Ecology laws

ECOLOGY TERMS

Chapter 1 - THEORY OF ECOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

Ecology and safety is scientific and practical course that studies aspects of safety and ecology in interactions between organisms and their natural environment.

Purpose of the course: providing students with appropriate to modern life knowledge of hazards, emergencies, their characteristics and possible biological effects, practical risk management and protection of environment.

Objectives of the course: studying sources of environment contamination and its health effect; learning practical environmental protection and safety in emergency situations.

Subject: safety and ecology in interactions between people and their natural environment.

At completion of the reading students will have knowledge of:

- ecology and safety terms;

- characteristics of environment and its contamination;

- procedure of risk management;

- emergency management;

- provision of a first aid service;

- properties of protective equipment.

At the end of this course students will be able to:

- assess contamination of environment;

- identify potential hazards, their type, intensity, source and location;

- assess the risk of an accident, its likelihood, consequences and rating;

- apply the risk controls to improve level of industrial safety and ecology;

- use personal protective equipment and equipment to protect personnel and people from technical accidents and natural disasters.

Ecosystem (biogeocenosis): a system involving the interactions between a community and its non-living environment.

Biogeocenosis includes biotope and biocenosis.

Biotope: a small area that supports its own distinctive community.

Biocenosis: a diverse community inhabiting a single biotope.

Ecological factors: any environmental condition able to produce direct or indirect effect on community and its interaction.

They are:

- abiotic – influence of non-living environment;

- biotic – action of living organisms;

- anthropogenic – man’s impact;

- technogenic – industrial impact.

Ecology axioms of Commoner:

- everything is interconnected;

- everything should get somewhere;

- nothing comes for free;

- nature knows better.

Multitude law: many occasional factors produce result, which is not assumed occasional.

Correlation law: all parts of one organism are interconnected, that’s why changes in one part cause changes in the others.

Le-Shatelie – Braun principle: if system is exposed to external factor, that takes it to imbalance, balance tends to condition reducing effect of external factor.

Law of minimum (the first law in history of ecology): living potential is limited by that environmental factor which is in minimum.

Tolerance law: adds law of minimum and asserts that both minimum and maximum of environmental factors could be limiting.

Diapason between minimum and maximum defines zone of optimum.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-04