Читать книгу Fundamentals of Conservation Biology - Malcolm L. Hunter Jr. - Страница 19

The elements of modern ecology can be traced to Hippocrates, Aristotle, and other Greek philosophers, but it was probably Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) who first articulated truly sophisticated ecological ideas, for example linking air pollution and deforestation to climate change (Wulf 2015). Nevertheless, the word “ecology” was not coined until 1869. Scientific societies of ecology and ecology journals followed in the early 1900s, and ecology soon proved useful in developing a scientific basis for forestry and other areas of natural resource management. However, ecology did not move into the public eye until the advent of environmentalism. As the environmental movement spawned new government agencies, advocacy groups, and consulting firms, universities educated large numbers of young ecologists to fill these organizations. Schools at all levels began informing students about the relationships between organisms and their environment. Consequently, there are now many professional ecologists and other experts who focus on the science of solving environmental problems, and many more people who are activists and call themselves ecologists out of concern for these issues.