According to Mooney and Ehrlich (1997), the idea that human beings depend on natural systems traces back as far as Plato. Plato (c. 400 BC) realised that deforestation could lead to soil erosion and the drying of springs (Daily 2007; Gómez-Baggethun et al., 2009).
The first modern publication that addresses this concept is in the book Man and Nature written by George Perkins Marsh dated 1864. Marsh started to realize that the world’s resources were not infinite and that natural systems are important to water, soil, climate, the disposal of waste and pest control. He also suggested that Earth’s natural resources were limited by looking at the changes in Mediterranean soil fertility (Mooney and Ehrlich 1997). The 1940’s era brought new attention to Marsh’s observations, in books such as Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac (1949) and William Vogt’s Road to Survival (1948). These authors promoted the recognition that humans depend on the environment with the idea of ‘natural capital’. The first textbook built on the ecosystem concept, written by Eugene Odum, was published in 1953 (Odum 1953). Thus
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The Millennium Assessment defines ecosystem services as the benefits people obtain from ecosystems (MA 2005). Two other popular cited definitions in the literature are:
Ecosystem services are the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfill human life. They maintain biodiversity and the production of ecosystem goods, such as seafood, forage, industrial products, and their precursors (Daily 1997).
Ecosystem goods (such as food) and services (such as waste assimilation) represent the benefits human populations derive, directly or indirectly, from ecosystem functions (Costanza et al.,
The battle between humanity and nature began when the industrial civilization started threatening our environment and natural resources. Hunters, like Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, were the first Americans to realize that nature is something that we need to preserve. Leopold’s awakening was seeing a fierce green fire in the eyes of a wolf he had shot. He was able to understand what it means to take away pieces of life and how it affected the important role of earth’s grand scheme of nature. People started to become environmentalists when they experienced the same realization as
“There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot.” This essay is about one who cannot. Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold exposes a profound and fundamental detachment between contemporary people and the land. This detachment based on mechanization, individualization, consumerism, materialism, and capitalism is leading mankind down an un-returnable path that seeks to destroy the land that we love. Nevertheless, Aldo Leopold writes about the delicate intricacies that intertwine to form an infinite system linked together by relationships that still escape understanding.
Aldo Leopold’s essay, “Thinking Like a Mountain” shines light on a prominent issue amongst the ecosystem concerning the importance of a single organism. Leopold attempts to help the reader understand the importance of all animals in the ecosystem by allowing a wolf, deer, and a mountain to represent the ecosystem and how changes amongst them cause adverse effects on each other. Leopold recounts of the killing of a wolf and seeing a "fierce green fire" die in its eyes, this became a transformational moment in his life causing him to rethink the beliefs he had grown up with. By connecting the wolf’s death to the health of the mountain he was inspired to promote the idea that all predators matter to the ecosystem. He believed then that all native organisms are critical to the health of the land, if any change occurs in one part of the circuit, many parts will have to adjust to it and if something is removed the consequence can be detrimental. The essay highlights the idea that all living things on earth have a purpose and that everything is interdependent of each other.
...ental Ethics, ed. Robert Elliot (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 76-88. Parenthetical page references to Elliot will be to this work. Also see Robert Elliot, "Extinction, Restoration, Naturalness," Environmental Ethics 26:2, Summer 1994; and "Ecology and the Ethics of Environmental Restoration," in Philosophy and the Natural Environment (Cambridge UP, 1996).
THESIS: Life on earth has been considered by some as a purposeful interaction tending toward ecological stability. However, when the scientific community led by James Lovelock tried to match this concept with science, it was (and continues to be) a dilemma.
In Aldo Leupold's, A Sand County Almanac, he discusses the topic referred to as Land Ethic. According to Leupold, the land ethic can be defined as a moral principle, in which, humans must learn to coexist, not only with their homo sapien community, but with all organisms that reside in their ecosystem. To have a land ethic, humans must consciously coexist with the soil, water, plants, and animals, collectively. A land ethic acknowledges that in some areas the habitat must remain in its natural state, untouched by man. We as humans must change our ways in order to preserve, conserve, and protect the fellow members of our society, or we will continue to demolish and exterminate species.
The United States’ origin of environmentalism can be found in nineteenth century literature. The preservation era began with the newfound appreciation of nature that derived from transcendentalism. Ralph Waldo Emerson, author of the 1836 essay “Nature,” mentored and greatly influenced Henry David Thoreau, who went on to publish Walden in 1854 (“Ralph Waldo Emerson”). Thoreau’s studies of nature demonstrated the necessity of preserving the wild habitat, claiming “We need the tonic of wilderness…At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable…We can never have enough of nature” (Thoreau 187). Although Thoreau regarded nature in a manner of spiritual development, countless environmentalists and naturalists were inspired by his revelations; one of which, was John Muir. Through his various travels and occupations throug...
Lawrence Buell’s four criteria are easily embraced as they are highly applicable to what we consider nature writings. For instance, one of the criteria suggest it should provide evidence that the consequences of the environment affect the interests of other aspects of the world beyond just human interests. For example, in ...
Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to investigate the various components of different ecosystems in a smaller representation and study the conditions required for the ecosystem’s sustainability as well as the connections between
Leopold defends his position the advent of a new ethical development, one that deals with humans’ relations to the land and its necessity. This relationship is defined as the land ethic, this concept holds to a central component referred to as the ecological consciousness. The ecological consciousness is not a vague ideal, but one that is not recognized in modern society. It reflects a certainty of individual responsibility for the health and preservation of the land upon which we live, and all of its components. If the health of the land is upheld, its capacity of self-renewal and regeneration is maintained as well. To date, conservation has been our sole effort to understand and preserve this capacity. Leopold holds that if the mainstream embraces his ideals of a land ethic and an ecological consciousness, the beauty, stability and integrity of our world will be preserved.
Tietenberg, Thomas. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Addison Wesley: New York, 2003. pp. 561. ISBN 0-201-77027-X, pp. 7-11.
* Daily, Gretchen C., ed. Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997.
Scientists have begun to say that we have to do more to protect our ecosystem, because our very existence is depending upon it. When the ecosystem is not functioning properly the continuation of plant, animal and human life ecosystems would be impossible. Life cycles can not function without ecosystems. The ecosystem provides us with clean air, water, habitats for fish and other services. They also aid in the mod...
The branch of science that deals with how living things, including humans, are related to their surroundings is called ecology . The Earth supports some 5 million species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. These interact and influence their surroundings, forming a vast network of interrelated environmental systems called ecosystems. The arctic tundra is an ecosystem and so is a Brazilian rain forest. The islands of Hawaii are a relatively isolated ecosystem. If left undisturbed, natural environmental systems tend to achieve balance or stability among the various species of plants and animals. Complex ecosystems are able to compensate for changes caused by weather or intrusions from migrating animals and are therefore usually said to be more stable than simple ecosystems. A field of corn has only one dominant species, the corn plant, and is a very simple ecosystem. It is easily destroyed by drought, insects, disease, or overuse. A forest may remain relatively unchanged by weather that would destroy a nearby field of corn, because the forest is characterized by greater diversity of plants and animals. Its complexity gives it stability.
Ecology is a biological study of the connections between living and non-living things in an ecosystem. The living things are called Biotic factors, these include factors such as plants, animals, food and shelter. Abiotic factors are factors which are non-living, for example, soil, sunlight, water, wind and nutrient availability. For life to thrive it needs an ecosystem as they provide the essential nutrients for plants such as sunlight and water. An ecosystem “includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere).” (Eschooltoday, 2017)