Geoecology is ... What does geoecology study

The science of geoecology is a discipline at the junction of ecology and geography. In its framework, the features, composition, structure and processes of the human habitat are studied. Specialists in this field are working to protect the biosphere from unfavorable changes caused by people's economic activities.

Subject of study

The main task of specialists in the field of geoecology is the search for a compromise between the population, production and nature. To do this, they study the sources of anthropogenic impact on the environment, their spatial-temporal distribution and intensity. Studies of the destruction of natural media and components are conducted, and their dynamics is monitored.

The load on the geoecosystem is what geoecology is studying. To this end, it analyzes the reaction of living organisms to the technological processes affecting them. Scientists model, predict and evaluate anthropogenic impact. The result of their work, as a rule, is the preparation of recommendations, which outline the most optimal ways to use the geoecosystem.

Place in science

From the point of view of scientific classification, geoecology is a subsection of ecology in general (sometimes it is called megaecology). Like every discipline, it has its own specific object of study. In the case of geoecology, these are ecosystems of a high hierarchical level (eg continent, biosphere, biome, ocean).

There are other assessments of the place of discipline in science. Among other things, geoecology is the fourth division of geography (along with the economic, physical and social). But that's not all. Geoecology is closely intertwined with geology - it studies the geological environment and its connections with other environments, including hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. This science gives an assessment of human influence on all of them.

Borderline discipline

What studies geoecology, differs systemic character (such are, for example, the interaction of the abiotic environment and living organisms). Specifically for this science, scientists have introduced a new term. This is a geoecosystem that is the result of the interaction of the hydrosphere, the biosphere, the atmosphere and the lithosphere. It is also seen as the product of a clash between society and nature. The consequence of their interaction is the emergence of open and closed geoecological systems.

Like any other boundary discipline, this science uses research methods of very different nature. Geoecology is a system that can not be described only by one indicator, and hence, in this case, integration of geology, geography, ecology and some other areas of human knowledge is required.

Global and universal problems

The study of geography and geoecology reveals two types of problems. They can be divided into global and universal. The first include problems affecting the entire ecosphere (example - the greenhouse effect). The universal type refers to negative trends repeated in different modifications. These include the reduction of the diversity of life on Earth and the destruction of the ozone layer of the planet.

The Department of Geography and Geoecology pays special attention to problems of soil degradation. The deterioration of its quality leads to a decrease in fertility. As a rule, degradation is caused by people's economic activities. Nevertheless, its cause can serve as a certain natural factor (landslides, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, etc.).

Research principles

The research of geoecologists has several key principles. The first one is regional. It takes into account local geo-ecological conditions. The historical principle is based on an analysis of the reasons for the formation of the system and the circumstances of its development. In the study, specialists also take into account its structure, dynamics and functioning processes. One of the foundations of such studies is the landscape map.

Geoecology, ecology and border science with them can not fail to take into account the resource factor. Scientists pay considerable attention to the temporal and spatial patterns of the development of the landscape and of nature as a whole. An important role is played by the so-called basin principle. According to him, the analysis of the state of hydrogeology, the flow of energy, substances and information is important.

Concepts and ideas

The theoretical basis of geoecology is the concept of biocenosis, developed in the XIX century by the scientist Karl Mobius. By this term is meant the totality of living organisms living in the same natural conditions. Any institute of geoecology pays attention to such concepts as geographical envelope, ecosystem, landscape, noosphere, geosystem concept, concept of geotechnical system.

The theoretical foundation of the discipline was formed due to two maternal sciences and their progress in the last century and a half. Thanks to geography in geoecology, a comprehensive concept of natural interrelations and the role of individual geocomponents, the concepts of differentiation and integration, has developed. The other side of this coin is also important. Ecology has introduced into geoecology the terms of the noosphere and the biosphere, the system of views on the cycle of substances and the quality of the environment.

Preconditions for the emergence of

Individual views, characteristic of geoecology, were expressed even before it appeared. So, the great English economist of the XVIII century Adam Smith studied in detail natural resources as a source of national wealth. His compatriot Thomas Malthus in 1798 almost for the first time tried to theoretically comprehend the danger of an ecological crisis caused by a food deficit. As already noted above, the phenomenon of the cycle of substances is very important for the science in question. The first to study it was lived in the XIX century Justas Liebig, thus justified the theory of mineral nutrition of plants.

The formation of geoecology was influenced by the fundamental work of Charles Darwin "The Origin of Species" (1859), as well as the book of the American geographer George Perkins Marsh "Man and Nature" (1864). It was this researcher who was one of the first to declare the need to limit economic activities that harmed the environment.

Russian scientist Alexander Voeikov in 1891 described ways to combat adverse natural phenomena (dry winds, frosts, droughts, etc.). As countermeasures, he proposed water melioration and afforestation. Professor of St. Petersburg University Vasily Dokuchaev in 1903 completed the development of the doctrine of soil, in which it was regarded as a natural-historical body. All these works later played a role in the formation of geoecology.

The origin of geoecology

The history of the study of geography, geoecology, tourism and other related disciplines has common roots. They can be traced if one looks closely at the evolution of science in the twentieth century. The emergence of geoecology is associated with the emergence of landscape ecology, which occurred in 1939. The founder of this discipline was Carl Troll. He studied the climate, relief, vegetation and the interrelationships of various natural factors. It was Troll who introduced the concept of landscape ecology, which, when translated from German into English, was transformed into geological ecology or geoecology.

A double term clearly demonstrated its essence. In the new discipline, Carl Troll combined two research approaches. One (horizontal) was to study natural phenomena and their interactions, and the other (vertical) was based on the study of their relationships within the ecosystem. The new science became a counterbalance to the already existing disciplines. For example, geoecology was very different from biological ecology, which had a separate structure (ecology of animals, plants, microorganisms, etc.). The brainchild of Charles Troll gradually expanded his competence. In the 1960s, Under the scope of geoecology, man's economic activity and its influence on the landscape and the environment fell.