of chemistry that studies methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis of a substance.

ANALYTICAL APPROACH ( Greek analysis - decomposition) - a method of mentally dividing the object under study into its component parts to obtain new knowledge by representing the whole as a set of parts, reducing the complex, unknown to the known, simple, separating the essential from the insignificant in the object, depending on the tasks of the study.

ANALOGY ( gr.) - the similarity between something that has different origins (for example, the legs of crayfish, insects, vertebrates).

ANABOLISM - a set of metabolic reactions in the body (metabolism).

ANAEROBES are organisms that live in the absence of free oxygen. These include many bacteria, ciliated ciliates, some worms, and molluscs.

ANTIBIOTICS ( Greek anti - against, bios - life) - organic substances formed by microorganisms and having the ability to kill microbes (or prevent their growth).

ANIMISM - belief in the existence of souls and spirits, i.e. supernatural, supersensitive images, which in religious consciousness are represented by agents acting in all dead and living nature, controlling all objects and phenomena of the material world, including man.

ANTHROPOMETRY is one of the main research methods in anthropology, which consists in various measurements of the human body.

AREAL ( lat. area - area, space) - a part of the earth's surface (territory or water area), within which the given tax is distributed and goes through the full cycle of its development: species, genus, family.

ARIDIZATION is a process that leads to the loss of a continuous vegetation cover by a natural complex (ecosystem) with the further impossibility of its restoration without human participation.

ARID ZONE ( lat.aridus - dry) - arid zone.

ARIDITY - dryness of the climate, leading to a lack of moisture for the life of organisms.

AROMATIC COMPOUNDS - hydrocarbons (benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, etc.) and their derivatives (aniline, benzoic acid, phenol) containing cycles (benzene nuclei) of 6 carbon atoms in the molecule.

ARCHAIC ( from the Greek. archaikos - old, ancient) - a relic of antiquity.

ASTRONOOSFERA - the emergence of a system of information or other connections between civilizations of the Cosmos, which have different origins.

ENERGY BALANCE ( thermal) is the aggregate of the arrival and consumption of heat. Distinguish B.E. (v.) atmosphere, earth surface, earth, soil, etc.

WATER COLLECTION POOL - a territory from which water is collected, which then flows into a watercourse (river) or stagnant body of water (lake, pond, sea).

BATIAL is an area of ​​the ocean floor on the continental slope at depths from 500 m to 3 km. It is characterized by slight seasonal temperature fluctuations, low water mobility, high pressure and lack of light.

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER - any (natural, natural-anthropogenic, anthropogenic) change in the natural environment leading to a deterioration in the health of the population or to difficulties in economic management.

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY - 1) provision of guarantees for the prevention of environmentally significant disasters and accidents as a result of a combination of certain actions; 2) the degree of compliance of existing or expected environmental conditions with the tasks of preserving the health of the population to ensure long-term and sustainable socio-economic development; 3) a complex of states, phenomena and actions that ensure the ecological balance on Earth at the level to which humanity can adapt without serious damage.

WASTE-FREE TECHNOLOGY is a technology of a separate production or industrial complex aimed at the rational use of natural resources, ensuring the production of products without waste. It includes a set of measures to ensure the minimum loss of natural resources in the production of raw materials, fuel and energy, as well as the maximum efficiency and economy of their use.

PROTEIN is a high-molecular organic compound built of 20 amino acid residues and playing a primary role in the vital processes of all organisms.

UNNATURAL TECHNICAL WORLD - the mental state of the technosphere, which is expected in the event of the destruction of nature and survival in these conditions of mankind.

BIOGENIC - originating from a living organism, associated with it.

BIOGEOCENOSIS is a complex natural system that combines, on the basis of metabolism and energy, a set of living organisms (biocenosis) with inanimate components - living conditions; the living components of biogeocenosis include autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms.

BIOCLIMATE - climatic conditions modified by organisms and their communities. For example, in the forest it is usually cooler in summer and higher humidity, the wind is weaker, cold air "flows" into the forest glades and frosts often occur here - they begin earlier in autumn and end later in spring.

BIOSYSTEM - any system consisting of the same type ("homogeneous" and "heterogeneous", according to V. I. Vernadsky) living matter - its macromolecule, all cellular structures, cells themselves, tissues, organs, their systems, an individual, an individual. The latter can already be attributed to bioecosystems, since an individual as an individual consortium consists of an individual and cohabitants. Demes, populations, and communities also belong to biosystems.

BIOSREDA is an environment created or modified by a community of living organisms.

BIOSPHERE ( gr. bios - life and gr. sphere - ball) is a qualitatively unique planetary envelope, which includes not only organisms, but also the entire environment of their life, enveloped and transformed by the activity of these organisms. The cycles of matter and energy, caused by exchange processes between various functional components of the biosphere, ensure the existence and integrity of the latter.

BIOTA is a set of species of plants, fungi, animals and microorganisms (flora and fauna) of the biocenosis, as well as larger taxa and ecosystems. Biotic organisms are connected with each other by complex biotic, and with the environment - by non-biotic relationships.

BIOTIC ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS - a set of influences exerted on the body by the vital activity of other organisms.

BIOTOPE ( gr. bios - life and gr. topos - place) - a place with relatively uniform conditions, occupied by one biocenosis. Wed Habitat.

BIOTECHNOLOGY - 1) a scientific discipline and a field of practice, bordering between biology and technology, studying ways and methods of changing the natural environment around a person in accordance with his needs; 2) a set of methods and techniques of production using biological agents (for example, the production of feed proteins using microorganisms, wastewater treatment using biofilters, etc.). Biotechnologies serve genetic, cellular and environmental engineering, as well as applied (engineering) biology.

BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS ( biorhythms) - cyclical (daily, seasonal, etc.) fluctuations in the intensity and nature of certain biological processes and phenomena, which give organisms the ability to adapt to cyclical changes in the environment.

BIOMASS - expressed in units of mass (weight) or energy, the amount of living matter of certain organisms per unit volume or area.

BIOTIC POTENTIAL - theoretically the maximum rate of increase in the population of a species.

BIOCENOSIS ( gr. bios - life and gr. kainos - new, common) - a set of populations of various types of plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit a relatively homogeneous living space.

BIOCID - 1) substances capable of destroying living organisms; 2) the extermination of all living things in large areas.

BIFURCATION - division of something into two branches (polyfurcation - into many branches). For example - the branching of the trachea into two bronchi.

BIOECOLOGY - the science of the relationship between organisms and the environment, taking into account all conditions of existence, including both organic and inorganic nature; is designed to reveal the patterns in the relationship "organism - environment".

BOGARA ( Persian behar - spring) - land (usually in the area of ​​irrigated agriculture), on which crops are grown without irrigation, non-irrigated land.

DISEASES OF URBANIZATION - a large group of diseases associated with overcrowding of the population and environmental pollution (noise, chemical, biological, etc.).

STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE is a metaphorical concept that reflects all intraspecific and interspecific relationships, as well as relationships with abiotic (inanimate) factors of the natural environment.

BIOGEOCHEMISTRY is a science that studies the cycle of chemical elements in the biosphere.

BIOACCUMULATION ( bio - lat., accumulatio - accumulation) - accumulation of pollutants in organisms of high trophic levels.

DOWN'S DISEASE is one of the forms of mental retardation. It is manifested by a delay in growth and physical development in combination with a violation of the activity of the endocrine glands and often deformities.

BIOPOLYMERS - high molecular weight natural compounds (proteins, nucleic acids, etc.), which are the basis of living organisms.

FERMENTATION is the process of enzymatic breakdown of organic substances, mainly carbohydrates, which occurs without the use of oxygen under the action of microorganisms or enzymes isolated from them.

VALENCE ECOLOGICAL - a characteristic (value) of the ability of a species to exist in a variety of environmental conditions.

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE - 1) a chemical compound that, upon contact with the human body, can cause occupational diseases or abnormalities in the state of health; 2) a chemical substance that causes a disturbance in the growth, development or health of organisms, as well as that can affect these indicators over time, including in the chain of generations.

LIVING SUBSTANCE - a set of bodies of living organisms inhabiting the Earth, regardless of their systematic affiliation.

EXPLOSION DEMOGRAPHIC - a sharp increase in population associated with the improvement of socio-economic or general environmental conditions of life.

SPECIES - a set of populations of individuals capable of interbreeding and having fertile offspring, possessing similar morphophysiological characteristics and inhabiting a common continuous or partially ruptured area.

DIE-OUT SPECIES - a species whose morphophysiological and / or behavioral features do not correspond to the modern conditions of the living environment, and the genetic possibilities of further adaptation have been exhausted.

VITALISM ( from lat. vitalis - vital, alive, vita - life) - the doctrine of the qualitative difference between living nature and non-living nature, about the fundamental irreducibility of life processes to the forces and laws of the inorganic world, about the presence in living bodies of special factors that are absent in non-living ones.

WATER TREATMENT - technical improvement of the quality of water entering the water supply network, up to the indicators established by the standards.

WASTE WATER - water that was in industrial, household or agricultural use, as well as passed through some contaminated area.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT MEDIATED - an unintentional change in nature and the result of chain reactions or secondary phenomena associated with economic activities.

ECOLOGICAL UPBRINGING - the impact on the consciousness of people in the process of the initial formation of the personality and in the subsequent time in order to develop socio-psychological attitudes and an active civic position, respect for the totality of natural and social benefits.

REPRODUCTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE HUMAN - a set of measures aimed at maintaining the parameters of the environment of life within the limits favorable for the existence of man as a biological species.

EMISSION (S) - short-term or for a certain time, the release of any pollutants into the environment. Distinguish: 1) V. from a separate source; 2) total V.

GENETICS ( from Greek. genesis- origin) ¾ each species of plants and animals carries in its cells hereditary information peculiar to it. Its material basis is deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules.

GENOFUND - 1) a set of genes (alleles) of one group of individuals (population, population group or species), within which they are characterized by a certain frequency of occurrence; 2) the whole set of species of living organisms with their manifested and potential hereditary inclinations.

GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT - a set of objects and natural phenomena (the earth's crust, the lower part of the atmosphere, water, soil cover, flora and fauna) involved at this historical stage in the process of social production and constituting a necessary condition for the existence and development of human society.

GEOSPHERES are concentric shells of various densities and compositions that make up the Earth. The magnetosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, mantle and core of the Earth are distinguished from the periphery to the center of the planet. The living shell of the Earth (biota) closely interacts with the hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere.

HETEROTROPHES - organisms that use organic substances produced by other organisms as a source of nutrition. Heterotrophs include humans, all animals, some plants, most bacteria, and fungi. In the food chain, ecosystems constitute a group of consumers.

HYDROBIONTS - plants, animals and microorganisms that live in the aquatic environment.

HYPOTROPHY - 1) a decrease in the volume of an organ or part of it; to denote this concept, the term atrophy is often used; 2) chronic nutritional disorder in children, expressed in weight loss, loss or inadequacy of weight gain, accompanied by a number of painful disorders, in many cases associated with unfavorable environmental conditions.

GLOBAL - 1) referring to the territory of the entire globe, covering the entire globe, worldwide; 2) comprehensive, complete, universal, universal.

GLOBALISTIKA is a complex scientific direction that studies various aspects of global problems: economic, socio-political, technological and some other prerequisites and conditions for their solution.

GLOBAL SECURITY - any human activity that excludes harmful effects on the environment surrounding civilization.

GLOBAL ECOLOGY is a scientific direction that considers the ecological interaction of the biosphere with the processes occurring in the bowels of the Earth, the space environment and anthropogenic factors (the consequences of nature-transforming, production activities of man).

GLOBAL POLLUTION - pollution that violates the natural physicochemical, biological indicators of the biosphere, in general, is found anywhere on the surface of our planet.

HOMEOSTASIS is a state of internal dynamic balance of a natural system, supported by the renewal of its main structures, material-energy composition and constant functional self-regulation of its components. Homeostasis is characteristic and necessary for all natural systems - from the cosmic to the organism and the atom. The term "homeostasis" is most often used for the organismic (structural) level of organization.

HOMOLOGY ( gr. homology - conformity, consent) - the similarity of organs or their parts of the same origin, but capable of performing different functions (for example, human hands, legs of animals, fins of marine mammals, wings of bats). Wed Analogy.

HOMOIOTHERMAL ANIMALS - animals with a constant, stable body temperature, almost independent of the ambient temperature; these include birds and mammals.

GENETIC CARGO - the presence in the population and the species as a whole of lethal and other negative mutations that cause death of individuals in the chain of generations or a decrease in their viability.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATION SYSTEM (GOS) - in the field of environmental assessment, the main focus of international environmental activities has become its creation. Within the framework of which such tasks are solved as determining the state of the environment in regions of the world, early warning of potential dangers in this area, studying the interaction between society and nature in various countries. The GOS consists of three components: the Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS), the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals (IRPTC), and the International Environmental Information System (INFOTERRA).

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING SYSTEM (GEMS) - works in five main areas related to human health (with the participation of the World Health Organization), climate (with the World Meteorological Organization), long-range transport of pollutants (with the Economic Commission for Europe).

HUMUS - humus - an organic part of the soil formed as a result of biochemical transformation of plant and animal residues; humus content is an indicator of soil fertility.

WILLINGNESS - a person's ability to carry out appropriate purposeful activity, determined by previous upbringing and education.

GEOMAGNETISM - the Earth's magnetic field, which has features of space and changes in time.

HEMORRHAGIC FEVER - a group of human viral diseases, in which small blood vessels are affected, the temperature rises. Viruses circulate between rodents and ticks.

HYPODYNAMIA ( Greek hypo - under, below, dinamis - power) - dysfunction of the body with limited motor activity (musculoskeletal system, blood circulation, nutrition, digestion).

HORMONE ( Greek hormno - excite, set in motion) - biologically active substances produced in the body by specialized cells or organs (endocrine glands).

DEVON (DEVONIY) is the fourth in order system of the Paleozoic group of layers of the earth's crust, corresponding to the fourth period of the Paleozoic era of the geological history of the Earth.

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION - 1) deterioration of the natural environment of human life; 2) joint deterioration of natural conditions and social environment of life (for example, in some cities).

DECOMPRESSION - 1) reduction of compression; 2) rapid transition from a higher pressure environment to a lower pressure environment; 3) a painful condition that occurs during such a transition; observed in case of violation of the rules for leaving the caissons, diving suits, due to a violation of the sealing of the cabins of aircraft, spacecraft, etc.

DEPOPULATION - a decrease in the population of people or animals.

DESTRUCTORS - organisms, mainly bacteria and fungi, in the course of their entire life, convert the remains of organic matter into inorganic.

DETRITUS - 1) small particles of the remains of organisms and their excretions in the aquatic environment (suspended in water or settled on the bottom of the reservoir); 2) the English-language synonym of the Russian word "humus", which is rarely used in Russian literature.

DETRIOPHAGUS ¾ an aquatic or terrestrial organism that feeds on detritus-1 or -2 (usually with microorganisms contained in it).

DYSTOPIA - the image of a social ideal in negative, frighteningly tragic tones, the opposite of utopia.

ACID, ACID RAIN (ACID PRECIPITATION) ¾ rain (snow), acidified (pH below 5.6) due to the dissolution of industrial emissions in atmospheric moisture.

MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE DOSE (MPD) - the maximum amount of a harmful agent, the penetration of which into organisms (through respiration, food, etc.) does not yet have a detrimental effect on them.

DOCEMBRIA - the oldest strata of the earth's crust and the time corresponding to about 6/7 of the geological history of the Earth.

DOMESTICATION - the process of transforming wild animals into domestic animals, as well as wild plants into cultivated ones.

Sod - the top layer of soil, densely intertwined with live and dead roots and rhizomes of plants. It is most developed in the virgin steppe and meadows.

DOMINANTS ( lat. dominans - state) - dominant individual - leader - in a group of individuals.

RANGE ( Greek diapausis - break, stop) - a period of temporary physiological rest in development and reproduction.

RANGE ( Greek diapason - interval) - volume, scope of knowledge, actions.

DEGRADATION ( fr. degradation - stage) - gradual deterioration, loss of original qualities.

DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM - equality (balance) of the inflow and outflow of energy, matter and information, which maintains the system (socioecosystem) for a long time in a qualitatively defined state.

DECLARATION ( lat. declaratio - statement, announcement) - the solemn proclamation of the basic principles, as well as the document in which they are stated.

DEMOCRACY ( Greek demokratia - democracy) - a political system in which the supreme power belongs to the people.

NATURAL SELECTION - the process of survival and reproduction of organisms most adapted to environmental conditions and death in the course of evolution of unadapted organisms.

LIVING MATTER is one of the main forms of motion of matter: biological systems (the entire biosphere, from microorganisms to humans).

LIFE FORM OF PLANTS - the appearance (habitus) of plants, reflecting their adaptability to environmental conditions.

LIFE FORM OF ANIMALS - organisms of different species with similar morphological and ecological adaptations for living in the same environment.

METEOROLOGICAL DISEASE - a disease that occurs under the influence of certain weather or as a result of prolonged exposure to a climate unfavorable for a given organism (from a lack or excess of heat, including heat shock, from a lack or excess of moisture, ultraviolet radiation, polar stress syndrome, etc. .).

THE LAW OF BIOGENIC MIGRATION OF ATOMS (V.I. Vernadsky) - the migration of chemical elements on the earth's surface and in the biosphere as a whole is carried out either with the direct participation of living matter (biogenic migration), or it occurs in an environment whose geochemical features (О 2, СО 2, H 2, etc.) are due to living matter - both that which currently inhabits the biosphere and that which has acted on the Earth throughout geological history.

THE LAW OF THE VECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT - development is unidirectional. You cannot live life the other way around - from death to birth, from old age to youth, you cannot turn back the history of mankind.

THE LAW OF HOMOLOGICAL SERIES (NI Vavilova) - 1. Species and genera that are genetically close are characterized by similar series of hereditary variability with such accuracy that, knowing a number of forms within one species, one can foresee the finding of parallel forms in other species and genera. The closer the genera and linneons are genetically located in the general system, the more complete the similarity in the series of their variability. 2. Whole plant families are generally characterized by a definite cycle of variability through all the genera and species that make up the family.

THE LAW OF CONSTANT (VI Vernadsky) - the amount of living matter of the biosphere (for a given geological period) is a constant.

THE LAW OF ENERGY MAXIMIZATION - in competition with other systems, the one that best contributes to the flow of energy and uses the maximum amount in the most efficient way survives.

THE LAW OF MAXIMUM - a quantitative change in ecological conditions cannot increase the biological productivity of the ecosystem and the economic productivity of the agrosystem beyond the material and energy limits determined by the evolutionary properties of biological objects and their communities.

THE LAW OF MINIMUM (Y. Liebig) - the endurance of an organism is the weakest link in the chain of its ecological needs, that is, life possibilities are limited by the ecological factor, the amount of which is close to the minimum required for the organism or ecosystem, and a further decrease of which leads to the death of the organism or destruction of the ecosystem.

LAW (RULE) OF INVOLVEMENT OF EVOLUTION (L. Dollo) - an organism (population, species) cannot return to the previous state, already passed by its ancestors.

THE LAW OF NON-ELIMINATION OF WASTE OR SIDE EFFECTS OF PRODUCTION (ECONOMY) - in any economic cycle, the generated waste and the resulting side effects are unavoidable, they can only be transferred from one form to another or moved in space.

THE LAW OF SEQUENCE OF DEVELOPMENT PHASES - the phases of development of a natural system can only follow in an evolutionarily fixed (historically, ecologically conditioned) order, usually from a relatively simple to a complex one.

THE LAW OF REDUCING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF NATURE USE - in the course of historical development, when obtaining useful products, an increasing amount of energy is spent on its unit on average.

LAW OF TOLERANCE (V. Shelford) - the limiting factor for the prosperity of an organism (species) can be at least and a maximum of environmental impact, the range between which determines the amount of endurance (tolerance) of the organism to this factor.

LAW OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL UNITY OF LIVING MATTER (V.I. Vernadsky) - all living matter of the Earth is physically and chemically one.

"LAWS" OF B. KOMMONER'S ECOLOGY - 1) everything is connected with everything; 2) everything must go somewhere; 3) nature “knows” better; 4) nothing is given for free.

HEALTH is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not just the absence of disease or ailment (WHO).

"GREEN" MOVEMENT - a social movement, whether or not formalized in the form of political parties and advocating for the preservation of the environment (against the nuclear threat, for the purity of the atmosphere, waters, etc.). The political face of the “greens”, their programs of activity have not yet been sufficiently formed.

ZONE OF A STRESS ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION -1) area (territory or water area), within which the transition of the state of nature from crisis to critical is observed; 2) the territory where certain negative indicators of the population's health (the incidence of children, adults, the number of social and mental deviations, etc.) are significantly higher than the norm that exists in similar places in the country and the world that are not exposed to pronounced anthropogenic impact of this type.

A ZONE OF INCREASED ENVIRONMENTAL RISK is an area where there is an increased likelihood of adverse consequences for human health and the state of ecosystems, a consequence of any - deliberate or accidental, gradual or catastrophic, anthropogenic or natural - objects and factors. The factors in question are primarily associated with the presence of potentially hazardous industries and facilities in a given territory, as well as with an increased likelihood of especially dangerous natural phenomena.

ZONE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER - areas of territories where, as a result of economic or other activities, as well as natural disasters, irreversible changes in the environment have occurred, entailing an increase in morbidity and mortality of the population, destruction of biogeocenoses.

A ZONE OF ENVIRONMENTAL WELL-BEING is a region in which all biospheres (air, water, earth) do not contain increased amounts of pollutants, an increased level of radioactivity is not recorded, vegetation cover and hydrobalance are not disturbed, a decrease in the number and diversity of species of living beings is not observed, and does not grow morbidity of the population, the levels of fertility, mortality and life expectancy of the population remain unchanged.

ZONE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER - a territory or water area within which the transition of the state of nature from a catastrophic phase to collapse is observed, which makes it unsuitable for human life.

ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ZONE - a territory (or water area) within which a certain type of human economic activity is capable of causing hazardous environmental situations (for example, places of underwater oil production, burial of radioactive or toxic waste, etc.).

ZONE OF EMERGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION - areas of territories where, as a result of economic or other activities, persistent negative changes in the environment occur, entailing disruption of public health, the balance of natural ecosystems, primarily damage to the genetic funds of plants and animals.

HIERARCHY OF SYSTEMS ( gr. hieros - sacred + gr. arche - power) - entry into the functional subordination of the entire systemic world, in which smaller subsystems make up large systems, which themselves are subsystems of even larger systems. For example, elementary particles are atoms, those are molecules, molecules are crystals and organelles, those are cells, etc. The position of the system under consideration in their general series of subordination is called the hierarchical rank or level of organization. For example, the biosphere is a system of the 1st rank in a series of ecosystems, and biogeocenosis is a system of the lowest rank in the same series. Often, the level of organization is called a set of systems of the same type: the biogeocenotic level of organization, the level of organization of an individual, etc.

ISOMERIA OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS - a phenomenon consisting in the existence of substances that are the same in composition and molecular weight, but differ in the structure or arrangement of atoms in space and, as a result, in physical and chemical properties.

INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE is an anthropogenic landscape formed as a result of the impact of industrial complexes on the natural environment, usually characterized by a significant concentration of the population, industrial enterprises, and the intense influence of man-made factors.

INDUSTRIALIZATION - the process of creating large-scale machine production in all sectors of the national economy.

INTENSIVE-COEVOLUTIONARY (NOOSPHERIC) METHOD OF INTERACTION OF SOCIETY AND NATURE is a future form of eco-development based on a comprehensive intensification of production and the emergence of other ecophilic types of social activity that ensure the co-evolution of man and the biosphere. This form of harmonization of society and nature, ensuring social progress in an environmentally friendly form, will appear in its developed form only at the stage of ecological society as a stage of the noosphere.

INTENSIVE WAY OF DEVELOPMENT - the development of social production and other types of social activity, in which progressive development (including the growth of production efficiency) is achieved through the maximum possible use of qualitative factors while minimizing (including saving) quantitative parameters.

INTENSIVE ECOLOGICAL PROCESS - the progressive development of the subject of the ecosystem not due to the quantitative expansion of the field of interaction with the environment, but due to the qualitative sources and factors available both in the subject itself and in its environment.

INFONOOSFERA is a society in which, on the basis of the created infoosphere (using artificial intelligence systems to the maximum extent), civilization will fully master the processes of production and rational use of information, resolve the information crisis, create conditions for free access of every person to information and active democratic participation in adoption. solutions.

INFORMATIZATION OF SOCIETY - the process of mastering information as a resource for development with the help of computers and other means of informatics in order to meet the ever-growing information needs, create an information society, which implies a radical intellectual and humanistic restructuring of the life of man and all mankind.

INFORMATION SECURITY is the property of society to guarantee such a course of information processes that would create a social and information environment (including a computer one) necessary for the survival and further progress of civilization, the orientation of the informatization process towards a person.

INFORMATION SOCIETY - the state of society in a particular country or humanity as a whole, which will occur as a result of complete informatization and the intellectual and humanistic restructuring of social structures and relations based on it.

INFORMATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIETY is a state of global civilization, in which conditions have been created on the basis of full and comprehensive informatization (information society) to prevent environmental disasters and positively solve environmental problems.

INFRASTRUCTURE is a complex of economic sectors serving and creating conditions for the location and operation of industrial and agricultural production, as well as for human life.

INDUSTRY ( from lat. indusria - activity) - factory industry with machinery.

INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY is one of the stages of development of society, characterized by a high level of industrial production focused on the mass production of consumer goods without taking into account the consequences of this influence on the state of the natural environment.

INTELLIGENCE ( lat. intellectus) - mind, reason, reason, thinking abilities of a person. Reason is the ability to operate with ready-made knowledge, reason is the ability to create new knowledge.

PERFECT ( Greek idea - view, image, presentation, concept) - an image of reality that arises in a person's thinking in the process of purposeful activity. The "idealistic" point of view is also widespread, representing the ideal as a special world not related to nature, as a "world mind". Supporters of this point of view see in the "world mind" the starting point, the beginning of any human activity.

INFORMATION CAUSALITY - causality, which is caused not by the influence of the information carrier, but by the information itself. For example, the energy of a spoken word cannot move a person, while the information carried by this energy forces a person to act accordingly.

INTENSIVE ( fr. intensif, lat. intensio - voltage, gain) - giving the maximum result, the highest productivity due to a comprehensive, in-depth development of nature.

IONOSPHERE ( Greek ion - walking, sphaira - ball) - the upper layers of the atmosphere, ranging from 50-80 km, characterized by a significant content of atmospheric ions and free electrons.

IMMUNITY ( lat. immunitas - getting rid of something) - the body's immunity to infectious agents and foreign substances.

INFOTERRA is an international environmental information system that covers all aspects of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources, as well as issues such as the state of settlements and the supply of drinking water to the population (which is of particular importance for developing countries), contains information about sources of information on the environment. environment in 136 countries around the world. In their activities, they are confined to the central organ of the system - the Center for Program Activities (PAC), located at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi (Kenya).

The main tasks of the JRC are maintaining the main working document of the system - the International Reference Register and issuing the Bulletin every two months (published in English, Spanish, Russian and French).

The International Master Register contains data on all aspects of environmental issues coming from many organizations around the world, one way or another related to environmental activities. Subscribers are given the opportunity not only to receive information (including through remote access channels), but also to establish contacts with these organizations.

ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE is a relatively quickly occurring chain of events that led to difficult or irreversible degradation processes of nature (severe desertification) and / or its pollution (infection), to a real danger of serious diseases and death of people, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, to the growth of genetic defects.

NUCLEIC ACID is a high molecular weight organic compound formed by the residues of nucleotides that act as building blocks, similar to the construction of proteins from amino acids. Depending on what kind of carbohydrate is included in K.N. - deoxyribose or ribose, - distinguish between deoxyribonucleic (DNA) and ribonucleic (RNA) acids, the synonym is polynucleid.

COADAPTATION - mutual adaptation in the course of evolution: 1) different forms of living things that live together (for example, insects to pollination of plants, and plants - to pollination by insects), 2) different organs of one individual.

MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE CONCENTRATION (MPC) is a standard, the amount of a harmful substance in the environment, which practically does not affect human health.

CONSORBENT ( lat. consortium - complicity, partnership) is a member of the consortium.

CONSORTION - acting as a single systemic whole, a set of dissimilar organisms closely related to each other and dependent on the central member, or nucleus, of a community, usually a large organism (alive or already dead). They are distinguished by individual consortia, where the core is many individuals of the same species, and synusial consortia, where the core is made up of several closely related species (for example, dark coniferous trees - spruce, fir, cedar).

CONSENSUS - the presence between two or more individuals of the unity of views, initial orientations in any respect.

CONSUMENT ( lat. consumo - I consume) - an organism that consumes ready-made organic substances, but does not bring their decomposition to simple mineral constituents Cf. Producer, Reducent.

CONTINUUM ( lat. continuum - continuous, solid) - the idea of ​​the film of life on the Earth as a continuous whole without dividing it into separate - ecosystems.

COMBINATION (COOPERATION) OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION - unification in one enterprise of several interconnected industries in order to create low-waste technologies.

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPONENTS - the main material, energy and informational components of the ecosystem: energy, gas composition (atmosphere), water, soil-substrate (rocks, soil of reservoirs, etc.), autotrophs (heliotrophs, chemotrophs) - producers (mainly plants ), heterotrophs-consumers (mainly animals) and decomposers.

INTEGRATED USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES - the practical development of certain types of natural resources, based on the economically and environmentally justified use of their useful properties, their all-round involvement in economic circulation.

COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF TECHNICAL SYSTEMS - evaluation of the results of objectification of a technical goal on the basis of technical-economic and socio-ecological criteria.

CORRELATION - mutual relationship, interdependence of objects, phenomena and concepts.

COSMOCREATICS - large-scale transformations of space objects according to the desire of a person.

SPACE SOCIETY (COSMONOSPHERE) - the next stage of the noosphere formation after the ecoosphere, in which humanity will mainly develop outside the planet, on the basis of the extensive industrialization of the Cosmos.

SPACE ECOLOGY is a branch of knowledge that studies the ecological relations between man and the Cosmos.

COEVOLUTION is a direction of development that does not destroy the biosphere and ensures the progress of the human race, i.e. the possibility of joint development of society and nature.

COEVOLUTIONARY-REASONABLE NEEDS - social or individual needs that satisfy environmental imperatives that exclude imaginary (pseudo-) needs.

COEVOLUTION-COLLECTION METHOD OF INTERACTION OF SOCIETY AND NATURE - a method based on a collecting economy (appropriating economy) and biosphere-compatible nature management of Paleolithic mankind.

RED BOOK - An annotated list of endangered animals or plants. The Book indicates the current and past distribution, number, reproduction, the necessary protection measures taken. The International Red Book is maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). On its model, national Red Data Books have been created in a number of countries, including the CIS.

CLIMATE - the weather mode characteristic of a given area due to its geographic location.

CLIMATOPATOLOGY - the emergence or exacerbation of diseases under the influence of unfavorable climatic influences due to disruption of the processes of adaptation of the body to changed meteorological conditions.

ECOLOGICAL CRISIS - a tense state of relations between mankind and nature, characterized by a discrepancy between the development of productive forces and production relations in human society with the resource-ecological capabilities of the biosphere or its large subdivision.

THE CIRCLE OF BIOTIC EXCHANGE SMALL (BIOGEOCENO-TIC) - multiple, non-stop, cyclic, but uneven in time and non-closed circulation of a part of the substances, energy and information included in the biospheric circle of exchange, within the biogeocenosis.

THE CIRCLE OF BIOTIC EXCHANGE LARGE (BIOSPHERE) is a non-stop planetary process of a regular cyclical, uneven in time and space redistribution of matter, energy and information, repeatedly entering (except for a unidirectional flow of energy) into continuously renewing ecological systems of the biosphere.

XENOBIOTIC - any substance foreign to a given organism or their community (pesticides, household chemicals, and other pollutants) that can cause disruption of biotic processes, including disease and death of living organisms.

XEROPHITIZATION - desertification of the area. Xerophytes are plants living in arid areas (deserts, dry steppes, etc.).

CUMULATION - an increase, collection, concentration of an active principle, for example, an increase in the concentration of pesticides in the food chain.

KYARIZES - hydraulic structures in Central Asia in the past, with the help of which groundwater from the foothills was brought out to the desert plain.

CULTURE ( lat. cultura - cultivating, processing) - a way of human life, characterizing the spiritual and material prerequisites and consequences of a person's adaptation to the environment.

COSMIC RADIATIONS - a stream of a stable part of high energies coming to the Earth from the world space.

A CRISIS ( Greek krisis - decision, turning point, outcome) - a difficult predicament.

CONCENTRIC ( lat. sops + centrum - center, focus) - having a common center, for example, a circle, but different radii.

LANDSCAPE is a natural geographic complex, defined as a relatively small specific and homogeneous area of ​​the earth's surface ("geographic individual"), bounded by natural boundaries.

ANTHROPOGENIC LANDSCAPE - a landscape transformed by human economic activity.

LIMITS (QUOTAS) OF EMISSIONS - a system of environmental restrictions, which are the volumes of maximum permissible emissions and discharges of pollutants into the environment established by natural resource users for a certain period.

LOCAL POLLUTION - environmental pollution occurring within a large territory (region). Regional pollution is formed on the basis of local pollution with an increase in their number or space-time scales.

PERSONALITY - a person as a member of society, as a social individual.

LOGIC ( Greek logike) - the science of the laws of thinking.

LOW-WASTE PRODUCTION - industrial production that generates a minimum amount of waste.

MARGINALITY is the result of a conflict with generally accepted norms, an expression of specific relations with the existing social system.

MATERIAL CULTURE - a set of natural objects transformed by man, material values ​​accumulated by all generations of people.

IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, an international system of cooperation in the field of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources.

Today this system, covering the whole world and the most various forms and types of activity, is formed by 3 main components: 1) international organizations; 2) multilateral agreements (state and non-governmental) and 3) bilateral relations (between states and national organizations of the state).

ICEDA - a new stage in the development of the international system of environmental cooperation was the development of a global environmental strategy, which was formulated and submitted to the UN General Assembly in 1987. The work was carried out within the framework of UNEP by an intergovernmental committee - a subsidiary body of the UNEP Governing Council and the International Commission on the Environment and Development (ICED), which included eminent statesmen and public figures, as well as scientists and environmental specialists from various countries. The work of the ICPED was headed by the leader of the Norwegian Workers' Party and its Prime Minister G.H. Brundtland.

The intergovernmental committee was tasked with developing a forward-looking document that would justify general approaches to environmental problems and the necessary measures to resolve environmental problems, as well as formulate a long-term program of action for the coming decades.

METHOD OF MECHANICAL WASTE WATER PURIFICATION - removal of dissimilar undissolved impurities from waste water with special devices and structures.

METEOPATHY - an acute, painful dependence of a person's well-being on changes in weather conditions or climate when moving to another climatic zone.

Habitat - a limited part of a space with a characteristic set of abiotic and biotic environmental conditions that provide the entire development cycle of an individual, population or species as a whole. M. is a place where a given organism is found and which is functionally necessary for the entire cycle of its existence. For example, a reservoir and its shallow waters, where pike and carp feed and spawn. M. - as it were, the "registration" of the organism. M. consists of stations (see). The entire set of habitats of a species constitutes its range.

LOCATION - a geographical point where an organism belonging to a certain taxonomic category (species, genus, etc.) was found.

MECHANICAL PROTECTION FOR SAND CONTROL ¾ shields, fences and other mechanical devices used to combat sand drifts and sand fixing.

MECHANICAL METHODS OF PEST CONTROL - extermination of pests (insects, rodents, etc.) using the simplest mechanical devices (baits, traps, barrage ditches) or manually.

MICROCLIMATE - the climate of small areas of the Earth.

MONITORING - long-term tracking of some objects or phenomena; in the application to the environment of life - monitoring the state and timely warning of emerging critical situations (increased air pollution above the maximum permissible concentration, etc.), harmful or dangerous to human health.

MUTAGEN - any agent (factor) causing mutation. Distinguish between physical M., physicochemical M., chemical M., biological M.

MUTATION ( lat. mutation - change, change) - a suddenly occurring natural or artificially caused persistent change in hereditary structures responsible for storing genetic information and transferring it from cell to cell and from ancestor to offspring. Mutations occur in germ cells - gametes (gametic mutations) - and body cells (somatic mutations).

MIGRATION ( lat. migratio, from migro - I move, I move) - movement, relocation of animals caused by a change in the conditions of existence in their habitats or associated with the cycle of their development.

MONOCARPIC HERBS ( Greek monos - one, only, karpos - fruit) - plants that bloom and bear fruit once in a lifetime.

WORLD VIEW - a system of generalized views on the world and a person's place in it; due to these views, beliefs, ideals, values.

EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE - a region of near-planetary space, the physical properties of which are determined by the Earth's magnetic field and its interaction with streams of charged particles of cosmic origin.

MANTLE OF THE EARTH - the shell of the "solid" Earth, located between the earth's crust and the core of the Earth. The upper boundary runs at a depth of 5-10 to 70 km, the lower one - at a depth of 2900 km.

MODELING ( lat. modulus - measure, sample, norlu) - a method of indirectly studying objects of reality on their natural or artificial analogous models.

MEASURE OF BIOSPHERIC PHENOMENA - an admissible interval of changes in quantitative indicators of a phenomenon, at which it retains its initial qualitative definiteness.

MORAL ( lat. mores - mores) - a form of public consciousness that performs the function of regulating people's behavior.

MATERIAL ( lat. materialis - real) - which is matter, i.e. existing outside and independently of consciousness, belonging to objective reality.

METEO SENSITIVITY ( Greek meteora - atmospheric phenomena) - the body's sensitivity to weather changes.

MUTAGENESIS ( lat. mutatio - change, genes - giving birth) - the process of occurrence in the body of hereditary changes - mutations.

MESOSAPROBES ( Greek mesos - medium, intermediate, sapros - rotten, bios - life) - organisms living in waters moderately polluted with organic matter.

ANTHROPOGENIC LOAD - the degree of direct and indirect impact of people and their economic activities on nature as a whole or on its individual ecological components and elements (landscapes, natural resources, species of life, etc.).

DISTURBED LAND - areas where, as a result of human economic activity, vegetation has been destroyed, the soil cover has been destroyed, the hydrological regime and the terrain have changed.

NEGENTROPY is a measure of remoteness from the state of energy (physical) equilibrium, the desire for unevenness, fluctuation ordering of the distribution of particles, which characterizes the ability of the system to perform work. Negentropy increases with increasing organization of the system.

NECROPHAGUS is an organism that feeds on dead animals.

NEOLITH - the era of the later Stone Age (8-3 millennium BC), characterized by a settled population, the emergence of cattle breeding and agriculture, the use of flint, bone and stone tools (including those made using the technique of sawing, drilling and grinding) and, usually widespread pottery.

NEOLITICAL REVOLUTION - a transition from appropriating to a producing economy, which led to economic progress and, at the same time, to environmental regression. Consists of two stages - agroneolithic (transition to agriculture and cattle breeding) and industrial-neolithic; the Neolithic period of social development ends with the beginning of the formation of the noosphere.

NON-COLLECTION is a form of interaction between society and nature, which is a process of maximum involvement of natural factors and agents in social activity in their natural form.

NISHA ECOLOGICAL - a set of all environmental factors (abiotic and biotic), within which the existence of a species and its transforming activity is possible - the functional place of the species (its "profession") in the community and biocenosis.

NOOSPHERE - letters. “Thinking shell”, the sphere of reason, a qualitatively new phase - the highest stage in the development of the biosphere, associated with the emergence and development of civilized humanity in it. The period when intelligent human activity becomes the main determining factor in development on Earth.

SANITARY AND HYGIENIC STANDARD - a qualitative and quantitative indicator, the observance of which guarantees safe or optimal conditions for a person's existence, for example, the norm of living space per 1 family member, the norm of water, air quality, etc.

REGULATION OF THE QUALITY OF THE MEDIUM (WATER, AIR, SOILS ...) - setting the limits within which a change in its natural properties is allowed. Usually, the norm is determined by the reaction of the most sensitive type of organisms (indicator organism) to environmental changes, but sanitary and hygienic and economically feasible standards can also be adopted.

SCIENCE is a sphere of human activity, the task of which is to obtain and systematize objective knowledge about reality. Scientific knowledge is obtained through the use of special methods (cognitive techniques, procedures). The immediate goal of science is the description, explanation and prediction of the studied processes and phenomena, i.e. theoretical assimilation (reflection) of reality. The sum of the scientific knowledge obtained by this moment forms the scientific picture of the world.

WEIGHTNESS is a state in which external forces acting on a body do not cause mutual pressures of its particles on each other.

MORAL NORM is a form of moral requirements that regulate people's behavior through general precepts and prohibitions.

SOCIAL NORM ( lat. onrta - guiding principle, rule) - means of social regulation of people's behavior.

PEOPLE is a community of people that grows out of a mixture of tribes and tribal unions.

NATION ( lat. natio - people) - a community of people connected by a single language, a single territory, economy, culture, traditions, psychology.

ARID REGION - a territory with a dry (arid) climate.

HUMID REGION - an area with a humid (humid) climate.

OBJECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY - the vital interests of security subjects: rights, material and spiritual needs of the individual, natural resources and the natural environment as the material basis of state and social development.

EIA is an environmental impact assessment. Conclusion on the impact of the economic facility on the environment, drawn up in accordance with the approved rules. Since 1988, the requirement to conduct an EIA has been extended to all areas of activity.

OZONOSPHERE (OZONE SCREEN) - a layer of the atmosphere characterized by an increased concentration of ozone molecules (10 times higher than at the Earth's surface), absorbing ultraviolet radiation, which is fatal to living things.

OMNICID - the destruction of all life on Earth. It can arise both under the influence of natural (for example, a planetary or space catastrophe) and anthropogenic (world nuclear war, global ecological catastrophe, etc.) factors.

ORGANELLA ( lat. organella - diminutive of gr. organon - organ - instrument, instrument) - permanent (as opposed to cellular inclusion), clearly differentiated part of the body of a single-celled individual, its "organ" performing a specific function: motor (cilia, flagella), contractile, digestive, excretory, etc.

ORGANOID ( gr. organ - instrument, instrument + gr. eidos - view) are permanent, obligatory (as opposed to cellular inclusions) specialized structures in the cells of any organisms (unicellular and multicellular), performing certain functions and therefore perceived as analogs of organs. In unicellular individuals, such formations are called organelles.

OSMOS is the diffusion of a substance, usually a solvent, through a semipermeable membrane separating a solution and a pure solvent or two solutions of different concentrations.

OBJECTIVE ( lat. objectum - item) - that which exists outside and independently of a person's consciousness.

RESPONSIBILITY - a special attitude of a person to society and nature, characterized by an awareness of his moral duty to the present and future generations of people.

OZONE SCREEN - OZONE LAYER - a layer consisting of ozone (blue gas with a pungent odor), the height of its location is from 10 to 15 km, maximum at an altitude of 20-25 km. Protects life in the biosphere from the effects of short-wave ultraviolet radiation.

PALEOGEN is the most ancient system of the Cenozoic group, corresponding to the first period of the Cenozoic era of the geological history of the Earth, following the Cretaceous and preceding the Neogene system.

PALEOLITH - the oldest period of the Stone Age: the beginning of the Paleolithic period coincides with the appearance on the Earth of the most ancient ape-like people (over 2 million years ago), the end dates back to the period about 10 thousand years ago.

PARACLIMAX ( gr. couple - near, at + gr. climax - stairs) - a community (ecosystem) that has arisen as a result of external, usually anthropogenic, impacts on the climax and its destruction with the formation of another stable community in its place (for example, a permanently grazed pasture in the place of a cleared forest).

PANGEA is a hypothetical continent that united Laurasia and Gondwana in the Paleozoic - early Mesozoic.

PARADIGM is a theory (or model of problem statement) adopted as a model for solving research problems.

PATHOGENIC REACTIONS - the ability of living beings (as a rule, microorganisms) to cause diseases of other organisms.

OVERPOPULATION (OVERPOPULATION) - a temporary state of the ecosystem, in which the number of individuals of any species is greater than the capacity of the environment allows.

PESTICIDE is a chemical compound used to protect plants, agricultural products, wood, wool, cotton, leather, and to control vectors of dangerous diseases.

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMID - the ratio between producers, consumers (of the first, second orders) and reducers in the ecosystem, expressed in their mass (number - the pyramid of Elton's numbers, the enclosed energy - the pyramid of energies) and depicted in the form of a graphic model.

PLANKTON ( gr. planktos - wandering) - a set of organisms that live in the water column and are incapable of actively resisting their transfer by currents (ie, more or less passively "soaring" in the water). Distinguish between plant plankton - phytoplankton and P. animals - zooplankton. In addition, picoplankton ( isp. pico - small value) - the smallest organisms (less than 3 microns and hl. sample 0.45-0.85 microns), capable of extremely active photosynthesis (see).

PAYMENTS FOR POLLUTION - payment for the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere from stationary and mobile sources, discharge of pollutants into water bodies, waste disposal. The specified fee is levied from the profit remaining at the disposal of enterprises, transferred to environmental funds and used for environmental protection purposes.

PAYMENTS FOR NATURE USE - payment for the use of natural resources (land, subsoil, water, forest and other vegetation, fauna, recreational and other resources).

PLEISTOCENE - the first section, corresponding to the longest epoch of the Anthropogenic (Quaternary) period. It is characterized by a general cooling of the Earth's climate and periodic occurrence of extensive glacial glaciers in the middle latitudes.

SUBSECTION-FIRE SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE is a primitive farming system in which agricultural plants were grown for several years on lands freed from forests by deforestation or burning. After the loss of fertility, the site was abandoned and a new one was developed. Soil fertility was restored under the influence of natural vegetation.

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY POLICY is a purposeful activity of the state, public organizations, legal entities and individuals to ensure environmental safety.

POLLUTANT - a substance that pollutes the environment of life (usually means anthropogenic, municipal, industrial or agricultural pollution). The Russian synonym is pollutant.

POPULATION (French population, from Latin populus - people, population) - a set of individuals of the same species, over a large number of generations inhabiting a certain space with relatively homogeneous conditions of existence.

POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY - following the industrial (which replaced the agricultural) state of civilization, focused on eliminating the negative consequences of traditional industrial development and the survival of mankind.

BIOTIC POTENTIAL - 1) hereditary degree of resistance of the species to unfavorable environmental factors; 2) the potential ability of living organisms to increase their numbers exponentially.

HUMAN NEEDS - conscious or unconscious conditions for ensuring human life or his need for objects and phenomena, without which he experiences discomfort that worsens his health.

VICARIAT RULE (D. Jordan) - the areas of closely related animal forms (species and subspecies) usually occupy adjacent territories and do not significantly overlap; related forms, as a rule, vicarious, that is, geographically substituting for each other.

THE RULE OF INTERNAL NON-CONTRADICTIONS - in natural ecosystems, the activities of their constituent species are aimed at maintaining these ecosystems as their own habitat.

RULE OF MUTUAL ADJUSTMENT (K. Moebius-GF Morozova) - species in the biocenosis are adapted to each other so much that their community constitutes an internally contradictory, but unified and mutually linked systemic whole.

THE RULE OF OBLIGATION TO FILL ENVIRONMENTAL NICHES - an empty ecological niche is always naturally filled.

RULE OF FOOD CORRELATION (V. Winey-Edwards) - in the course of evolution, only those populations are preserved, the reproduction rate of which is correlated with the amount of food resources of their habitat.

THE RULE OF CONFORMITY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF THE GENETIC PREFERENCE OF THE ORGANISM - a species of organisms can exist as long as the natural environment surrounding it corresponds to the genetic ability of this species to adapt to its fluctuations and changes.

RULE of Y. ODUM - with a constant flow of energy through the food web, smaller terrestrial organisms with a higher specific metabolism create less biomass than larger ones.

RULE OF MAXIMUM "PRESSURE OF LIFE" - organisms multiply at an intensity that provides the maximum possible number of them. "The pressure of life" is limited by the capacity of the environment and the action of the rules of mutual adaptation, internal consistency and compliance of the environment with the genetic predetermination of the organism.

MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL LOAD - the maximum level of impact of anthropogenic factors, at which the functional integrity of ecosystems is preserved.

THE EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE OF G.F. HAUSE (Gause's theorem) - two species cannot exist in the same area if their ecological needs are identical, that is, they occupy the same ecological niche.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH PROGRAM (UNEP) is an intergovernmental program of research of the problems of ecological crises - desertification, deforestation, soil loss, pollution of the World Ocean, started at the initiative of the UN (1973).

SPECIFIC LIFE - the average maximum age reached by individuals of a given species under the most favorable conditions of existence, that is, limited only by the genetic characteristics of individuals.

EXPECTED LIFE - the number of years that a representative of a given generation will have to live on average, assuming that the mortality rate of representatives of a given generation during its transition from one age group to another will be equal to the current mortality rate in these age groups.

PRODUCER (la t. producer - producing) - an organism that produces organic matter from inorganic constituents. Distinguish between photo- (helio-) and chemosynthetics. Wed Consument, Reducent.

INDUSTRIAL-NON-COEVOLUTIONARY METHOD OF INTERACTION OF SOCIETY AND NATURE - a method based on a productive economy, Neolithic principles of nature management, which are increasingly destroying the natural environment.

NEED - the need for something necessary to support the life and development of a person.

PERSISTENT ( lat. persisto - persistent) - organisms that remain unchanged in the process of evolution, the so-called living fossils, passing from one geological era to another without significant changes.

KNOWLEDGE is the process of creative activity of people, forming their knowledge, on the basis of which the goals and motives of human actions arise. Distinguish between scientific, aesthetic, religious and other types of knowledge.

PRODUCTION FUND - a set of means of labor and objects of labor necessary for material production.

DESIGN - drawing up, development of a plan, program for the creation of a future technogenic or any artificial object.

PROFIT is the amount by which income exceeds costs.

PACT ( lat. pactum - contract) is an international treaty of great political significance.

THE CONSIGNMENT ( lat. pars (patis) - part, group) - a group of persons united by some common interests, gathered for some purpose.

PSYCHE ( Greek psychikos - sincere) is a property of the brain that actively reflects the environment and determines, on this basis, the motives of behavior and activity.

POLITICS (Greek politika - state or public affairs) - the sphere of human activity associated with participation in public affairs, conquest, retention of power.

PROCESS ( lat. processus - passing, promotion) - the course, development of some phenomenon, a sequential change of states of development.

TRIBE - a type of social organization of people, including two clans or more.

NATURE - in the broad sense of the word, the whole world, the entire Universe, including man and society. The understanding of nature as a set of natural conditions for the existence of human society is also widespread.

ECOLOGICAL EQUILIBRIUM - the conditional equality of incoming and outgoing natural processes, leading to a long (conditionally infinite, in fact, during an individual or evolutionary period of development) existence of an ecosystem of a given species, i.e. with certain properties. Distinguish between component RE, based on the balance of ecological components within one ecosystem, and territorial RE, which arises at a certain ratio of the sizes of intensively and extensively exploited areas, as well as areas withdrawn from traditional use (for example, plowed fields, forests, etc. meadows in conjunction with reserves). With the territorial form of R. e. it is actually supported by ecological supersystems.

RASA is a group of people with common stable traits, historically formed under the influence of natural conditions. These features include the color of the skin, eyes, hair, body proportions, the shape of the nose, lips, etc. There are three large racial groups: the Negroid-Australian (it includes the peoples living in Central and South Africa, in the south of India, the indigenous people of Australia); European-Asian (peoples of Europe, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, North India, Asia Minor); Asian-American (peoples of Asia and indigenous people of America).

REGION is a certain territory on the Earth's surface, characterized by relative integrity, uniformity of geological, physicochemical properties, and a certain commonality of bio- and ecosystems. A region can be part of the territorial structure of one or several countries.

REGIONAL POLLUTION - environmental pollution, which manifests itself within a large territory (region). Regional pollution is formed on the basis of local pollution with an increase in their number or space-time scales.

REDUCER (S) ( lat. reducece - returning) - species, mainly microorganisms and fungi, which in the course of their vital activity convert organic residues into inorganic substances. A synonym is destructors.

RESOURCES RENEWABLE - all natural resources located within the biosphere cycle of substances, capable of self-healing in a period commensurate with the rate of human economic activity.

RESOURCES INCREDIBLE - that part of natural resources that does not self-regenerate in the course of the cycle of substances in the biosphere for a time commensurate with the rate of human economic activity.

REFLEXION - thinking, introspection, analysis of one's own thoughts.

ROMAN CLUB is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in 1968 on the initiative of the Italian economist, public figure, businessman A. Peccei (1908-1984). Since 1984 A. Peccei was replaced by the French scientist A. King. Research projects that have received conceptual completeness in the reports: "The Limits to Growth", 1972 (directed by D. Meadows); Humanity at the Turning Point, 1974 (directed by M. Mesarovich and E. Pestel); "Goals for Humanity", 1977 (directed by E. Laszlo); “There are no limits to learning”, 1979 (directed by J. Botkin, M. Elmanjara, M. Malitsa); The Third World: Three Quarters of the World, 1980 (directed by M. Guernier); “Routes leading to the future”, 1980 (leader B. Gavrilishin); "The First Global Revolution", 1987 (directed by A. King, B. Schneider). Since the mid-80s. figures of R.K. began to move to the promotion of various programs for the transformation of society, systems for improving the political institutions of power.

SAPROFAG is an organism that feeds on organic residues.

SACRED - sacred, sanctified by the highest heavenly
forces.

SECULARIZATION - here: liberation of concepts and ideas from sacredness in the process of scientific study of all sources and content.

"BLUE MOVEMENT" - a public movement "For the social ecology of man through mass creativity." It originated in Moscow in 1981. Supporters and participants of the "Blue Movement" believe that they are developing in modern conditions the ideas of "Russian cosmism" and the teachings of V.I. Vernadsky about the noosphere ("the sphere of reason"), believing that humanity is entering the era of the noosphere, when the further evolution of the planet will be guided by reason.

SILUR is the third system from the bottom of the Paleozoic group, corresponding to the third period of the Paleozoic era of the geological history of the Earth.

SYNERGISM (SYNERGETIC EFFECT) is a combined effect of two or more factors, characterized by the fact that the combined effect significantly exceeds the effect of each of the components separately and their simple sum.

SYNCRETISM - unity, indivisibility, unity of the sides of a phenomenon.

SYNTHO is a religion widespread in Japan. It is based on the cult of the deities of nature and ancestors.

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY SYSTEM - a set of legislative, medical and biological measures aimed at maintaining a balance between the biosphere and anthropogenic, as well as natural external loads.

BORING (of the population) - 1) an objective concept - increased against traditionally or legally accepted norms, population density; 2) objectively - the density of the population, causing a deterioration in its health.

COLLECTION - one of the forms of human economic activity, consisting in the collection of edible wild-growing edible roots, fruits, berries, honey, as well as mollusks, insects
etc.

COMMUNITY - a set of interdependent individuals, interconnected species within a certain space. It may consist of some producers, consumers or decomposers.

A LONG-PRODUCTIVE COMMUNITY is a set of interrelated and interdependent species within a certain naturally limited volume of habitable space (biotope), the main habitat formers of which have several generations during the existence of such a set. For example, several generations of pines in the process of replacing a pine forest with a spruce forest in the north of the European plain.

A SHORT-TERM COMMUNITY is an analogue of a long-term community, but, as a rule, with one generation of the main environment-formers. For example, a birch or aspen forest, which in one generation of these tree species is replaced by a pine forest during the forest succession in the north of the European plain.

THE NODE COMMUNITY is a conditionally final phase of succession (see) in conditions of anthropogenic disturbance of the natural environment to such an extent that in the process of development the community cannot reach climax (see), but nevertheless it develops to an equilibrium state with this environment. For example, glazed forest clearings that are not capable of afforestation.

SORPTION - absorption by a solid or liquid of a substance from the environment.

SOCIO-NATURAL SYSTEM - SOCIOECOSYSTEM - a dynamic self-developing system "human society - nature".

SOCIUM - 1) a territorial community of people living together in several closely located settlements (or one large settlement - a city) and therefore contacting each other much more often than with residents of other populated areas; 2) a community of people living together in a certain territory and entering into mutual contacts statistically reliably more often than with other neighbors; 3) a social system, a society with any features of the social structure (colloquial).

SOCIAL ECOLOGY is a line of research at the intersection of social and natural sciences, studying the processes and patterns of interaction between society (and its individual systems) and nature. Social ecology thus focuses only on ecosystems, where the subject is social systems, including the individual. In the long term, social ecology should focus on solving the problems of the ecological survival of mankind and the formation of an ecological civilization (econoosphere), ensuring natural living conditions worthy of man.

Social ecology is formed as a complex science that studies the relationship between society and the natural environment in order to form, depending on specific circumstances, the optimal nature-forming strategy of society. Social ecology studies complex and multivalued relations in the system "society - man - technology - natural environment", reveals the general laws of interaction and ways to optimize and harmonize relations in the system "society - nature".

SMOG - 1) a combination of dust particles and fog droplets; 2) a term used to denote visible air pollution of any nature.

METHOD OF INTERACTION OF SOCIETY AND NATURE - the unity of economic and ecological characteristics of the development of society, expressing its relationship to nature and, above all, to the biosphere. In the history of society, there are three main ways of interaction between society and nature: Paleolithic (co-evolutionary-collecting), Neolithic (production-non-co-evolutionary) and noospheric (intensive co-evolutionary), which mankind has to switch to for ecological survival.

SPIRITUALISM is a philosophical teaching that recognizes the essence of the world as a spiritual principle.

ENVIRONMENT ABIOTIC - all forces and phenomena of nature, the origin of which is not directly (and often indirectly) associated with the vital activity of living organisms (including humans).

ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENT - a natural environment, directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally changed by people.

ECOLOGICAL STABILITY - the ability of an ecosystem to withstand internal abiotic and biotic environmental factors, including anthropogenic impacts.

STAGNATION - 1) delay in development, stagnation in production, trade, etc .; 2) naturally occurring oxygen deficiency in the reservoir.

STATION ( lat. station - location, residence) - 1) part of the habitat of the species (see), characterized by special ecological conditions and used by it either in a limited time (seasonally, part of the day), or for limited purposes - for feeding, reproduction, experiencing unfavorable situations (seasonal S., S. experiences, etc.); 2) a piece of space characterized by a set of living conditions (relief, climate, availability of food, shelters, etc.) necessary for the existence of a given species (population) of animals (the term is usually not used in botany), i.e. the topographic part of the species range, suitable for the habitation of organisms of this species (the part of the range inhabited by the species).

STRESS ( English stress - tension) - 1) the state of tension of the body - a set of physiological reactions that occur in the body of animals and humans (possibly in plants) in response to the effects of various adverse factors (stressors): cold, hunger, mental and physical trauma, radiation, blood loss , infections - or, conversely, extremely favorable: joy, sexual arousal, etc.; 2) the stressful state of the ecosystem, experiencing the damaging effect of unusual natural and anthropogenic factors, manifested in changes in energy processes, the cycle of nutrients and the structure of the community.

STOICISM is one of the directions of ancient Greek philosophy (arose at the end of the 4th century BC). The Stoics considered the human soul to be a part of the world soul, indifferent to everything except good and evil. The ethical ideal of the Stoics is the achievement of "apathy," that is, immunity to everything external.

ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY SUBJECTS - individual, society, biosphere, state, civilization as a whole.

SUCCESSION ( lat. succession - succession, inheritance) - a sequential system of biocenoses, successively arising in the same territory as a result of the influence of natural factors or human influences; now, as a rule, it is also observed as a result of a complex interaction of natural and anthropogenic causes.

SCIENTISM is a worldview position based on the idea of ​​scientific knowledge as the highest cultural value and a sufficient condition for a person's orientation in the world. The ideal for scientism is not all scientific knowledge, but first of all the results and methods of natural science knowledge.

TAXON is a group of discrete objects connected by a certain degree of generality of properties and characteristics and, due to this, giving grounds for assigning them to a certain taxonomic category.

TAXONOMY ( gr. taxis - location is ok + gr. nomos - law) - a section of taxonomy, the doctrine of the evolutionary subordination of groups of organisms - from subspecies and species to the systematic (classification) kingdoms of nature (shoals, fungi, plants and animals).

TAXONOMIC CATEGORIES - concepts used in taxonomy to designate subordinate groups, taxon objects; for a certain sphere of reality, a system of such categories is being built, which should give a complete description of this reality from the point of view of its hierarchical structure (for example, the taxonomy of animals or plants).

TERATOGEN (S), TERATOGENESIS ( gr. teras, genus. pad. teratos - monster, freak + gr. genesis - origin) - biological influences (intrauterine diseases, etc.), chemicals and physical agents that cause deformities in organisms in the course of their individual development.

TECHNOLOGY - a set of mechanisms and machines, as well as a system of management, production, storage, processing of matter, energy and information created for the purpose of producing and serving the non-production needs of society.

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF NATURE - the creation of an additional system of connections between various natural phenomena, which is capable of limiting or directing the action of certain laws in the way necessary for a person. As a result, natural objects or some of their combinations serve as a means of objectifying human goals.

TECHNOLOGY - 1) a set of methods of processing, manufacturing, changing the state, properties, shape of raw materials, materials or semi-finished products in the production process; 2) the science of methods of influencing raw materials, materials, etc. appropriate instruments of production.

TECHNOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT is a scientific direction focused on the development of a system of methods, approaches that allow a comprehensive assessment of new technology and make a reasonable choice of actions at various levels of decision-making.

TECHNOSPHERE is a part of the biosphere, transformed by people with the help of direct and indirect impact of technical means in order to best meet the socio-economic needs of mankind. Technosfsra is buildings, structures of various kinds, communication systems, production equipment, vehicles, etc.

THEOLOGY - theology, systematics of religious teachings.

TERATOGEN (S) - substances, the effect of which on the body leads to abnormalities in its development, the occurrence of deformities.

TOLERANCE - the ability of organisms to tolerate deviations from the optimal factors of the environment of life relatively painlessly.

TRANSBOUNDARY POLLUTION - the entry into the environment of an additional amount of pollutants from the territory of neighboring states (carried by air flows, transit rivers, etc.).

TROPHIC LEVEL - a set of organisms that occupy a certain position in the general food chain. The remoteness of organisms from producers is the same. They are characterized by a certain form of organization and utilization of energy. Organisms of different trophic chains that receive food through an equal number of links in the trophic chain are at the same trophic level.

URBANIZATION - 1) urban growth and development; 2) the acquisition by the countryside of external and social features characteristic of the city; 3) the process of increasing the role of cities in the development of society.

LEVEL OF HIERARCHY, ORGANIZATION - the functional place of a system of a given complexity in the general "system of systems" of the material world.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - development that ensures the proper balance between solving socio-economic problems and preserving the environment, meeting the basic life needs of the present generation while preserving such opportunities for future generations.

FACTOR - the driving force of the ongoing processes or the condition affecting these processes.

ANTHROPOGENIC FACTOR - a factor that owes its origin to human activity.

BIOGENIC FACTOR - a group of factors associated with both direct and indirect influence of living organisms on the environment of life now and in past eras (a combination of biological, biotic and biocenotic factors).

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR, ECOLOGICAL - any condition of the environment, the moving force of ongoing processes, to which the living thing reacts with adapted reactions, and the inert one - with one or another change of its own structure.

FACIA is a term used in landscape science, geology, biology, etc. For example, biogeographic facies - areas with insignificant differences in living conditions within the same biotope. The facies can be botanical, geological, soil, physical and geographical.

PHENOLOGY (Gr. Fayno - I show and Gr. Logos - word, concept, doctrine) - a branch of science that studies periodic phenomena in nature, usually alive.

PHYTONCIDES are biologically active substances formed by plants that kill or suppress the growth and development of pathogens and play a role in plant immunity.

PHYTOPHAGES are animals that feed on plants.

PHYTOCENOSIS - a community of plants included in the biogeocenosis (see).

LIFE FORM - the type of adaptation of different species to similar environmental conditions or of one species to its various modifications, for example, the adaptation of plants to the conditions of the North or one species of plants to the environment of alternating landscape zones (to life in the tundra, taiga, forest-steppe, etc.).

PHOTOSYNTHESIS ( gr. phos, genus. pad. photos - light + gr. synthesis - connection, combination, composition) - the transformation by green plants and photosynthetic microorganisms of the sun's radiant energy into the energy of chemical bonds of organic substances (the body of a plant, a microorganism). F. occurs with the participation of light-absorbing pigments, primarily chlorophyll. F.'s mechanism consists of a complex chain of phases and redox reactions.

FLORA - a set of plant species growing in a certain area.

FLUCTUATION is a random deviation of a quantity characterizing a system of a large number of particles from its average value.

FRONTOLYSIS - erosion or disappearance of the atmospheric front, a process opposite to photosynthesis. It occurs under the influence of certain air movements, usually in the course of cyclonic activity.

CHEMOSYNTHESIS is the process of formation by some microorganisms of organic substances from carbon dioxide due to the energy obtained during the oxidation of inorganic compounds (ammonia, hydrogen, sulfur compounds, ferrous iron), i.e. intracellular chemical reactions without the direct participation of solar energy.

CHRONOBIOLOGY is a science that studies the laws governing the implementation of vital processes of an organism in time.

PRICE - any community (biocenosis, zoocenosis, phytocenosis
etc.).

FOOD CHAIN ​​(trophic food chain) - a number of species or groups, each previous link in which serves as food for the next.

CERERA - 1) one of the largest (transverse approx. 1000 km) minor planets (No. 1), discovered by G. Piazzi (Italy, 1801). The distance of Ceres from the Sun varies from 2.55 to 3.03 AU; 2) in Roman mythology, the Goddess of agriculture and fertility. Corresponds to the Greek. Demeter.

CIVILIZATION ( from lat. term civitos denoting: city, urban community, state.) ¾ Some identify it with the level of culture, others consider it as a stage of historical development. The concept of civilization was established in the 18th century.

THE BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE - the cycle of chemicals from inorganic nature through plant and animal organisms back to the inorganic environment.

EVOLUTIONARY HUMANISM - in the center of "evolutionary humanism" lies the idea that it is necessary to reconsider the view on the status of man in the system of the universe. It has just begun to evolve, and a new organization of thought, a new humanism, a new system of moral values ​​should be coupled with the thesis: in relation to nature, one should be guided by the biblical principle: “treat it as you treat yourself”.

HEURISTICS - 1) science, studying creative activity; 2) creative activity itself; moral heuristics is moral creativity: rule-making, the assertion of new ideals, the justification of new values.

EUTRAFICATION - excessive enrichment of water bodies with organic substances.

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY is a state of the natural environment in which there is no threat of disruption of the natural balance in the physicochemical, biological contacts of the biosphere, as well as the destruction of ecological systems under the influence of one or another type of technogenic or other anthropogenic impact, as well as from natural disasters.

ECOLOGICAL INTERACTION - a complex of interactions (material, energy, information) of a certain system (taken as a "central object") with a set of other factors that make up the environment and determine the conditions for its existence.

ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION is a purposeful process of forming in a person by various means (scientific, artistic, etc.) an attitude towards respect for the natural environment, an understanding of the intrinsic value of nature's resources.

ECO ACTIVITY - material activities of people to preserve and improve the surrounding nature, greening production and creating ecological production, i.e. environmental awareness. Eco-activity includes, first of all, activities for the rational use of natural resources, the creation of technology that is harmless to the environment, waste-free and recycling production cycles and other measures aimed at preventing damage to the environment.

EIKUMENA ​​(OIKUMENA) - a set of populated areas of the globe.

ECOMONITORING - monitoring the state of the natural environment around a person and warning about emerging critical situations, harmful or dangerous to the health of people and other living organisms.

ECOLOGICAL NICHE - a set of all environmental factors in the area, in which the existence of a certain species is possible.

ECOLOGY ( comes from the Greek words oikos - house, dwelling + logos - doctrine) - literally means the teaching about the house, about the living conditions inhabiting this house. For the first time this term was used by the German naturalist E. Haeckel to designate a direction in biology that studies the connections and relationships of biological organisms and populations with the external environment.

1) science (bioecology), which studies the relationship of organisms and their systemic aggregates (individuals, populations, biocenoses, etc.) and their environment; includes the ecology of individuals and species composed by them (autoecology), populations (population ecology, demecology) and communities - biocenoses (synecology); 2) a set of scientific disciplines that study the relationship of systemic biological structures (from macromolecules to biosphere) with each other and with their environment, biocenoses and other ecosystems; 3) a discipline that studies the general laws of the functioning of ecosystems at various hierarchical levels; 4) a comprehensive science that studies the habitat of living beings; 5) study of the position of man as a species in the biosphere of the planet, his connections with ecological systems and the impact on them; 6) the science of survival in the environment.

ECOLOGIZATION is the process of deliberate penetration of environmental factors and approaches into various spheres of social activity in order to solve environmental problems.

ECOLOGICAL CULTURE - appears as a new way of connecting man with nature, reconciling him with it on the basis of a deeper knowledge of it. The most important feature of ecological culture is the rejection of naive anthropocentrism and the transition to a system of views, which is built biospherocentrically.

ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION is a continuous learning process aimed at assimilating systematic knowledge about the environment, the ability and skills of environmental protection, the formation of a general ecological culture.

ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY (ECONOOSFERA) is a state of civilization that follows the information society, which will eliminate the ecological crisis and guarantee the survival and further development of mankind in an environmentally friendly form.

ENVIRONMENTAL DANGER - the threat of destruction of the human environment, associated plants and animals as a result of uncontrolled economic development, technology lag, natural and man-made accidents and disasters, as a result of which the adaptation of living systems to the conditions of existence is disrupted and their death may occur.

ENVIRONMENTAL APPROACH (or ecological version of the systems approach) - consists in representing any object under consideration in the form of a "central system" in interaction with a certain environment.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY - a system of measures related to the impact of society on nature, carried out in three directions: 1) protection of individual objects of nature; 2) the organization of the rational use of natural resources; 3) protection of the human environment. Environmental education is an important element of this policy.

ECO DEVELOPMENT - development of the ecosystem as a whole, i.e. systemic change (including results) of both the subject (central member) and the object (environment). Eco-development can be, depending on the direction and "weight" of changes in the components of the ecosystem - progressive, neutral and regressive.

ENVIRONMENTAL RISK - the ratio of the amount of possible damage under the influence of an environmental factor (at a given intensity) and the probability of this impact.

ECO ENVIRONMENT - the same as the external environment, but applied to living organisms or objects with the participation of living things.

ECOSYSTEM - 1) any community (biocenosis) of living beings and its habitat, united into a single functional whole, arising on the basis of interdependence and cause-and-effect relationships existing between individual ecological components; 2) a synonym for biogeocenosis.

ECOLOGIZATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM - the tendency of the penetration of ideas, concepts, principles, approaches of ecology into the structure of training specialists of various profiles (engineers, economists, doctors, etc.).

ECOSPHERE ( gr. eikos - house, sphere¾ ball) is an ecological sphere, a biological system that includes living organisms and their environment with which they interact.

ECOSOPHY - the main issue of ecosophy is what should be the harmonious communication between man and living nature, i.e. search for a harmonious connection between man and natural systems.

ENVIRONMENTALITY OF TECHNICAL OBJECTS - a property of technical objects that characterizes the degree of their interaction with the natural environment.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDS - a system of off-budget funds (federal, republican, regional, regional and local), formed from funds received from enterprises, organizations and citizens (payments for emissions, fines, etc.) and designed to solve urgent environmental problems.

ECOCID is the deliberate criminal destruction of the habitat of all living things, including the destruction of the human habitat in a vast territory for military purposes.

HUMAN ECOLOGY is a scientific direction that studies the laws of human interaction with the natural and social environment, issues of preserving and developing health, the possibility of improving the physical and mental capabilities of human populations, the population of certain regions.

EXTENSIVE WAY OF DEVELOPMENT - a form of social, primarily production, development focused on the use of quantitative factors and parameters of development, expanding the field of activity.

ENTROPY (gr. entropo - rotate inward, wrap) is a measure of the ordering of a system that, according to the second law of thermodynamics, tends to increase to a state of physical equilibrium (complete uniformity of matter and energy distribution), which is irreversible. Living systems and systems with the participation of living things to reduce E. perform work and for the time being remain negentropic. Death leads to the "dissolution" of the organism in the environment.

ESTUARIUM - 1) a semi-closed coastal reservoir at the confluence of the river into the sea, having free communication with the sea; 2) one-arm funnel-shaped mouth of the river, widening towards the sea; 3) a wide mouth of a river flowing into a lake, sea or ocean in places where the adjacent part of the sea (lake, ocean) has great depths, and the sediments brought by the river are constantly removed by sea currents.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT - a gradual warming of the planet's climate as a result of the accumulation of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which, similar to the greenhouse covering, by letting in short-wave solar rays, prevents long-wave thermal radiation from the Earth's surface.

UNEP - in accordance with the recommendations of the Stockholm Conference (1972), the United Nations Environment Program was created - UNEP is the main international body for environmental protection in the world. UNEP was assigned the following tasks: 1) environmental assessment and organization of global environmental monitoring, exchange of information in this area; 2) management of global environmental activities; 3) auxiliary measures, covering the spheres of education, public information, training and retraining of personnel, maintenance, etc.

ANTHROPOGENIC PHENOMENON - an event directly or indirectly caused by human economic activity or behavior.

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Today, a very fashionable and relevant term is used in everyday life - ecology! But what do people mean when they use this word in their speech, inscribing it in articles, scientific papers and "tearing" the cherished piece of "eco" from it in order to "glue" it to something important, for example: "eco-products", "eco-leather" , Ecolife?

In fact, ecology is a word made up of the Greek oikos, ‘house’, and logos, ‘science’. It turns out that literally "ecology" is the science of home. But, of course, the concept itself is much broader, multifaceted, more interesting than it seems if we start from this definition.

If you immerse yourself in understanding everything that this fashionable term means, then you can discover a lot of new and very interesting things, especially for a person who is focused on a correct (healthy) lifestyle.

Ecology: what it is and what it studies

Ecology is a science that studies the interaction of living organisms with the environment. Based on the translation of the compound term, this is the science of home. But the word “house” in ecology is understood to mean not this, or, more precisely, not only the dwelling in which a particular family, individual or even a group of people lives. The word "home" here means the whole planet, the world - the house in which all people live. And, of course, in different sections of ecology, separate "rooms" of this "house" are considered.

Ecology studies everything that somehow interacts with or affects living organisms. This is a very voluminous science that touches on a hundred topical issues for a person and his life on earth.

Types of ecology

Like some other sciences, ecology includes many different sections. After all, it is quite difficult to fit everything important in one direction. You can get confused and still not draw the necessary conclusions, not find solutions to serious problems.

It is worth knowing that ecology is a relatively young science. She is only no more than 200 years old. However, today science is on the same level in importance with mathematics, physics, biology, etc. At the same time, ecology not only affects some scientific areas (botany, chemistry, microbiology), but even is based on them.

There are such types of ecology:

  • ecology of the biosphere - a section that studies the human environment and global changes in it;
  • industrial ecology - a direction that studies the environmental impact of industrial enterprises and processes;
  • ecology of the industry - each industry is entertaining and interesting from the point of view of ecology;
  • agricultural ecology - studies the impact and interaction of agriculture with the environment;
  • evolutionary ecology - studies the processes of evolution of living organisms and their influence on the environment;
  • valeology - the science of the quality of life and human health;
  • geoecology - studies the geosphere of the planet and its inhabitants;
  • ecology of seas and oceans - aimed at studying the issues of the purity of the water surface of the earth;
  • social ecology - the science of the purity of the social area;
  • economic ecology - is aimed at developing algorithms for the rational use of the planet's resources.

In fact, the sections of this science are constantly expanding and multiplying. But absolutely all branches are reduced to general ecology, the task of which is to preserve a healthy living environment and prevent our planet from perishing before the allotted time.

About the ecology of thought and the purity of the worldview

So far, there is officially no section in ecology that would be aimed at studying the influence of a person's own worldview on the environment and their own health. However, the way a person thinks and perceives the world around him greatly influences his actions. We must not forget about the ecology of thought. After all, only a correct line of thought and a deep understanding of the need to live in harmony with nature will allow us to preserve our "home", not to harm it. A person with pure bright thoughts is spiritually healthy. His physical body is also stronger. And this is also very important for maintaining a healthy environment and creating a comfortable ecosystem for everyone living on earth.

Ecology term and concept

Of course, from everything written above, it is already possible to understand that the term "ecology" includes a huge amount of information and "crumbles" into important elements, the edges of which constitute a single important goal - the study of the planet and the preservation of its health. But who invented all this and why is it so important? It is worth understanding.

Who coined the term "ecology"?

For the first time the term "ecology" was pronounced by the philosopher and naturalist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel. The same German philosopher is the author of such biological terms as ontogeny, phylogeny, which are also directly related to ecology.

What does ecology mean

As you might guess, ecology is an all-encompassing concept that includes a lot of issues related to the environment and its purity. But why do we so often hear compound words with the prefix "eco" and understand it as cleanliness, health, safety? Nothing complicated! After all, the main idea of ​​ecology as a science is to find solutions to preserve the beauty and health of nature. An ecologist is a person who studies the influence of any processes, substances, things on the surrounding world and living organisms. Therefore, when a person says ecology, he means the purity of the environment. When we say any word with the prefix "eco", we mean that it is something clean, safe and beneficial to our health. The exception is specific terms used in the scientific community.

Ecotope is a separate area of ​​the habitat of living organisms that has undergone some changes as a result of the activity of these organisms.

Ecosystem is an environment for interaction of a group of living organisms.

In other cases, words with the prefix "eco" are new words composed with a claim to indicate a benefit. That is, in fact, very often eco-products, eco-materials, eco-culture are just a marketing ploy. Trusting such a prefix blindly is not always worth it. It is better to take a closer look at the thing that has been marked with the coveted green leaf (the emblem of environmentally friendly goods) and study the composition. And only then draw conclusions about the purity and safety of the selected product.


Where and who needs ecology

Today, the subject of ecology is studied at school, secondary and higher specialized institutions, regardless of the profile. Of course, in the departments of botany, agronomy, zoology, etc., much more attention is paid to this subject than, for example, at the Faculty of Economics. But practically in any general education program there is a section of ecology. And this is no coincidence. Everyone should be environmentally friendly. You may not be a lawyer, but you should understand the environment around you. You may not know the concepts of medicine, but it is important to know the basics of how to keep the planet healthy. Where and how do we come into contact with environmental issues? Well, for example, when you go to throw out garbage, you already become a "cog" in the mechanism of a system that either violates the general well-being of the environment or helps to preserve the health of the planet. After all, you need to know how to properly and where to throw garbage in order to minimize the negative impact of waste on human health and the environment. When a person lights a cigarette, he also has a direct impact on the formation of the background of nature's health. One, seemingly, cigarette, but can bring a lot of negative prospects for the smoker himself and the world around him as a whole.

Today, there are environmental departments at almost every industrial enterprise. The environmental service works in every city. On a national scale, environmental issues are resolved and discussed in the framework of serious meetings. Scientists and ordinary people talk, think, argue about the ecology of our planet. Every day, waking up in the morning, we come into contact with different areas of this science. It is interesting, multifaceted and very important for each of us and for all people in general.

Environmental problems and their solutions

When we started talking about the prefix "eco" as a sign of purity, it was a positive "particle" of the topic. There is also a downside - negative! The phrases "ecological problem", "ecological disaster" often scare us in the headlines of newspapers, Internet media, TV programs and radio news. Usually something terrible, threatening and dirty is hidden under these phrases. Dirt is meant here in the truest sense of the word. For example, a release from a plant into the sea pollutes the aquatic environment and can harm the living inhabitants of this ecosystem. This is an ecological problem, of which there can be a lot today. When we talk about the depletion of the ozone layer, we mean the ecological disaster that this phenomenon can lead to. The science that we are considering here is precisely aimed at minimizing the risks of environmental problems and even more so preventing the development of entire disasters on the scale of a city, country, planet. It is for these purposes that this multifaceted, interesting and incredibly important science was created and is developing.

How environmental problems are warned and solved

If there is science, there are scientists who are engaged in its development. Environmental scientists are working to study various environmental issues. These are highly specialized areas, such as agroecology, zooecology, industrial complex and general, classical ecology. Various environmental services are being created and are successfully operating around the world. For example, in our country there is such a body as the environmental police. This is a service that monitors compliance with environmental safety rules in cities and other settlements. Each enterprise has its own department that monitors the impact of the enterprise's work on the environment and submits reports on this to the supreme authorities.

On the scale of world science, developments are constantly being carried out aimed at optimizing various processes in order to reduce the risks of developing environmental problems and prevent disasters. Ecocontrol works in chain grocery stores to prevent substandard products from entering the tables.

But each person should remember that he is also an important link in the system, one way or another affecting the cleanliness and health of our "home", our planet. A lot also depends on how he lives, how he thinks, how each person acts. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to this science at least at the level of general acquaintance with its basic concepts and problems.

The science of the relationship between living organisms and environmental conditions. Basic methods of science: observation, experiment, modeling, counting the number of individuals, etc. The term "ecology" was introduced by the German zoologist E. Haeckel (1866)

HABITAT- this is what surrounds the body. Main habitats: aquatic, terrestrial-aquatic, terrestrial-air, soil.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS is anything that has a direct or indirect effect on organisms.

ABIOTIC FACTORS- factors of inanimate nature - light, temperature, pressure, climate, currents of water and air, composition of water, soil, air, etc.

BIOTIC FACTORS- factors of living nature, i.e. the influence of plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, viruses.

ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS- this is human influence (hunting, fishing, protection, extermination, pollution, plowing of land, felling of forests, etc.).

BIOCENOSIS (COMMUNITY)- these are all species that live together in some territory and are interconnected (for example, the biocenosis of a lake, taiga forest, etc.).

BIOGEOCENOSIS (ECOSYSTEM) is a complex self-regulating system in which there is a relationship between living organisms and the conditions of their habitation ( biogeocenosis = biocenosis + environmental conditions).

BIOTIC LINKS- these are various types of relationships between living organisms.

Predation (- +)- the type of relationship when one organism eats another. Distinguish between predators-hunters (wolf, tiger, lion, etc.) and predator-gatherers (insectivores, herbivores). There are predatory plants (sundew, Venus flytrap, pemphigus, etc.)

COMPETITION (-) relations of rivalry, competition. The competition is most acute within a species and between related species, since they have common needs for food and habitat. Examples: fox-wolf, owl - owl, pine - birch, pike - perch, carp - crucian carp, etc.

NEUTRALISM (OO)- relationships when there are no direct connections between species (wolves and grasshoppers, moose and squirrels, bees and hares)

COMMENSALISM (O +)- a relationship where one species benefits from another without harming it. There are several varieties: lodging (insects use holes, nests of other animals as a dwelling), parasitism (feeding jackals, hyenas, vultures with food leftovers from predatory animals), companionship (feeding on different parts of the same resource, for example, pine needles and bark beetles, soil dwellers consuming different plant residues)

AMENSALISM (O-)- relationships when one species is oppressed, and another species is indifferent (for example, herbs growing under a spruce)

SYMBIOSIS (++)- mutually beneficial relationship between species. When living together is mandatory for both species, it is mutualism (symbiosis of birch roots and boletus mushrooms, mushrooms and algae in the body of a lichen), if not necessary, then protocooperation (for example, meadow plants and their pollinators).

BIOLOGICAL OPTIMUM- this is the presence of all favorable conditions for the life of the organism.

PHOTOPERIODISM- this is the adaptability of organisms to a change in the length of daylight hours, i.e. to seasonal changes (spring and autumn molt, hibernation, seasonal flights and migrations, leaf fall, breeding season, nesting, mating games).

ANABIOSIS is the ability of organisms to tolerate adverse conditions in a state in which metabolism decreases and all visible manifestations of life are absent (for example, the state of cysts in protozoa, spores in bacteria, hibernation of animals)

ACCLIMATIZATION- physiological adaptation to the transfer of heat or cold.

WINTERING- falling into hibernation in winter.

RANGE- a stop in development during an unfavorable period of the year.

ECOLOGICAL SURVIVAL STRATEGY- the desire of organisms to survive.

POWER SUPPLY CIRCUITS (TROPHIC CIRCUITS)- these are successive connections of organisms, when the organisms of the previous link are food for the next one.

PASTURE CHAINS (grazing chains)- food chains in which the first link is green plants (grass - caterpillar - tit - falcon)

Detritus chains (decomposition chains)- food chains that start with dead organics (leaf litter -> earthworm -> tit -> falcon)

TROPHIC LEVEL- all species consuming similar food (for example, all herbivores form one trophic level; carnivores - another level)

BENTHOS- all inhabitants of the bottom part of the reservoir (crabs, bivalve molluscs, sea anemones, octopuses, coral polyps, etc.)

PLANKTON- microscopic algae and animals living in the water column. Consists of phyto- and zooplankton.

NEKTON- large inhabitants of the water column (fish, squid, dolphins, whales, etc.)

PERIFITON- organisms attached to aquatic plants or to underwater rocks (crustaceans, bivalve molluscs, sea acorns, ascidians)

PLAYSTON- a set of aquatic organisms floating on the surface of the water or in a semi-submerged state.

RULE OF ECOLOGICAL PYRAMID- during the transition from one link of nutrition to another, biomass, the number of individuals and the amount of energy decrease several times (approximately 10 times). The reason for this pattern is that organisms spend 90% of food energy on vital processes (energy of "respiration") , and only 10% goes to the growth of the body, and only this part goes to the next link in the food chain.

TOLERANCE- the ability of organisms to withstand changes in environmental conditions. Organisms with a high tolerance can withstand changes in conditions over wide ranges and are therefore more likely to survive, while those with a low tolerance can only live under certain conditions.

BIONT- an inhabitant of the environment (hydrobiont - an inhabitant of the aquatic environment, a geobiont (edaphobiont, pedofauna) - a soil environment, a stenobiont - an organism requiring strictly defined conditions, i.e. with low tolerance; eurybiont - an organism capable of living in different conditions, etc. .)

LIFE FORM OF THE BODY- the type of adaptation of organisms to the ecological conditions of habitation. For example, life forms in plants: trees, grasses, shrubs, vines, succulents, etc .; in animals according to the mode of movement - flying, jumping, crawling, burrowing, running, floating, attached; in their habitat - waterfowl, forest, steppe, soil, etc.

LENGTH- the fitness of plants, allowing a more complete use of environmental resources: light, heat, moisture, soil nutrients. The layering is horizontal and vertical (in the soil).

FUNCTIONAL GROUPS OF THE ECOSYSTEM- these are three groups of organisms in any ecosystem that carry out the main processes in the ecosystem: producers, consumers, reducers. Thanks to them, in the ecosystem there is a flow of substances and energy along the food chains, which forms the basis of the cycle of substances, self-reproduction of the ecosystem.

PRODUCERS are producers of organic matter (autotrophs), i.e. plants, chemosynthetic bacteria and blue-green algae.

CONSUMENTS are consumers of organic matter, i.e. herbivores, carnivores, omnivores. Consumables are of the 1st order (herbivorous insect, bird, etc.), the 2nd order (insectivorous, fish-eating or carnivores), and the 3rd order (predators).

EDITORS- these are destroyers of organic matter (bacteria of decay and fermentation, mold fungi, soil mites, worms, cadaverous insects, animals feeding on the secretions of other animals, etc.).

SUSTAINABILITY OF THE ECOSYSTEM is the ability of an ecosystem to withstand various influences, maintain a relative constancy in the number of species and maintain basic processes in balance. Stability directly depends on the number of species! The greater the species diversity, the more sustainable the ecosystem! The reason for this pattern: the more species in the ecosystem, the more opportunities organisms have to have alternative types of food, and the more chances to survive - with a shortage of one food, there is an opportunity to eat another food. Therefore, biodiversity is very important in nature, because this is an important condition for ecological balance in all of nature, in the biosphere.

SELF-REGULATION OF THE ECOSYSTEM- the property of the ecosystem to maintain the number of individuals in populations at a relatively constant level. Self-regulation occurs due to the presence in the ecosystem of direct, reverse and indirect connections between organisms. For example, an increase in the number of plants leads to an increase in the number of herbivores, and this leads to an increase in the number of predators (direct links). But an increase in the number of predators will lead over time to a decrease in the number of herbivores, and an increase in the number of herbivores will lead to a decrease in the number of plants (feedbacks). Predators influence plant numbers through herbivores (indirect relationship).

INTEGRITY OF THE ECOSYSTEM- this is the interconnection of organisms in the ecosystem, which does not allow them to exist without each other and ensures the flow of all processes in the ecosystem (the flow of substances and energy through the food chains, self-regulation, circulation of substances).

OPEN ECOSYSTEM- lies in the fact that an ecosystem can exist only when an influx of energy from the outside will be carried out into it! (the openness of any system lies in the fact that it needs an influx of energy and nutrients from the outside)

SUCCESSION- this is a sequential change in time of some ecosystems by others on a certain territory in the course of their self-development. For example, on the site of a small lake, a swamp may form due to gradual shallowing and drying out; on the site of the swamp - a meadow; in the place of a forest - a meadow, in the place of a lifeless volcanic island a forest may grow in centuries, etc. In the course of succession, the processes always go in the direction of achieving equilibrium in the ecosystem - climax!

CLIMAX- a state in an ecosystem when it is in equilibrium without outside interference.

PRIMARY SUCCESSION- the process of development of various ecosystems in lifeless areas (on sand dunes, on volcanic islands, in the place of rocky mountains). This succession is the longest, because first it takes time for the soil to form. Sequence of processes:

In lifeless places, "pioneers" settle, the first settlers - blue-green algae, lichens. Dying off, they form a thin layer of soil on which mosses can settle first. Then, as the soil layer increases, grasses, shrubs, trees can grow.

SECONDARY SUCCESSION is the development of one ecosystem in place of another. Causes of secondary successions: climate change (gradual swamping of the area due to a humid climate), natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc.), human activities (deforestation, pollution, plowing, mining, etc.) .), invasion of pests or diseases. Note: if the soil layer has disappeared during the secondary succession (due to soil erosion), the processes will proceed according to the type of primary succession.

AGROCENOSES (agroecosystems, artificial ecosystems)- ecosystems created by man (fields, gardens, aquarium, vegetable gardens, ponds, forest plantations, parks, etc.) Signs of agrocenoses: a small number of species; short power circuits; open circulation of substances (since some of the substances are carried out with the harvest and require the introduction of fertilizers into the soil); instability; processes are regulated by humans; besides the energy of the sun, the energy of machines, human labor, etc. is used.

RESERVES- specially protected natural areas where all types of human economic activity are prohibited. Only scientific research, observations are allowed.

CUSTOMERS- These are specially protected natural areas, where during a certain period of the year certain types of human economic activities are allowed that do not cause severe harm.

BIOSPHERE- this is a special shell of the Earth, inhabited by living organisms. The boundaries of the biosphere are determined in the atmosphere by the action of UV rays (up to the ozone layer, i.e. at an altitude of 20-25 km), in the hydrosphere by the action of high pressure and lack of light and lack of oxygen (at a depth of 11 km), in the lithosphere by high pressure and temperature, lack of oxygen (at a depth of up to 3 km). The doctrine of the biosphere was created by VI Vernadsky, but the term “biosphere” was introduced by E Suess (1873).

NOOSPHERE ("sphere of mind")- a new state of the biosphere, when its existence depends on the rational economic activity of man. The term was introduced by V.I. Vernadsky.

BIOMASS (living matter of the biosphere)- the mass of all living organisms. Distinguish between land biomass, ocean biomass, plant biomass, animal biomass, soil biomass, etc. The distribution of biomass is different: land biomass prevails in the biosphere, plant biomass prevails on land (because biomass accumulation in plants prevails), animal biomass prevails in the World Ocean (because organic matter produced by plants (phytoplankton and algae) does not accumulate in them, but are immediately consumed by animals). Biomass decreases from the equator to the poles.

FUNCTIONS OF LIVING SUBSTANCE- these are the functions of living organisms on the scale of the entire planet. There are 5 main biogeochemical functions:

  1. Gas- living organisms, due to the processes of photosynthesis and respiration, and azotobacteria, due to participation in the nitrogen cycle, maintain a certain composition of the atmosphere.
  2. Concentration- living organisms are capable of accumulating certain chemicals in themselves. Due to this, sedimentary rocks (chalk, lime from calcareous shells of mollusks, protozoa; silica - from radiolarian shells), iron and sulfur ores (the result of the vital activity of sulfur and iron bacteria), peat (from sphagnum deposits), coal deposits (from remains of ancient ferns), etc. For example, in the body of plants more carbon accumulates, in animals - nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus.
  3. Redox- due to the metabolism in living organisms, some substances are formed (reduced), while others disintegrate (oxidized). For example, during photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is reduced to carbohydrates, and during respiration, they are oxidized to carbon dioxide.
  4. Destructive- living organisms, participating in the destruction of dead organic matter to inorganic substances, contribute to the formation of soil and the biological circulation of substances in nature, and this is the basis for the stable existence of the biosphere.
  5. Biochemical- various biochemical reactions constantly occur in living organisms.

BIOLOGICAL CIRCULATION OF SUBSTANCES IN THE BIOSPHERE- These are global processes of transformation of substances in nature, occurring as a result of the movement of chemicals along trophic chains. This process is the basis for the stable existence of the biosphere, i.e. of all life on Earth.

SOIL EROSION- the process of destruction of the fertile soil layer. Water erosion - washing out, wind erosion - weathering of the fertile layer. Reasons: lack of plants, improper irrigation, improper plowing and soil cultivation, etc.

RESISTANCE- resistance of organisms to anything.

URBANIZATION is the growth and development of cities, an increase in the proportion of the urban population.

AGGLOMERATION- congestion around a large city of closely located settlements.

MEGAPOLIS- large urban agglomerations with a population of more than 1 million people (Bombay, Cairo, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Moscow, Beijing).

RESIDENTIAL ZONE (RESIDENTIAL ZONE)- the area of ​​the location of residential, office buildings, cultural objects, education.

DEACTIVATION- removal of radioactive contamination from the surface of objects, structures, etc.

MEDIUM CAPACITY- the size of the ability of the natural or natural-anthropogenic environment to provide normal vital activity for a certain number of organisms or communities without noticeable disruption of the environment itself.

IMMIGRATION- the process of natural penetration and resettlement of living organisms in places where they did not live before.

INTRODUCTION- the process of artificial introduction of species into places where they did not previously inhabit (for example, the North American muskrat and mink in Siberia)

RECLAMATION- a set of measures to improve the water and climatic regimes of agroecosystems. Distinguish between hydro reclamation (irrigation, drainage), agroforestry (creating forest belts, fixing ravines, combating erosion, landslides, etc.)

HEAVY METALS- metal, with a density of more than 8 thousand kg / cu. m. (lead, zinc, cadmium, cobalt, antimony, tin, bismuth, mercury, copper, nickel.)

SEWAGE TREATMENT- elimination of harmful impurities from wastewater in different ways: mechanical (sedimentation, sedimentation, filtration, flotation), physicochemical (coagulation, neutralization, chlorination, ozonation), biological (biofiltration, conducting through aerotanks).

PNEUMOCONIOSIS- a group of occupational diseases caused by inhalation of dusty air (sclerotic changes occur in the lungs): silicosis - when inhaling quartz, sand, mica; silicatosis - by inhalation of silicate dust (talc, kaolin, etc.); anthracosis - when inhaling coal dust, aluminosis - aluminum dust; siderosilicosis - iron and quartz dust; anthrasilicosis - coal and quartz dust.

FUNGICIDES- chemicals for combating fungal diseases of cultivated plants.

INSECTICIDES- chemicals for insect control.

HERBICIDES- chemicals for weed control.

Eutrophication- "blooming" of the reservoir due to the rapid reproduction of algae in it as a result of pollution with mineral fertilizers.

EREMOFITS (psammophytes)- desert plants

EREMOPHILES- desert animals

RHEOPHITES- Plants of fast-flowing rivers or surf strip of the sea (often have a ribbon-like shape).

EPHEMEROIDS- perennial organisms with a very short period of development, they spend most of the year at rest. For example, snowdrops, some insects (mayflies).

PATIENTS- plants that win the struggle for existence due to their endurance (a kind of "camels" of the plant world)

DEFLATION- the process of wind erosion (weathering of the fertile part of the soil)

SCIENCES AND THEIR OBJECT OF STUDY:

AUTECOLOGY (factorial ecology)- studies the ecology of individual individuals.

DEMECOLOGY- ecology of small groups (populations)

SYNECOLOGY (biocenology)- community ecology

GLOBAL ECOLOGY- the ecology of the entire planet.

BIOSPHEROLOGY- ecology of the biosphere.

GEOECOLOGY- landscape (geographic) ecology.

SOCIAL ECOLOGY- deals with issues of environmental law, education, culture, medical ecology, environmental forecasting, industrial ecology, city ecology, etc.

SYSTEMATIC ECOLOGY- ecology of various groups of organisms (fungi, plants, animals, etc.)

ETHOLOGY- a science that studies animal behavior.

ARACHNOLOGY- studies spiders

ALGOLOGY- studies algae

BRYOLOGY- studies mosses

LICHENOLOGY- studies lichens

MYCOLOGY- studies mushrooms

ORNITHOLOGY- studies birds

PROTOZOOLOGY- studies protozoa

ENTOMOLOGY- studies insects

PHENOLOGY- observation of seasonal changes in nature

DENDROLOGY- studies trees

DEMOGRAPHY- studies the change in the number of people, gender and age structure in countries, cities, etc.

Information taken from publicly available sources