Peredelsky Lev Dmitrievich. Peredelsky, Lev Dmitrievich - Karachev Korobkin V and Peredelsky L ecology
12th ed., add. and processed - Rostov n/D: Phoenix, 2007. - 602 p.
Laureate of the competition of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation for the creation of new generation textbooks in general natural science disciplines (Moscow, 1999). The first Russian textbook on the discipline “Ecology” for university students studying technical sciences.
The textbook is written in accordance with the requirements of the current state educational standard and the program recommended by the Ministry of Education of Russia. It consists of two parts - theoretical and applied. Its five sections examine the basic principles of general ecology, the doctrine of the biosphere, and human ecology; anthropogenic impacts on the biosphere, problems of environmental protection and environmental protection. In general, the textbook forms in students a new ecological, noospheric worldview.
Intended for students of higher educational institutions. The textbook is also recommended for teachers and students of secondary schools, lyceums and colleges. It is also necessary for a wide range of engineering and technical workers involved in issues of rational use of natural resources and environmental protection.
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CONTENT
Dear reader! 10
Preface 11
Introduction. ECOLOGY. DEVELOPMENT SUMMARY 13
§ 1. Subject and tasks of ecology 13
§ 2. History of environmental development 17
§ 3. The importance of environmental education 21
Part I. THEORETICAL ECOLOGY
Section one. GENERAL ECOLOGY 26
Chapter 1. The organism as a living integral system 26
§ 1. Levels of biological organization and ecology 26
§ 2. Development of the organism as a living integral system 32
§ 3. Systems of organisms and biota of the Earth?6
Chapter 2. Interaction between the organism and the environment 43
§ 1. The concept of habitat and environmental factors 43
§ 2. Basic ideas about adaptations of organisms 47
§ 3. Limiting factors 49
§ 4. The importance of physical and chemical environmental factors in the life of organisms 52
§ 5. Edaphic factors and their role in the life of plants and soil biota 70
§ 6. Resources of living beings as environmental factors 77
Chapter 3. Populations 86
§ 1. Static indicators of populations 86
§ 2. Dynamic indicators of populations 88
§ 3. Life expectancy 90
§ 4. Dynamics of population growth 94
§ 5. Ecological survival strategies 99
§ 6. Regulation of population density 100
Chapter 4. Biotic communities 105
§ 1. Species structure of the biocenosis 106
§ 2. Spatial structure of the biocenosis 110
§ 3. Ecological niche. Relationships between organisms in biocenosis 111
Chapter 5. Ecological systems 122
§ 1. Ecosystem concept 122
§ 2. Production and decomposition in nature 126
§ 3. Ecosystem homeostasis 128
§ 4. Ecosystem energy 130
§ 5. Biological productivity of ecosystems 134
§ 6. Ecosystem dynamics 139
§ 7. System approach and modeling in ecology 147
Section two. TEACHING ABOUT THE BIOSPHERE 155
Chapter 6. Biosphere - the global ecosystem of the earth 155
§ 1. The biosphere as one of the shells of the Earth 155
§ 2. Composition and boundaries of the biosphere 161
§ 3. The cycle of substances in nature 168
§ 4. Biogeochemical cycles of the most vital nutrients 172
Chapter 7. Natural ecosystems of the earth as chorological units of the biosphere 181
§ 1. Classification of natural ecosystems of the biosphere on a landscape basis 181
§ 2. Terrestrial biomes (ecosystems) 190
§ 3. Freshwater ecosystems 198
§ 4. Marine ecosystems 207
§ 5. Integrity of the biosphere as a global ecosystem 213
Chapter 8. Main directions of evolution of the biosphere 217
§ 1. The doctrine of V.I. Vernadsky about the biosphere 217
§ 2. Biodiversity of the biosphere as a result of its evolution 223
§ 3. 0 regulatory impact of biota on the environment 226
§ 4. Noosphere as a new stage in the evolution of the biosphere 230
Section three. HUMAN ECOLOGY 234
Chapter 9. Human biosocial nature and ecology 234
§ 1. Man as a biological species 235
§ 2. Population characteristics of humans 243
§ 3. Natural resources of the Earth as a limiting factor for human survival 250
Chapter 10. Anthropogenic ecosystems 258
§ 1. Man and ecosystems 258
§ 2. Agricultural ecosystems (agroecosystems) 263
§ 3. Industrial-urban ecosystems 266
Chapter 11. Ecology and human health 271
§ 1. The influence of natural environmental factors on human health 271
§ 2. The influence of socio-ecological factors on human health 274
§ 3. Hygiene and human health 282
Part II. APPLIED ECOLOGY
Section four. ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACTS ON THE BIOSPHERE 286
Chapter 12. Main types of anthropogenic impacts on the biosphere 286
Chapter 13. Anthropogenic impacts on the atmosphere 295
§ 1. Air pollution 296
§ 2. Main sources of air pollution 299
§ 3. Environmental consequences of air pollution 302
§ 4. Environmental consequences of global air pollution 307
Chapter 14. Anthropogenic impacts on the hydrosphere 318
§ 1. Hydrosphere pollution 318
§ 2. Environmental consequences of hydrosphere pollution 326
§ 3. Exhaustion of ground and surface waters 331
Chapter 15. Anthropogenic impacts on the lithosphere 337
§ 1. Impacts on soils 338
§ 2. Impacts on rocks and their massifs 352
§ 3. Impacts on the subsoil 360
Chapter 16. Anthropogenic impacts on biotic communities 365
§ 1. The importance of forests in nature and human life 365
§ 2. Anthropogenic impacts on forests and other plant communities 369
§ 3. Ecological consequences of human impact on the plant world 372
§ 4. The importance of the animal world in the biosphere 377
§ 5. Human impact on animals and the causes of their extinction 379
Chapter 17. Special types of impact on the biosphere 385
§ 1. Environmental pollution by production and consumption waste 385
§ 2. Noise impact 390
§ 3. Biological pollution 393
§ 4. Impact of electromagnetic fields and radiation 395
Chapter 18. Extreme impacts on the biosphere 399
§ 1. Impact of weapons of mass destruction 400
§ 2. Impact of man-made environmental disasters 403
§ 3. Natural disasters 408
Section five. ECOLOGICAL PROTECTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 429
Chapter 19. Basic principles of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources 429
Chapter 20. Engineering environmental protection 437
§ 1. Fundamental directions of engineering environmental protection 437
§ 2. Standardization of environmental quality 443
§ 3. Protection of the atmosphere 451
§ 4. Protection of the hydrosphere 458
§ 5. Protection of the lithosphere 471
§ 6. Protection of biotic communities 484
§ 7. Protection of the environment from special types of impacts 500
Chapter 21. Fundamentals of environmental law 516
§ 1. Sources of environmental law 516
§ 2. State environmental protection authorities 520
§ 3. Environmental standardization and certification 522
§ 4. Environmental expertise and environmental impact assessment (EIA) 524
§ 5. Environmental management, audit and certification 526
§ 6. The concept of environmental risk 528
§ 7. Environmental monitoring (environmental monitoring) 531
§ 8. Environmental control and public environmental movements 537
§ 9. Environmental rights and obligations of citizens 540
§ 10. Legal liability for environmental offenses 543
Chapter 22. Ecology and economics 547
§ 1. Ecological and economic accounting of natural resources and pollutants 549
§ 2. License, agreement and limits on environmental management 550
§ 3. New mechanisms for financing environmental protection 552
§ 4. Concept of the concept of sustainable development 556
Chapter 23. Greening of public consciousness 560
§ 1. Anthropocentrism and ecocentrism. Formation of a new environmental consciousness 560
§ 2. Environmental education, upbringing and culture 567
Chapter 24. International cooperation in the field of ecology 572
§ 1 International environmental protection objects 573
§ 2. Basic principles of international environmental cooperation 576
§ 3. Russia’s participation in international environmental cooperation 580
Environmental manifesto (according to N. F. Reimers) (instead of a conclusion) 584
Basic concepts and definitions in the field of ecology, environmental protection and environmental management 586
Subject index 591
RECOMMENDED READING 599
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n1.doc
Name: CD Ecology: electronic textbook. Textbook for universities
Year: 2009
Publisher: KnoRus
ISBN: 539000289X
ISBN-13(EAN): 9785390002896
text taken from the electronic textbook
Section I. General ecology
INTRODUCTION Ecology and a brief overview of its development
1. Subject and tasks of ecology
The most common definition of ecology as a scientific discipline is as follows: ecology science that studies the conditions of existence of living organisms and the relationships between organisms and their habitat. The term “ecology” (from the Greek “oikos” house, dwelling and “logos” teaching) was first introduced into biological science by the German scientist E. Haeckel in 1866. Initially, ecology developed as an integral part of biological science, in close connection with other natural sciences chemistry, physics, geology, geography, soil science, mathematics.
The subject of ecology is the totality or structure of connections between organisms and the environment. The main object of study in ecology ecosystems, i.e., unified natural complexes formed by living organisms and their habitat. In addition, her area of expertise includes studying certain types of organisms(organismal level), their populations i.e., collections of individuals of the same species (population-species level), collections of populations, i.e., biotic communities biocenoses(biocenotic level) and biosphere as a whole (biosphere level).
The main, traditional part of ecology as a biological science is general ecology, which studies the general patterns of relationships between any living organisms and the environment (including humans as a biological being).
The following main sections are distinguished as part of general ecology:
autecology, exploring the individual connections of an individual organism (species, individuals) with its environment;
population ecology(demoecology), the task of which is to study the structure and dynamics of populations of individual species. Population ecology is also considered as a special branch of autecology;
synecology(biocenology), which studies the relationship of populations, communities and ecosystems with the environment.
For all these areas, the main thing is to study survival of living beings in the environment, and the tasks they face are primarily of a biological nature: to study the patterns of adaptation of organisms and their communities to the environment, self-regulation, stability of ecosystems and the biosphere, etc.
In the above understanding, general ecology is often called bioecology, when they want to emphasize its biocentricity.
From the point of view of the time factor, ecology is differentiated into historical and evolutionary.
In addition, ecology is classified according to specific objects and environments of study, i.e., it distinguishes animal ecology, plant ecology and microbial ecology.
Recently, the role and importance of the biosphere as an object of environmental analysis has been continuously increasing. Particularly great importance in modern ecology is given to the problems of human interaction with the natural environment. The highlighting of these sections in environmental science is associated with a sharp increase in the mutual negative influence of man and the environment, the increased role of economic, social and moral aspects, in connection with the sharply negative consequences of scientific and technological progress.
Thus, modern ecology is not limited only to the framework of the biological discipline, which interprets the relationship mainly of animals and plants with the environment, it is turning into an interdisciplinary science that studies the most complex problems of human interaction with the environment. The relevance and versatility of this problem, caused by the worsening environmental situation on a global scale, has led to the “greening” of many natural, technical and human sciences.
For example, at the intersection of ecology with other branches of knowledge, the development of such new directions as engineering ecology, geoecology, mathematical ecology, agricultural ecology, space ecology, etc. continues.
Accordingly, the term “ecology” itself received a broader interpretation, and the ecological approach to the study of the interaction of human society and nature was recognized as fundamental.
The ecological problems of the Earth as a planet are dealt with by the intensively developing global ecology, the main object of study of which is the biosphere as a global ecosystem. Currently, such special disciplines as social ecology, studying the relationship in the system “human society - nature”, and its part human ecology(anthropoecology), which examines the interaction of man as a biosocial being with the surrounding world.
Modern ecology is closely related to politics, economics, law (including international law), psychology and pedagogy, since only in alliance with them is it possible to overcome the technocratic paradigm of thinking and develop a new type of environmental consciousness that radically changes people's behavior in relation to nature.
From a scientific and practical point of view, the division of ecology into theoretical and applied is quite justified.
Theoretical ecology reveals the general patterns of life organization.
Applied ecology studies the mechanisms of human destruction of the biosphere, ways to prevent this process and develops principles for the rational use of natural resources. The scientific basis of applied ecology is a system of general environmental laws, rules and principles.
Based on the above concepts and directions, it follows that the tasks of ecology are very diverse.
In general theoretical terms, these include:
development of a general theory of sustainability of ecological systems;
study of ecological mechanisms of adaptation to the environment;
study of population regulation;
study of biological diversity and mechanisms of its maintenance;
research of production processes;
study of processes occurring in the biosphere in order to maintain its stability;
modeling the state of ecosystems and global biosphere processes.
The main applied problems that ecology must solve at present are the following:
forecasting and assessment of possible negative consequences in the natural environment under the influence of human activities;
improvement of environmental quality;
optimization of engineering, economic, organizational, legal, social or other solutions to ensure environmentally safe sustainable development, primarily in the most environmentally endangered areas.
Strategic task ecology is considered to be the development of a theory of interaction between nature and society based on a new view that considers human society as an integral part of the biosphere.
Currently, ecology is becoming one of the most important natural sciences, and, as many ecologists believe, the very existence of man on our planet will depend on its progress.
2. Brief overview of the history of environmental development
In the history of environmental development, three main stages can be distinguished.
First stage the origin and development of ecology as a science (until the 60s of the nineteenth century). At this stage, data on the relationship of living organisms with their habitat was accumulated, and the first scientific generalizations were made.
In the XVII–XVIII centuries. ecological information made up a significant proportion in many biological descriptions (A. Reaumur, 1734; A. Tremblay, 1744, etc.). Elements of the ecological approach were contained in the studies of Russian scientists I. I. Lepekhin, A. F. Middendorf, S. P. Krashennikov, the French scientist J. Buffon, the Swedish naturalist C. Linnaeus, the German scientist G. Yeager and others.
During the same period, J. Lamarck (1744–1829) and T. Malthus (1766–1834) for the first time warned humanity about the possible negative consequences of human influence on nature.
Second phase formation of ecology into an independent branch of knowledge (after the 60s of the nineteenth century). The beginning of the stage was marked by the publication of the works of Russian scientists K. F. Roulier (1814–1858), N. A. Severtsov (1827–1885), V. V. Dokuchaev (1846–1903), who for the first time substantiated a number of principles and concepts of ecology that are not have lost their meaning to this day. It is no coincidence that the American ecologist Yu. Odum (1975) considers V.V. Dokuchaev one of the founders of ecology. At the end of the 70s. XIX century German hydrobiologist K. Mobius (1877) introduces the most important concept of biocenosis as a natural combination of organisms under certain environmental conditions.
An invaluable contribution to the development of the fundamentals of ecology was made by Charles Darwin (1809–1882), who revealed the main factors in the evolution of the organic world. What Charles Darwin called the “struggle for existence” can be interpreted from an evolutionary point of view as the relationship of living beings with the external, abiotic environment and with each other, i.e. with the biotic environment.
The German evolutionary biologist E. Haeckel (1834-1919) was the first to understand that this is an independent and very important area of biology, and called it ecology (1866). In his major work “General Morphology of Organisms,” he wrote: “By ecology we understand the sum of knowledge related to the economics of nature: the study of the entire set of relationships between an animal and its environment, both organic and inorganic, and above all - its friendly or hostile relationships with those animals and plants with which he directly or indirectly comes into contact. In short, ecology is the study of all the complex relationships that Darwin called “the conditions that give rise to the struggle for existence.”
Ecology as an independent science finally took shape at the beginning of the twentieth century. During this period, the American scientist C. Adams (1913) created the first summary on ecology, other important generalizations and summaries were published (W. Shelford, 1913, 1929; C. Elton, 1927; R. Hesse, 1924; K. Raunker, 1929 and etc.). The largest Russian scientist of the twentieth century. V.I. Vernadsky creates a fundamental doctrine of the biosphere.
In the 30s and 40s. ecology has risen to a higher level as a result of a new approach to the study of natural systems. First, A. Tansley (1935) put forward the concept of an ecosystem, and a little later V.N. Sukachev (1940) substantiated a concept of biogeocenosis close to this. It should be noted that the level of domestic ecology in the 20–40s. was one of the most advanced in the world, especially in the field of fundamental developments. During this period, such outstanding scientists as academician V. I. Vernadsky and V. N. Sukachev, as well as prominent ecologists V. V. Stanchinsky, E. S. Bauer, G. G. Gause, V. N. Beklemishev, worked. A. N. Formozov, D. N. Kashkarov and others.
In the second half of the twentieth century. Due to environmental pollution and a sharp increase in human impact on nature, ecology is of particular importance.
Begins third stage(50s of the twentieth century - up to the present) transformation of ecology into a complex science, including sciences about the protection of the natural and human environment. From a strict biological science, ecology turns into “a significant cycle of knowledge, incorporating sections of geography, geology, chemistry, physics, sociology, cultural theory, economics...” (Reimers, 1994).
The modern period of environmental development is associated with the names of such major foreign scientists as J. Odum, J. M. Andersen, E. Pianka, R. Ricklefs, M. Bigon, A. Schweitzer, J. Harper, R. Whitaker, N. Borlaug , T. Miller, B. Nebel, etc. Among domestic scientists we should name I. P. Gerasimov, A. M. Gilyarov, V. G. Gorshkov, Yu. A. Izrael, K. S. Losev, N. N. Moiseev, N. P. Naumov, N. F. Reimers, V. V. Rozanov, Yu. M. Svirizhev, N. V. Timofeev-Resovsky, S. S. Schwartz, I. A. Shilov, A. V. Yablokova, A.L. Yanshina and others.
The first environmental acts in Rus' have been known since the 9th–12th centuries. (for example, the set of laws of Yaroslav the Wise “Russian Truth”, which established the rules for the protection of hunting and beekeeping lands). In the XIV-XVII centuries. On the southern borders of the Russian state there were “zasechnye forests”, a kind of protected areas in which economic logging was prohibited. History has preserved more than 60 environmental decrees of Peter I. It was under him that the study of Russia’s richest natural resources began. In 1805, a society of natural scientists was founded in Moscow. At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. A movement arose for the protection of rare natural objects. The scientific foundations of nature conservation were laid through the works of outstanding scientists V.V. Dokuchaev, K.M. Baer, G.A. Kozhevnikov, I.P. Borodin, D.N. Anuchin, S.V. Zavadsky and others.
The beginning of the environmental activities of the Soviet state coincided with a number of first decrees, starting with the “Decree on Land” of October 26, 1917, which laid the foundations for environmental management in the country.
It was during this period that the main type of environmental protection activity was born and received legislative expression Protection of Nature.
In the period of the 30-40s, in connection with the exploitation of natural resources, caused mainly by the growing scale of industrialization in the country, nature conservation began to be considered as “a unified system of measures aimed at the protection, development, qualitative enrichment and rational use of natural resources” funds of the country" (from the resolution of the First All-Russian Congress on Nature Conservation, 1929).
Thus, a new type of environmental protection activity is emerging in Russia rational use of natural resources.
In the 50s the further development of productive forces in the country, the strengthening of the negative impact of man on nature necessitated the creation of another form regulating the interaction between society and nature, protection of the human environment. During this period, republican laws on nature protection were adopted, which proclaimed an integrated approach to nature not only as a source of natural resources, but also as a human habitat. Unfortunately, Lysenko’s pseudoscience still triumphed, and the words of I.V. Michurin about the need not to wait for mercy from nature were canonized.
In the 60-80s. Almost every year, government resolutions were adopted to strengthen environmental protection (on the protection of the Volga and Ural basins, the Azov and Black Seas, Lake Ladoga, Lake Baikal, the industrial cities of Kuzbass and Donbass, the Arctic coast). The process of creating environmental legislation continued, land, water, forest and other codes were published.
These resolutions and adopted laws, as the practice of their application has shown, did not produce the necessary results - the destructive anthropogenic impact on nature continued.
3. The importance of environmental education
Environmental education not only provides scientific knowledge in the field of ecology, but is also an important part of the environmental education of future specialists. This presupposes instilling in them a high ecological culture, the ability to take care of natural resources, etc. In other words, specialists, in our case engineering and technical specialists, should develop a new environmental consciousness and thinking, the essence of which is that man is part of nature and conservation of nature is the preservation of a full human life.
Environmental knowledge is necessary for every person in order for the dream of many generations of thinkers to come true about creating an environment worthy of humans, for which it is necessary to build beautiful cities, develop such advanced productive forces that they could ensure the harmony of man and nature. But this harmony is impossible if people are hostile to each other and, even more so, if there are wars, which, unfortunately, is the case. As the American ecologist B. Commoner rightly noted in the early 70s: “The search for the origins of any problem related to the environment leads to the indisputable truth that the root cause of the crisis lies not in how people interact with nature, but in , how they interact with each other... and that, finally, peace between people and nature must be preceded by peace between people."
Currently, the spontaneous development of relationships with nature poses a danger to the existence of not only individual objects, territories of countries, etc., but also to all humanity.
This is explained by the fact that man is closely connected with living nature by origin, material and spiritual needs, but, unlike other organisms, these connections have taken such a scale and form that this can lead (and is already leading!) to the almost complete involvement of living cover planet (biosphere) into the life support of modern society, placing humanity on the brink of environmental disaster.
Man, thanks to the intelligence given to him by nature, strives to provide himself with “comfortable” environmental conditions, strives to be independent of its physical factors, for example, from climate, from lack of food, to get rid of animals and plants that are harmful to him (but not at all “harmful” to him). the rest of the living world!), etc. Therefore, man, first of all, differs from other species in that he interacts with nature through the culture, that is, humanity as a whole, as it develops, creates a cultural environment on Earth through the transmission of its labor and spiritual experience from generation to generation. But, as K. Marx noted, “culture, if it develops spontaneously and is not consciously directed... leaves behind a desert.”
The spontaneous development of events can only be stopped by knowledge of how to manage them and, in the case of ecology, this knowledge must “master the masses,” at least the majority of society, which is possible only through universal environmental education of people from school to university .
Ecological knowledge makes it possible to realize the destructiveness of war and strife between people, because behind this lies not just the death of individual people and even civilizations, because this will lead to a general environmental catastrophe, to the death of all humanity. This means that the most important ecological condition for the survival of humans and all living things is peaceful life on Earth. This is exactly what an environmentally educated person should and will strive for.
But it would be unfair to build the entire ecology “around” only humans. The destruction of the natural environment has detrimental consequences for human life. Ecological knowledge allows him to understand that man and nature are a single whole and ideas about his dominance over nature are rather illusory and primitive.
An environmentally educated person will not allow a spontaneous attitude towards the environment around him. He will fight against environmental barbarism, and if in our country such people become the majority, then they will ensure a normal life for their descendants, resolutely standing up for the protection of wild nature from the greedy advance of “wild” civilization, transforming and improving civilization itself, finding the best “environmentally friendly” » options for the relationship between nature and society.
In Russia and the CIS countries, much attention is paid to environmental education. The Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States adopted the Recommendatory Legislative Act on Environmental Education of the Population (1996) and other documents, including the Concept of Environmental Education.
Environmental education, as stated in the preamble of the Concept, is intended to develop and consolidate more advanced stereotypes of people’s behavior aimed at:
1) saving natural resources;
2) prevention of unjustified environmental pollution;
3) widespread conservation of natural ecosystems;
4) respect for the norms of behavior and coexistence accepted by the international community;
5) formation of conscious readiness for active personal participation in ongoing environmental protection activities and feasible financial support for them;
6) assistance in carrying out joint environmental actions and implementing a common environmental policy in the CIS.
Currently, violation of environmental laws can only be stopped by raising ecological culture every member of society, and this can be done, first of all, through education, through studying the fundamentals of ecology, which is especially important for specialists in the field of technical sciences, primarily for civil engineers, engineers in the field of chemistry, petrochemistry, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, food and mining industries, etc. This textbook is intended for a wide range of students studying in technical areas and specialties of universities. According to the authors' intention, it should give basic ideas on the main directions of theoretical and applied ecology and lay the foundations of the ecological culture of the future specialist, based on a deep understanding of the highest value - the harmonious development of man and nature.
Control questions
1. What is ecology and what is the subject of its study?
2. How do the tasks of theoretical and applied ecology differ?
3. Stages of the historical development of ecology as a science. The role of domestic scientists in its formation and development.
4. What is environmental protection and what are its main types?
5. Why is environmental culture and environmental education necessary for every member of society, including engineering and technical workers?
Chapter 1. Interaction between the organism and the environment
1.1. Main levels of life organization and ecology
Gene, cell, organ, organism, population, community (biocenosis) main levels of life organization. Ecology studies levels of biological organization from organisms to ecosystems. It is based, like all biology, on theory of evolutionary development organic world of Charles Darwin, based on ideas about natural selection. In a simplified form, it can be represented as follows: as a result of the struggle for existence, the most adapted organisms survive, which pass on advantageous traits that ensure survival to their offspring, who can develop them further, ensuring the stable existence of this type of organism in these specific environmental conditions. If these conditions change, then organisms with traits more favorable for the new conditions, inherited by them, etc., will survive.
Materialistic ideas about the origin of life and the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin can only be explained from the standpoint of ecological science. Therefore, it is no coincidence that after the discovery of Darwin (1859), the term “ecology” appeared by E. Haeckel (1866). The role of the environment, that is, physical factors, in the evolution and existence of organisms is beyond doubt. This environment was called abiotic, and its individual parts (air, water, etc.) and factors (temperature, etc.) are called abiotic components, Unlike biotic components represented by living matter. Interacting with the abiotic environment, i.e. with abiotic components, they form certain functional systems, where living components and the environment are “a single whole organism”.
In Fig. 1.1 the above components are presented in the form levels of biological organization biological systems that differ in principles of organization and scale of phenomena. They reflect the hierarchy of natural systems, in which smaller subsystems make up larger systems that are themselves subsystems of larger systems.
Rice. 1.1. Spectrum of levels of biological organization (according to Yu. Odum, 1975)
The properties of each individual level are much more complex and diverse than the previous one. But this can only be partially explained on the basis of data on the properties of the previous level. In other words, it is impossible to predict the properties of each subsequent biological level based on the properties of its individual constituent lower levels, just as it is impossible to predict the properties of water based on the properties of oxygen and hydrogen. This phenomenon is called emergence the presence of special properties in the system whole that are not inherent in its subsystems and blocks, as well as the sum of other elements not united by system-forming connections.
Ecology studies the right side of the “spectrum” shown in Fig. 1.1, i.e. levels of biological organization from organisms to ecosystems. In ecology the body is considered as an integral system, interacting with the external environment, both abiotic and biotic. In this case, our field of view includes such a set as biological species, consisting of similar individuals, which, nevertheless, as individuals differ from each other. They are just as different as one person is different from another, also belonging to the same species. But they all have one thing in common gene pool , ensuring their ability to reproduce within the species. There cannot be offspring from individuals of different species, even closely related ones, united in one genus, not to mention a family and larger taxa uniting even more “distant relatives.”
Since each individual (individual) has its own specific characteristics, their relationship to the state of the environment and the influence of its factors is different. For example, some individuals may not be able to withstand an increase in temperature and die, but the population of the entire species survives at the expense of other individuals that are more adapted to elevated temperatures.
Population, in its most general form, is a collection of individuals of the same species. Genetics usually add as a mandatory point the ability of this aggregate to reproduce itself. Ecologists, taking into account both of these features, emphasize a certain isolation in space and time of similar populations of the same species (Gilyarov, 1990).
Isolation in space and time of similar populations reflects the real natural structure of the biota. In a real natural environment, many species are scattered over vast areas, so it is necessary to study a certain species grouping within a certain territory. Some of the groups adapt quite well to local conditions, forming the so-called ecotype. Even this small group of individuals, genetically related, can give rise to a large population, and a very stable one for quite a long time. This is facilitated by the adaptability of individuals to the abiotic environment, intraspecific competition, etc.
However, true single-species groups and settlements do not exist in nature, and we usually deal with groups consisting of many species. Such groups are called biological communities, or biocenoses.
Biocenosis a set of co-living populations of different types of microorganisms, plants and animals. The term “biocenosis” was first used by Moebius (1877), while studying a group of organisms in an oyster bank, i.e., from the very beginning, this community of organisms was limited to a certain “geographical” space, in this case, the boundaries of the sandbank. This space was later called biotope, which refers to the environmental conditions in a certain area: air, water, soils and underlying rocks. It is in this environment that the vegetation, fauna and microorganisms that make up the biocenosis exist.
It is clear that the components of the biotope not only exist nearby, but actively interact with each other, creating a certain biological system, which Academician V. N. Sukachev called biogeocenosis. In this system, the totality of abiotic and biotic components has “... its own special specificity of interactions” and “a certain type of exchange of matter and their energy between each other and other natural phenomena and representing an internal contradictory dialectical unity, which is in constant movement and development” (Sukachev, 1971). The biogeocenosis diagram is shown in Fig. 1.2. This well-known scheme by V. N. Sukachev was corrected by G. A. Novikov (1979).
Rice. 1.2. Scheme of biogeocenosis according to G. A. Novikov (1979)
The term “biogeocenosis” was proposed by V.N. Sukachev in the late 30s. Sukachev’s ideas later formed the basis biogeocenology a whole scientific direction in biology, dealing with the problems of interaction of living organisms with each other and with the abiotic environment surrounding them.
However, somewhat earlier, in 1935, the English botanist A. Tansley introduced the term “ecosystem”. Ecosystem, according to A. Tansley, “a set of complexes of organisms with a complex of physical factors of its environment, i.e., habitat factors in the broad sense.” Other famous ecologists have similar definitions: Y. Odum, K. Willie, R. Whitaker, K. Watt.
A number of supporters of the ecosystem approach in the West consider the terms “biogeocenosis” and “ecosystem” to be synonymous, in particular Y. Odum (1975, 1986).
However, a number of Russian scientists do not share this opinion, seeing certain differences. However, many do not consider these differences significant and equate these concepts. This is all the more necessary because the term “ecosystem” is widely used in related sciences, especially in environmental science.
Of particular importance for identifying ecosystems are trophic, i.e., the nutritional relationships of organisms that regulate the entire energy of biotic communities and the entire ecosystem as a whole.
First of all, all organisms are divided into two large groups - autotrophs and heterotrophs.
Autotrophic organisms use inorganic sources for their existence, thereby creating organic matter from inorganic matter. Such organisms include photosynthetic green plants of land and aquatic environments, blue-green algae, some bacteria due to chemosynthesis, etc.
Since organisms are quite diverse in types and forms of nutrition, they enter into complex trophic interactions with each other, thereby performing the most important ecological functions in biotic communities. Some of them produce products, others consume them, and others convert them into inorganic form. They are called accordingly: producers, consumers and decomposers.
Producers producers of products that all other organisms then feed on these are terrestrial green plants, microscopic sea and freshwater algae that produce organic substances from inorganic compounds.
Consumers these are consumers of organic substances. Among them there are animals that eat only plant foods herbivores(cow) or eating only the meat of other animals carnivores(predators), as well as those who consume both "omnivores""(man, bear).
Reducers (destructors)) reducing agents. They return substances from dead organisms back to inanimate nature, decomposing organic matter into simple inorganic compounds and elements (for example, CO 2, NO 2 and H 2 O). By returning biogenic elements to the soil or aquatic environment, they thereby complete the biochemical cycle. This is done mainly by bacteria, most other microorganisms and fungi. Functionally, decomposers are the same as consumers, which is why they are often called micro-consumers.
A.G. Bannikov (1977) believes that insects also play an important role in the processes of decomposition of dead organic matter and in soil-forming processes.
Microorganisms, bacteria and other more complex forms, depending on their habitat, are divided into aerobic, i.e. living in the presence of oxygen, and anaerobic living in an oxygen-free environment.
1.2. The body as a living integral system
Organism any living thing. It differs from inanimate nature by a certain set of properties inherent only to living matter: cellular organization; metabolism with a leading role of proteins and nucleic acids, providing homeostasis organism self-renewal and maintaining the constancy of its internal environment. Living organisms are characterized by movement, irritability, growth, development, reproduction and heredity, as well as adaptability to living conditions adaptation.
Interacting with the abiotic environment, the organism acts as complete system, which includes all lower levels of biological organization (the left side of the “spectrum”, see Fig. 1.1). All these parts of the body (genes, cells, cellular tissues, entire organs and their systems) are components of the preorganism level. Changes in some parts and functions of the body inevitably entail changes in other parts and functions. Thus, in changing conditions of existence, as a result of natural selection, certain organs receive priority development. For example, a powerful root system in plants of an arid zone (feather grass) or “blindness” as a result of reduced eyes in animals that live in the dark (mole).
Living organisms have metabolism, or metabolism, In this case, many chemical reactions occur. An example of such reactions is breath, which Lavoise and Laplace considered a type of combustion, or photosynthesis, through which solar energy is bound by green plants, and as a result of further metabolic processes is used by the entire plant, etc.
As is known, in the process of photosynthesis, in addition to solar energy, carbon dioxide and water are used. The overall chemical equation for photosynthesis looks like this:
where C 6 H 12 O 6 energy-rich glucose molecule.
Almost all carbon dioxide (CO 2) comes from the atmosphere and during the day its movement is directed downwards to plants, where photosynthesis occurs and oxygen is released. Respiration is the reverse process, the movement of CO 2 at night is directed upward and oxygen is absorbed.
Some organisms, bacteria, are capable of creating organic compounds from other components, for example, from sulfur compounds. Such processes are called chemosynthesis.
Metabolism in the body occurs only with the participation of special macromolecular protein substances enzymes, acting as catalysts. Each biochemical reaction during the life of an organism is controlled by a special enzyme, which in turn is controlled by a single gene. A gene change called mutation, leads to a change in the biochemical reaction due to changes in the enzyme, and in the case of a deficiency of the latter, then to the loss of the corresponding stage of the metabolic reaction.
However, not only enzymes regulate metabolic processes. They get help coenzymes large molecules of which vitamins are part. Vitamins special substances that are necessary for the metabolism of all organisms bacteria, green plants, animals and humans. The lack of vitamins leads to diseases, since the necessary coenzymes are not formed and metabolism is disrupted.
Finally, a number of metabolic processes require special chemicals called hormones, which are produced in various places (organs) of the body and are delivered to other places by blood or through diffusion. Hormones carry out the general chemical coordination of metabolism in any organism and help in this matter, for example, the nervous system of animals and humans.
At the molecular genetic level, the effects of pollutants, ionizing and ultraviolet radiation are especially sensitive. They cause disruption of genetic systems, cell structure and suppress the action of enzyme systems. All this leads to diseases of humans, animals and plants, oppression and even destruction of species of organisms.
Metabolic processes occur with varying intensity throughout the life of the organism, throughout the entire path of its individual development. This path from birth to the end of life is called ontogenesis. Ontogenesis is a set of successive morphological, physiological and biochemical transformations undergone by the body over the entire period of life.
Ontogenesis includes height body, i.e. an increase in body weight and size, and differentiation, i.e., the emergence of differences between homogeneous cells and tissues, leading them to specialization to perform various functions in the body. In organisms with sexual reproduction, ontogenesis begins with a fertilized cell (zygote). With asexual reproduction with the formation of a new organism by dividing the mother’s body or a specialized cell, by budding, as well as from a rhizome, tuber, bulb, etc.
Each organism goes through a number of development stages in ontogenesis. For organisms that reproduce sexually, there are germinal(embryonic), postembryonic(postembryonic) and developmental period adult organism. The embryonic period ends with the emergence of the embryo from the egg membranes, and in viviparous animals - with birth. Important ecological significance for animals has an initial stage of post-embryonic development, proceeding according to the type direct development or by type metamorphosis passing through the larval stage. In the first case, there is a gradual development into an adult form (chick - hen, etc.), in the second - development occurs first in the form larvae, which exists and feeds independently before turning into an adult (tadpole - frog). In a number of insects, the larval stage allows them to survive unfavorable seasons (low temperatures, drought, etc.)
In plant ontogeny there are growth, development(an adult organism is formed) and aging(weakening of the biosynthesis of all physiological functions and death). The main feature of the ontogenesis of higher plants and most algae is the alternation of asexual (sporophyte) and sexual (hematophyte) generations.
Processes and phenomena taking place at the ontogenetic level, i.e. at the level of the individual (individual), are a necessary and very significant link in the functioning of all living things. Ontogenesis processes can be disrupted at any stage by the action of chemical, light and thermal pollution of the environment and can lead to the appearance of deformities or even the death of individuals at the postnatal stage of ontogenesis.
The modern ontogeny of organisms has developed over a long period of evolution, as a result of their historical development phylogeny. It is no coincidence that this term was introduced by E. Haeckel in 1866, since for environmental purposes it is necessary to reconstruct the evolutionary transformations of animals, plants and microorganisms. This is done by science phylogenetics, which is based on data from three sciences morphology, embryology and paleontology.
The relationship between the development of living things in historical and evolutionary terms and the individual development of the organism was formulated by E. Haeckel in the form biogenetic law
: the ontogeny of any organism is a brief and condensed repetition of the phylogeny of a given species. In other words, first in the womb (in mammals, etc.), and then, upon being born, individual in its development it repeats in an abbreviated form the historical development of its species.
1.3. General characteristics of the Earth's biota
Currently, there are more than 2.2 million species of organisms on Earth. Their taxonomy is becoming more and more complex, although its main skeleton has remained almost unchanged since its creation by the outstanding Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus in the middle of the 17th century.
Table 1.1
Higher taxa of the systematics of the empire of cellular organisms
It turned out that there are two large groups of organisms on Earth, the differences between which are much deeper than between higher plants and higher animals, and, therefore, two superkingdoms were rightfully distinguished among the cellular ones: prokaryotes - low-organized prenuclear and eukaryotes - highly organized nuclear. Prokaryotes(Procaryota) are represented by the kingdom of the so-called crusher, which include bacteria and blue-green algae cells in which there is no nucleus and the DNA in them is not separated from the cytoplasm by any membrane. Eukaryotes(Eucaryota) are represented by three kingdoms: animals, mushroomsand plants , the cells of which contain a nucleus and the DNA is separated from the cytoplasm by the nuclear membrane, since it is located in the nucleus itself. Fungi are separated into a separate kingdom, since it turned out that they not only do not belong to plants, but are probably of origin from amoeboid biflagellate protozoa, i.e., they have a closer connection with the animal world.
However, such a division of living organisms into four kingdoms has not yet formed the basis of reference and educational literature, therefore, in further presentation of the material, we adhere to the traditional classifications, according to which bacteria, blue-green algae and fungi are divisions of lower plants.
The entire set of plant organisms of a given territory of the planet of any detail (region, district, etc.) is called flora, and the totality of animal organisms fauna.
The flora and fauna of this territory together constitute biota. But these terms also have a much broader application. For example, they say flora of flowering plants, flora of microorganisms (microflora), soil microflora, etc. The term “fauna” is used similarly: fauna of mammals, fauna of birds (avifauna), microfauna, etc. The term “biota” is used when they want evaluate the interaction of all living organisms and the environment or, say, the influence of “soil biota” on soil formation processes, etc. Below is a general description of fauna and flora in accordance with the classification (see Table 1.1).
Prokaryotes are the oldest organisms in the history of the Earth, traces of their life activity were identified in Precambrian sediments, i.e. about a billion years ago. Currently, about 5,000 species are known.
The most common among crushers are bacteria , and currently these are the most common microorganisms in the biosphere. Their sizes range from tenths to two to three micrometers.
Bacteria are distributed everywhere, but most of them are found in soils—hundreds of millions per gram of soil, and in chernozems more than two billion.
Soil microflora is very diverse. Here, bacteria perform various functions and are divided into the following physiological groups: putrefaction bacteria, nitrophying bacteria, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, sulfur bacteria, etc. Among them there are aerobic and anaerobic forms.
As a result of soil erosion, bacteria enter water bodies. In the coastal part there are up to 300 thousand of them per 1 ml, with distance from the coast and with depth their number decreases to 100-200 individuals per 1 ml.
There are significantly fewer bacteria in the atmospheric air.
Bacteria are widespread in the lithosphere below the soil horizon. There are only an order of magnitude fewer of them under the soil layer than in the soil. Bacteria spread hundreds of meters deep into the earth's crust and are even found at depths of two thousand meters or more.
Blue-green algae similar in structure to bacterial cells, they are photosynthetic autotrophs. They live mainly in the surface layer of freshwater bodies, although they are also found in the seas. The product of their metabolism is nitrogenous compounds that promote the development of other planktonic algae, which under certain conditions can lead to “blooming” of water and its pollution, including in water supply systems.
Eukaryotes these are all other organisms on Earth. The most common among them are plants, of which there are about 300 thousand species.
Plants these are practically the only organisms that create organic matter at the expense of physical (non-living) resources solar insolation and chemical elements extracted from soils (complex biogenic elements). Everyone else eats ready-made organic food. Therefore, plants, as it were, create, produce food for the rest of the animal world, that is, they are producers.
All unicellular and multicellular forms of plants, as a rule, have autotrophic nutrition due to the processes of photosynthesis.
Seaweed This is a large group of plants that live in water, where they can either float freely or be attached to a substrate. Algae are the first photosynthetic organisms on Earth, to which we owe the appearance of oxygen in its atmosphere. In addition, they are able to absorb nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, potassium and other components directly from water, and not from the soil.
The rest, more highly organized plants land dwellers. They obtain nutrients from the soil through the root system, which are transported through the stem to the leaves, where photosynthesis begins. Lichens, mosses, ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms (flowering plants) are one of the most important elements of the geographical landscape, dominate There are flowering plants here, of which there are more than 250 thousand species. Land vegetation is the main generator of oxygen entering the atmosphere, and its thoughtless destruction will not only leave animals and humans without food, but also without oxygen.
Lower soil fungi play a major role in soil formation processes.
Animals are represented by a wide variety of shapes and sizes, there are more than 1.7 million species. The entire animal kingdom is heterotrophic organisms, consumers.
The largest number of species and the largest number of individuals in arthropods. There are so many insects, for example, that there are more than 200 million of them for every person. In second place in the number of species is the class shellfish, but their numbers are significantly smaller than insects. In third place in the number of species are vertebrates, among which mammals occupy approximately a tenth, and half of all species are fish
This means that most vertebrate species were formed in aquatic conditions, and insects are purely terrestrial animals.
Insects developed on land in close connection with flowering plants, being their pollinators. These plants appeared later than other species, but more than half of the species of all plants are flowering plants. Speciation in these two classes of organisms was and is now in close relationship.
If we compare the number of species land organisms and water, then this ratio will be approximately the same for both plants and animals the number of species on land 92-93%, in water 7-8%, which means that the emergence of organisms onto land gave a powerful impetus to the evolutionary process in the direction of increasing species diversity, which leads to increased sustainability of natural communities of organisms and ecosystems as a whole.
1.4. About habitat and environmental factors
The habitat of an organism is the totality of abiotic and biotic levels of its life. The properties of the environment are constantly changing and any creature, in order to survive, adapts to these changes.
The impact of the environment is perceived by organisms through environmental factors called environmental factors.
Environmental factors these are certain conditions and elements of the environment that have a specific effect on the body. They are divided into abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic (Fig. 1.3).
Rice. 1.3. Classification of environmental factors
Abiotic factors name the entire set of factors in the inorganic environment that influence the life and distribution of animals and plants. Among them there are physical, chemical and edaphic. It seems to us that the ecological role of natural geophysical fields should not be underestimated.
Physical factors these are those whose source is a physical state or phenomenon (mechanical, wave, etc.). For example, temperature if it is high, there will be a burn, if it is very low frostbite. Other factors can also influence the effect of temperature: in water current, on land wind and humidity, etc.
Chemical factors These are those that originate from the chemical composition of the environment. For example, the salinity of water, if it is high, life in the reservoir may be completely absent (Dead Sea), but at the same time, most marine organisms cannot live in fresh water. The life of animals on land and in water, etc. depends on the sufficiency of oxygen levels.
Edaphic factors, i.e. soil, this is a set of chemical, physical and mechanical properties of soils and rocks that affect both the organisms living in them, i.e. for which they are a habitat, and the root system of plants. The influence of chemical components (biogenic elements), temperature, humidity, soil structure, humus content, etc. on the growth and development of plants is well known.
Natural geophysical fields have a global environmental impact on the biota of the Earth and humans. The environmental significance of, for example, the magnetic, electromagnetic, radioactive and other fields of the Earth is well known.
Geophysical fields are also physical factors, but they have a lithospheric nature; moreover, we can rightfully assume that edaphic factors are predominantly lithospheric in nature, since the environment for their occurrence and action is soil, which is formed from rocks of the surface part of the lithosphere, therefore we combined them into one group (see Fig. 1.3).
However, not only abiotic factors influence organisms. Organisms form communities where they have to fight for food resources, for the possession of certain pastures or hunting territory, i.e., enter into competition with each other both at the intraspecific and, especially, at the interspecific level. These are already factors of living nature, or biotic factors.
Biotic factors the totality of influences of the life activity of some organisms on the life activity of others, as well as on the inanimate environment (Khrustalev et al., 1996). In the latter case, we are talking about the ability of the organisms themselves to influence their living conditions to a certain extent. For example, in a forest, under the influence of vegetation cover, a special microclimate, or microenvironment, where, compared to open habitats, its own temperature and humidity regime is created: in winter it is several degrees warmer, in summer it is cooler and more humid. A special microenvironment is also created in tree hollows, burrows, caves, etc.
Of particular note are the conditions of the microenvironment under the snow cover, which is already of a purely abiotic nature. As a result of the warming effect of snow, which is most effective when its thickness is at least 50–70 cm, at its base, in about a 5-centimeter layer, small rodents live in winter, since the temperature conditions here are favorable for them (from 0 to minus 2 С). Thanks to the same effect, seedlings of winter cereals - rye and wheat - are preserved under the snow. Large animals - deer, elk, wolves, foxes, hares, etc. - also hide in the snow from severe frosts, lying down in the snow to rest.
Intraspecific interactions between individuals of the same species consist of group and mass effects and intraspecific competition. Group and mass effects terms coined by Grasse (1944), denote the grouping of animals of the same species into groups of two or more individuals and the effect caused by overcrowding of the environment. Currently, these effects are most often called demographic factors. They characterize the dynamics of numbers and density of groups of organisms at the population level, which is based on intraspecific competition, which is fundamentally different from the interspecific one. It manifests itself mainly in the territorial behavior of animals, which defend their nesting sites and a certain area in the area. Many birds and fish act this way.
Interspecies relationships much more diverse (see Fig. 1.3). Two species living nearby may not influence each other at all; they can influence each other either favorably or unfavorably. Possible types of combinations reflect different types of relationships:
neutralism both types are independent and have no effect on each other;
competition each type has an adverse effect on the other;
mutualism species cannot exist without each other;
protocooperation(commonwealth) both species form a community, but can exist separately, although the community benefits both of them;
commensalism one species, the commensal, benefits from cohabitation, while the other species the host has no benefit (mutual tolerance);
amensalism one species, amensal, experiences inhibition of growth and reproduction from another;
predation a predatory species feeds on its prey.
Interspecific relationships underlie the existence of biotic communities (biocenoses).
Anthropogenic factors factors generated by man and affecting the environment (pollution, soil erosion, destruction of forests, etc.) are considered in applied ecology (see “Part II” of this textbook).
Among the abiotic factors, they are often distinguished climatic(temperature, air humidity, wind, etc.) and hydrographic factors of the aquatic environment (water, current, salinity, etc.).
Most factors, qualitatively and quantitatively, change over time. For example, climatic during the day, season, by year (temperature, light, etc.).
Factors whose changes are repeated regularly over time are called periodic. These include not only climatic, but also some hydrographic tides, some ocean currents. Factors that arise unexpectedly (volcanic eruption, predator attack, etc.) are called non-periodic.
The division of factors into periodic and non-periodic (Monchadsky, 1958) is very important when studying the adaptability of organisms to living conditions.
1.5. On adaptations of organisms to their environment
Adaptation (lat. adaptation) adaptation of organisms to the environment. This process covers the structure and functions of organisms (individuals, species, populations) and their organs. Adaptation always develops under the influence of three main factors variability, heredity and natural selection(as well as artificial, carried out by man).
The main adaptations of organisms to environmental factors are hereditarily determined. They were formed along the historical and evolutionary path of the biota and changed along with the variability of environmental factors. Organisms are adapted to constantly operating periodic factors, but among them it is important to distinguish between primary and secondary.
Primary these are the factors that existed on Earth even before the emergence of life: temperature, light, tides, etc. The adaptation of organisms to these factors is the most ancient and most perfect.
Secondary periodic factors are a consequence of changes in the primary ones: air humidity, depending on temperature; plant food, depending on the cyclical nature of plant development; a number of biotic factors of intraspecific influence, etc. They arose later than the primary ones, and adaptation to them is not always clearly expressed.
Under normal conditions, only periodic factors should act in the habitat; non-periodic ones should be absent.
The source of adaptation is genetic changes in the body mutations, arising both under the influence of natural factors at the historical and evolutionary stage, and as a result of artificial influence on the body. Mutations are diverse and their accumulation can even lead to disintegration phenomena, but thanks to selection mutations and their combinations acquire the significance of “the leading creative factor in the adaptive organization of living forms” (BSE. 1970. Vol. 1).
On the historical and evolutionary path of development, abiotic and biotic factors act in combination on organisms. Both successful adaptations of organisms to this complex of factors and “unsuccessful” ones are known, i.e., instead of adaptation, the species becomes extinct.
An excellent example of successful adaptation is the evolution of the horse over about 60 million years from a short ancestor to a modern and beautiful fast-footed animal with a height at the withers of up to 1.6 m. The opposite example is the relatively recent (tens of thousands of years ago) extinction of mammoths. The highly arid, subarctic climate of the last glaciation led to the disappearance of the vegetation on which these animals, by the way, were well adapted to low temperatures, fed (Velichko, 1970). In addition, opinions are expressed that primitive man was also “to blame” for the disappearance of the mammoth, who also had to survive: he used mammoth meat as food, and the skin saved him from the cold.
In the example given with mammoths, the lack of plant food initially limited the number of mammoths, and its disappearance led to their death. Plant food acted here as a limiting factor. These factors play a critical role in the survival and adaptation of organisms.
1.6. Limiting environmental factors
The importance of limiting factors was first pointed out by the German agrochemist J. Liebig in the mid-nineteenth century. He installed law of the minimum: The harvest (production) depends on the factor that is at its minimum. If the useful components in the soil as a whole represent a balanced system and only some substance, for example, phosphorus, is contained in quantities close to the minimum, then this can reduce the yield. But it turned out that even the same mineral substances, which are very useful when they are optimally contained in the soil, reduce the yield if they are in excess. This means that factors can be limiting, even if they are at their maximum.
Thus, limiting environmental factors we should name such factors that limit the development of organisms due to their deficiency or excess compared to the need (optimal content). They are sometimes called limiting factors.
As for J. Liebig's law of the minimum, it has a limited effect and only at the level of chemical substances. R. Mitscherlich showed that the yield depends on the combined action of all factors of plant life, including temperature, humidity, light, etc.
Differences in cumulative And isolated actions also apply to other factors. For example, on the one hand, the effect of negative temperatures is enhanced by wind and high air humidity, but on the other hand, high humidity weakens the effect of high temperatures, etc. But despite the mutual influence of factors, they still cannot replace each other, which is what we found reflected in V. R. Williams' law of independence of factors: living conditions are equivalent, none of the factors of life can be replaced by another. For example, the effect of humidity (water) cannot be replaced by the effect of carbon dioxide or sunlight, etc.
Most fully and in the most general form, the complexity of the influence of environmental factors on the body reflects W. Shelford's law of tolerance: the absence or impossibility of prosperity is determined by a deficiency (in a qualitative or quantitative sense) or, conversely, an excess of any of a number of factors, the level of which may be close to the limits tolerated by a given organism. These two limits are called outside tolerance.
Regarding the action of one factor, this law can be illustrated as follows: a certain organism is capable of existing at a temperature from minus 5 to plus 25 0 C, i.e. range of its tolerance lies within these temperatures. Organisms whose life requires conditions limited by a narrow range of temperature tolerance are called stenothermic(“wall” narrow), and capable of living in a wide range of temperatures eurythermic(“every” wide) (Fig. 1.4).
Rice. 1.4. Comparison of the relative tolerance limits of stenothermic and
eurythermal organisms (according to F. Ruttner, 1953)
Similar to temperature, other limiting factors act, and organisms, in relation to the nature of their influence, are called, respectively, stenobionts And eurybionts. For example, they say that an organism is stenobiontic in relation to humidity or eurybiontic in relation to climatic factors, etc. Organisms that are eurybiontic in relation to basic climatic factors are the most widespread on Earth.
The range of tolerance of the organism does not remain constant; it, for example, narrows if any of the factors is close to any limit or during the reproduction of the organism, when many factors become limiting. This means that the nature of the action of environmental factors under certain conditions may change, i.e. it may or may not be limiting. At the same time, we must not forget that organisms themselves are capable of reducing the limiting effect of factors by creating, for example, a certain microclimate (microenvironment). Here a peculiar compensation factors, which is most effective at the community level, less often at the species level.
Such compensation of factors usually creates conditions for physiological acclimatization a eurybiote species with a wide distribution, which, acclimatizing in a given specific place, creates a unique population called ecotype, the tolerance limits of which correspond to local conditions. With deeper adaptation processes, genetic races.
So, under natural conditions, organisms depend on state of critical physical factors, from the content of necessary substances And from tolerance range organisms themselves to these and other components of the environment.
Control questions
1. What are the levels of biological organization of life? Which of them are objects of study of ecology?
2. What are biogeocenosis and ecosystem?
3. How are organisms divided according to the nature of their food source? By ecological functions in biotic communities?
4. What is a living organism and how does it differ from inanimate nature?
5. What is the adaptation mechanism during the interaction of the organism as an integral system with the environment?
6. What is plant respiration and photosynthesis? What is the significance of the metabolic processes of autotrophs for the Earth's biota?
7. What is the essence of the biogenetic law?
8. What are the features of the modern classification of organisms?
9. What is the habitat of an organism? Concepts about environmental factors.
10. What is the totality of factors in the inorganic environment called? Give the name and definition of these factors.
11. What is the totality of factors in the living organic environment called? Give the name and define the influence of the life activity of some organisms on the life activity of others at the intraspecific and interspecific levels.
12. What is the essence of adaptations? What is the significance of periodic and non-periodic factors in adaptation processes?
13. What are the names of environmental factors that limit the development of an organism? Laws of minimum by J. Liebig and tolerance by W. Shelford.
14. What is the essence of the isolated and combined action of environmental factors? W. R. Williams Law.
15. What is meant by the range of tolerance of the body and how are they divided depending on the size of this range?
Lectures 8-9. BIOGEOCENOSES and its components. CONCEPT, structure. methods for studying phytocenoses.
Literature
Korobkin V.I., Peredelsky L.V. Ecology. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2005. 576 p. (Higher education)
Stepanovskikh A.S. Biological ecology. Theory and practice: a textbook for university students studying environmental specialties. M.: UNITY-DANA, 2009. 791 p.
Stepanovskikh A.S. General ecology: Textbook for universities. M.: UNITY, 2001. 510 p.
Lecture 8
1. The concept of biogeocenosis
2. Component composition of BGC
3. Phytocenoses are the main component of biogeocenosis
4. Definition of the concept of “phytocenosis”
5. Structure of phytocenosis
5.1. Species structure
Quantitative indicators of species structure
How to correctly describe the floristic composition of a phytocenosis?
Vitality of the species
5.2. Spatial or morphological structure of the biocenosis
Vertical heterogeneity
Horizontal heterogeneity
Lecture 9
6. Field methods for studying biogeocenoses
Methodology for establishing trial plots
Methodology for describing tiers
Methodology for identifying floristic composition
7. Diagnostic signs of phytocenoses for assignment to a specific association
INTRODUCTION
One of the first lectures discussed the concept levels of life organization(biological spectrum). The main levels of life organization: gene, cell, organ, organism, population, community (biocenosis). Or accordingly (according to Yu. Odum, 1975):
1) Genetic or molecular
2) Cellular And tissue levels
3) Organ
4) Organismal
5) Population-species intermediate between the “organismal” and “supraorganismal” levels.
6) Ecosystem, biogeocenotic relationships in supraorganismal systems are studied within the biogeocenosis and ecosystem (between populations, groups, organisms within the BGC).
7) Biosphere the highest, the relationship between macroecosystems, biogeocenoses (forest-steppe, forest-swamp, forest-tundra, etc.) is considered, the law of the cycle of substances and energy is studied in a global aspect.
General ecology studies the last three levels of biological organization from the organism to ecosystems.
Why starting with the organismic? Because he is the first one can exist on its own! Life does not manifest itself outside of organisms.
- the main subject of research in the ecosystem approach in ecology is the processes of transformation of matter and energy between biota and the physical environment, i.e., the processes of material and energy exchange in the ecosystem as a whole. It is also the relationship of living organisms (individuals) with each other and with their habitat at the population-biocenotic level and the levels of biological systems of an even higher rank (biogeocenoses and biosphere).
- the main object of study is the ecosystem.
An ecosystem of the rank of biogeocenosis in general ecology is considered the most important unit, and an organism or species is the smallest unit, but also belongs to important objects.
Why is it so important and so necessary to study nature at the level of ecosystems, and primarily biogeocenoses? Because, knowing the laws of the formation and functioning of ecosystems, it is possible to foresee and prevent their destruction as a result of the impact of negative factors on them, to provide for protective measures and, ultimately, to preserve the habitat of humans as a species.
1. The concept of biogeocenosis
The term “biogeocenosis” was proposed by academician V.N. Sukachev in the late 30s. in relation to forest ecosystems.
The definition of biogeocenosis according to V.N. Sukachev (1964: 23) is considered classic - “... this is a collection of homogeneous natural phenomena (atmosphere, rock, vegetation, fauna and the world of microorganisms, soil and hydrological conditions) over a certain extent of the earth’s surface,” having a special specificity of interactions between these components that make it up and a certain type of metabolism and energy: among themselves and with other natural phenomena and representing an internal contradictory unity, in constant movement and development...”
Translated into simple language "Biogeocenosis is the entire set of species and the entire set of environmental factors that determine the existence of a given ecosystem, taking into account the inevitable anthropogenic impact." Last addition taking into account the inevitable anthropogenic impact tribute to modernity. During the time of V.N. Sukachev there was no need to classify the anthropogenic factor as the main environment-forming factor, as it is now. But even then it was clear that the components biogeocenosis not just exist side by side, but actively interact with each other ( rice. 1).
2. Component composition of BGC
Biocenosis, or biological community, a set of three components living together: vegetation, animals and microorganisms.
In nature, there are no single-species groups and settlements, and in biocenoses we usually deal with groups consisting of many species. Biocenoses, as a form of organization of living matter, develop over a fairly long period of time and are therefore characterized by a fairly well-established structural organization of the organisms included in it and stability.
The main properties of biocenoses are the ability to produce living matter, to haveself-regulation and self-reproduction .
The size of the biocenosis depends on the size of the territory with homogeneous abiotic properties, i.e. biotope.
Biotope this is a kind of “geographical” space, the place of life of a biocenosis, which is more commonly called ecotope.
The ecotope is formed the soil with characteristic subsoil, with forest litter, as well as with one or another amount of humus (humus), and atmosphere with a certain amount of solar radiation, with a certain amount of free moisture, with a characteristic content of carbon dioxide in the air, various impurities, aerosols, etc., in aquatic biogeocenoses instead of the atmosphere - water.
Of all the components of a biotope, soil is closest to the biogenic component of the biogeocenosis, since its origin is directly related to living matter. Organic matter in the soil is a product of the vital activity of the biocenosis at different stages of transformation.
The community of organisms is limited by the biotope (in the case of oysters, the boundaries of the shallows) from the very beginning of existence. Biocenosis and biotope function in continuous unity.
The science of biogeocenoses – biogeocenology. It deals with the problems of interaction of living organisms with each other and with the abiotic environment around them, i.e. inanimate, environment.
Biogeocenology is one of the areas of general ecology, corresponding ecosystem, or biogeocenotic, level of life organization (biological spectrum) .
3. Phytocenoses are the main component of biogeocenosis
Each component of a biocenosis, like a biogeocenosis, can be an object of attention from an ecological point of view; you can devote not only a special course of lectures to it, but also your entire creative life.
The main, nodal subsystem of biogeocenoses is phytocenoses.
Phytocenoses are:
1) main receivers and transformers of solar energy,
2) the main suppliers of products in the biogeocenosis,
3) their structure objectively reflects the processes of formation and transformation of the basis of life on the planet - organic matter, and in general all the processes occurring in biogeocenosis.
4) at the same time, they are easily accessible for study directly in nature,
5) for them, over the course of several decades, effective field research methods and methods of office processing of factual materials have been developed and are being developed.
It is the main attention that we will pay to phytocenosis and methods of studying it. Moreover, many of the patterns characteristic of phytocenosis also apply to zoocenosis and microorganisms.
