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Paper No. : 11 Ecological Anthropology: Cultural and Biological Dimensions Module : 27 Concept of Human Ecology Development Team Principal Investigator Prof. Anup Kumar Kapoor Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi Paper Coordinator Dr. K. R. Rammohan Department of Anthropology, Sikkim University, Sikkim Content Writer Dr. Ajeet Jaiswal Department of Anthropology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry Content Reviewer Prof. A. Paparao Department of Anthropology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati 1 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Description of Module Subject Name Anthropology Paper Name Ecological Anthropology: Cultural and Biological Dimensions Module Name/Title Concept of Human Ecology Module Id 27 Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Human ecology : Basic Definition 3. The Origins of Human Ecology 4. Environmental Determinism 5. Environmental Possibilism 6. Principal Concepts 7. Cultural Ecology and Human Ecology 8. Anthropologists used ecological concepts 9. Importance of Ecology 10. Summary Learning objectives: This module focuses on the basic concepts of human ecology. The study of this module enables the students at postgraduate level to understand the key concepts in human ecology. This module also discuss about the Anthropologists used ecological concepts and importance of ecology 2 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology 1. Introduction: Considerable disagreement exists within anthropology regarding the application of ecological concepts and principles to the study of human social behavior. Although many anthropologists have applied ecological concepts and principles in their study of human populations, (Barth, 1956; Rappaport, 1968; Gall and Saxe, 1977; Leone, 1979; Winterhalder and Smith, 1981; Abruzzi, 1982; 1987; 1989; 1993) other anthropologists have rejected such applications as largely naive and inappropriate uses of biological concepts (Vayda and McCay, 1975; Bennett, 1976; Lees and Bates, 1984; Smith, 1984). Such disagreement even exists among anthropologists who have adopted an explicit ecological orientation (Moran, 1984). Ecological anthropologists who view themselves as human ecologists generally see ecology as providing a testable framework for examining both human and non human social behavior within a unified theoretical perspective. Those who view themselves as cultural ecologists, on the other hand, are more likely to reject a strict application of ecological principles to the study of the human condition on the grounds that culture acts as a mediating force which renders human adaptation to the environment analytically distinct from that of all other species. For cultural ecologists, ecology serves more as an orientation for the study of human environmental relations than as an operational set of theoretical principles which can be used to explain specific human social behaviors. This is clearly illustrated by the history of the use of such concepts as niche and ecosystem in the anthropological literature. For the most part, these concepts have been extended to human populations completely separated from the theoretical systems from which they derive their utility and meaning. They have, instead, mostly served as metaphors organizing a largely functionalist view of human environmental relations among preliterate nonwestern peoples (Barth, 1956; Rappaport, 1968; Leone, 1979). 2. Human ecology: Basic Definition Human ecology is the study of the interactions of humans with their environments, or the study of the distribution and abundance of humans. This definition is based directlyon conventional definitions of biological ecology. Ecology is usually defined as the studyof interactions of organisms with their environments and each other. More pointedly, itcan be defined as the study of the distribution and 3 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology abundance of organisms. This definitionis deceptive. It implies much more than it says explicitly because virtually everything thathumans are or do (and the same goes for any species) affects their distribution and abundance.Thus, using the term “human ecology” actually expresses a broad ambition to understand human behavior (Odum, 1968; Odum, and Barrett, 2005). So, it is the study of the relationships between humans and their environments is a field with a largescope and complex history. It arose out of multiple disciplines—animal biology, anthropology, geology, ecology, and sociology—in the early 1900s as scientists struggled to make sense of the impact of humans on theman-made and natural environment and the impact of environments on the social systems of humans. Humanecology is also viewed by many as a methodology or framework for studying human activities and socialinstitutions, often in conjunction with the health and functioning of the natural environment (Jaiswal, 2013). 3. The Origins of Human Ecology Since ancient times there have been many attempts to explain events in terms of environmental influences on human behavior. Astrology represents one early system of thought relating environmental forces to human actions. Although wholly discredited as a scientific theory by modern astronomy, the belief that the movement of the stars controls human destiny retains a strong hold on the popular imagination, as evidenced by the appearance of astrological advice columns in many daily newspapers. In a vein more compatible with modern scientific thought, the ancient Greek philosophers recognized that man was both influenced by nature and a force for change in the environment. It was suggested, for example, that the different forms of political organization of the Greek city states and the Eastern empires reflected the influences o f climate on the personalities of their citizen. This theme later was developed by Montesquieu and other French writers of the Enlightenment and advocated in recent times by the American geographer Samuel Huntington. Other classical writers commented on the destruction of the natural landscape of Attica and North Africa resulting from deforestation and overgrazing, a theme taken up in the mid-1800s by George P. Marsh, whose book, Man and Nature, or, 4 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action was a precursor of the ecological catastrophe writings so popular recently. These early writings, however, were generally anecdotal rather than presenting a coherent theory of human-environment relationships. It was only with the development of geography and anthropology as scientific disciplines in the latter part of the nineteenth century that human ecology became the subject of systematic study. The first theoretical approach to be tried, however, was that of environmental determinism—a false starts that greatly retarded subsequent development of human ecology. 4. Environmental Determinism Around the turn of the century, geographers, notably Friedrich Ratzel in Germany and his American disciple, Ellen C. Semple, espoused the view that humans were completely the product of their environment, a theory that came to be called environmental determinism. Followers o f this school, which dominated geographical thought well into the 1920s, asserted that all aspects of human culture and behavior were caused directly by environmental influences (Figure 1). For example, the British were a nation of seafarers because they were an island-dwelling race surrounded by seas; the Arabs were monotheistic Muslims because living in the vast empty desert turned their minds toward a single God; the Eskimos were primitive nomads because the harsh conditions of their arctic habitat forbade their development into a complex civilization. The books of Semple and others were filled with endless listings of seemingly plausible environmental determinants of cultural forms. Although seductive when first encountered, such claims of causal correlation between environment and culture were easily refuted once given careful consideration. For example, the Tasmanians, who lived on an island not unlike the one inhabited by the English, made no ships; the Arab tribes who had wandered that vast lonely desert for thousands of years before the appearance of Muhammad were believers in a large pantheon of spirits; and the icy wastes once traversed by Eskimo dog sleds are now the scene of snowmobile races alongside giant oil pipelines. There is simply too much variation in human behavior in seemingly similar geographical settings for it to be environmentally determined. 5 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Figure 1. : The model of Environmental Determinism (Source: Rambo, 1983) 5. Environmental Possibilism In place o f the discredited determinism, a new theory, called environmental possibilism, was proposed. Its proponents asserted that while the environment did not directly cause specific cultural developments, the presence or absence of specific environmental factors placed limits on such developments by either permitting or forbidding their occurrence (Figure 2). Thus, island peoples could be seafarers, but residents of Inner Mongolia could not be; inhabitants of temperate regions might practice agriculture, but those living in arctic latitudes could not. The value of the possibilist approach was perhaps best demonstrated by the American anthropologist Kroeber, who showed that the Indians of northwestern North America could not adopt maize agriculture from their southern neighbors because the frost-free growing season in their region was shorter than the four months required for the maize plants to reach maturity. Their environment thus limited the ability of their culture to evolve in an agricultural direction. A possibilist stance was also taken by the British historian Arnold Toynbee in his multivolumed A Study of History (1947), in which he argued that the development of civilizations could be explained in terms o f their responses to environmental challenges. Cultures located in the benign tropics failed to 6 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology evolve because they were not sufficiently challenged by their environment; those in extremely harsh habitats such as the Eskimos in the arctic remained forever primitive because simply coping with the demands of their environment sapped all o f their creative energies. Only those cultures in environments offering sufficient but not excessive challenges had the possibility of progressing to higher stages of civilization. Possibilism suffers from one overriding defect as a scientific theory; it lacks any general predictive or explanatory power since it is able to explain only why certain developments could not occur in certain environments. It is totally unable to predict whether or not they would occur under favorable circumstances. For example, the failure of Eskimos to grow corn is explainable, but possibilism cannot explain why the English were great seafarers while the Tasmanians were not. Clearly, the difference in the latter case was due to existence of very different cultural traditions and bodies of technological knowledge rather than reflecting environmental influences. In short, as the British anthropologist Daryll Forde concluded in his book, Habitat, Economy and Society (1934), which was perhaps the last major scientific exploration o f possibilism, "between the physical environment and human activity there is always a middle term, a collection of specific objectives and values, a body of knowledge and belief: in other words, a cultural pattern." With this realization, social scientists tended to turn from studying human interactions with the environment, preferring instead to focus on the seemingly more profitable study of the internal structure and functioning of cultural and social systems. Following the French sociologist Emile Durkheim's injunction that "social facts" could be explained only in terms of other social facts, cultural development was explained by the concept of diffusionism—the historical spread of traits from one culture to others, without reference being made to possible environmental influences on the process. It was not until the 1950s that social scientists, acting under the influences of Julian Steward's concept of cultural ecology, again turned serious attention to the study of human interactions with the environment. 7 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Figure 2. : The model of Environmental Possibilism (Source: Rambo, 1983) 6. Principal Concepts Carrying Capacity: According to Moran (1979), carrying capacity is "the number of individuals that ahabitat can support" (Moran 1979). This idea is related to population pressure, referring to the demands of apopulation on the resources of its ecosystem (Moran 1979). If the technology of a group shifts, then the carryingcapacity changes as well. An example of the application of carrying capacity within ecological anthropology isdemonstrated in Rappaport’s study of the TsembagaMaring. Cultural Ecology: The Cultural Ecology theory considers how environmental forces influence humans and how human activities affect the biosphere and the Earth itself (Kottak,, 2009). The study of the environment’s effects on humans was especially prevalent in the 1950s and 1970s when Julian Steward founded the anthropological theory of Cultural Ecology. Steward defined Cultural Ecology in his 1955 book, The Theory of Cultural Change, as "a heuristic device for understanding the effect of environment upon culture" (Steward, 1955). 8 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Culture Core: Julian Steward (1955) defined the cultural core as the features of a society that are the mostclosely related to subsistence activities and economic arrangements. Furthermore, the core includes political,religious, and social patterns that are connected to (or in relationship with) such arrangements (Steward 1955). Diachronic Study: Adiachronic study is one that includes an historical or evolutionary time dimension (Moran,1979). Steward used a diachronic approach in his studies (Moran, 1979). Ecology: Ecology is the study of the interaction between living and nonliving components of the environment (Moran 1979). This pertains to the relationship between an organism and all aspects of its environment. Ecosystem: An ecosystem is the structural and functional interrelationships among living organisms and the environment of which they are a part (Moran, 1990). Ecosystems are complex and can be viewed on different scales or levels. Moran’s study of soils in the Amazon is an example of microlevel ecosystem analysis. Ecosystem Approach/Model: This is an approach used by some ecological anthropologists that focuses on physical (abiotic) components. Moran (1990) claims that this view uses the physical environment as the basis around which evolving species and adaptive responses are examined. The ecosystem approach had played central role within ecological anthropology. Environmental Determinism: Adeterministic approach assigns one factor as the dominant influence inexplanations. Environmental determinism is based on the assumption that cultural and natural areas are coterminous,because culture represents an adaptation to the particular environment (Steward, 1955). Therefore, environmentalfactors determine human social and cultural behaviors (Milton, 1997). 9 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Ethnoecology: Ethnoecology is the paradigm that investigates native thought about environmental phenomena (Barfield, 1997). Studies in ethnoecology often focus on indigenous classification hierarchies referring toparticular aspects of the environment (for example, soil types, plants, and animals). Ethnobotany: Ethnobotany is an ethno-scientific study of the relationship between human beings and plant life.During the 1960's ethnobotanical units were used in ecological comparisons (Kottak, 1999). Historical Ecology: Historical ecology examines how culture and environment mutually influence each other overtime (Barfield, 1997). These studies have diachronic dimensions. Historical ecology is holistic and affirms that life is not independent from culture. This is an ecological perspective adhering to the idea that the relationship between a human population and its physical environment can be examined holistically, rather than deterministically. Landscapes can be understood historically, as well as ecologically. Historical ecology attempts to study land as an artifact of human activity (Balée, 1996). Latent Function: A latent function of a behavior is not explicitly stated, recognized, or intended by the people involved. Thus, they are identified by observers. Latent functions are associated with etic and operational models. For example, in Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People (2000), the latent function of the sacrifice is the presence of too many pigs, while its manifest function is the sacrifice of pigs to ancestors (Balée, 1996). Limiting Factor: In the 1960s cultural ecology focused on showing how resources could be limiting factors. A limiting factor is a variable in a region that, despite the limits or settings of any other variable, will limit the carrying capacity of that region to a certain number. Manifest Function: A manifest function is explicitly stated and understood by the participants in the relevant action. The manifest function of a rain dance is to produce rain, and this outcome is intended and desired by people participating in the ritual. This could also be defined as emic with cognized models. 10 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Neofunctionalism: This term represents a productive but short lived 1960s revision of structural functionalism. Neofunctionalism attends explicitly to the modeling of systems level interactions, especially negative feedback, and assigns primary importance to techno-environmental forces, especially environment, ecology, and population (Bettinger, 1996). Within neofunctionalism, culture is reduced to an adaptation, and functional behaviors are homeostatic and deviation counteracting, serving to maintain the system at large (Bettinger, 1996). Neofunctional well being is measured in tangible currencies, such as population density, that relate to fitness (as in evolutionary biology) (Bettinger, 1996). Optimal forging theory: This theoretical perspective examines forging methods from the cost/benefit angle (Dove and Carpenter, 2008). Analysis of this sort allows for researchers to determine the choices and logic behindchanges in forging methods. Population ecology: Ecologists study many different aspects of ecosystems. One aspect that is of particular importance is population ecology. This field of study is concerned with populations and how they interact with their environment. A population is all of the individuals of the same species within an ecological community. Ecologists are interested in the growth of a population, fluctuations in population size, the spread of the population, and any other interactions with the population or between it and other populations. Ecologists may also study different groups of populations that are not located in the same area but interact at certain times throughout the year. If this group of populations are the same species and can still interbreed, they are a meta-population. Individuals within a meta-population may migrate from one population to the other, which can help stabilize the size of the overall population. Swidden agriculture/shifting cultivation: Also known as slash and burn agriculture/ Jhum cultivation , this type of farming involvesburning new forest for planting. Burning the forest, which is difficult in tropic and sub tropic regions, mixes the to player of soil allowing for nutrients to reach the cultigens (Dove and Carpenter, 2008).According to Dove andCarpenter (2008), even though there is minimal ecological destruction and people are able to 11 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology generate a high rate offood production, there are still many misconceptions about the practice (Dove and Carpenter, 2008). Synchronic Study: Rappaport conducted synchronic studies. These are shortterminvestigations that occur at onepoint in time and do not consider historical processes. Systems ecology: Systems ecology is an interdisciplinary field of ecology, a subset of Earth system science that takes a holistic approach to the study of ecological systems, especially ecosystems. Systems ecology can be seen as an application of general systems theory to ecology. Central to the systems ecology approach is the idea that an ecosystem is a complex system exhibiting emergent properties. Systems ecology focuses on interactions and transactions within and between biological and ecological systems, and is especially concerned with the way the functioning of ecosystems can be influenced by human interventions. It uses and extends concepts from thermodynamics and develops other macroscopic descriptions of complex systems. Ecosystem Services: Ecosystems have measurable emergent properties, such as productivity, diversity, stability. A subset of these properties can be considered ‘useful’ in some way to human standard of living. This subset has been terms ‘ecosystem services’. The phrase is commonly used to help quantify the economic benefits of conserving biodiversity (Foster and Clark, 2008). Applied ecology: Applied ecology is the practice of employing ecological principles andunderstanding to solve real world problems. E.g. calculating fish population,measuring environmental impact from construction or logging, building a casefor the conservation of a species, and determining the most effective way toprotect a species. Behavioral ecology: Studies the ecological and evolutionary basis for animal behavior,and the roles of behavior in enablinganimals to adapt to their ecological niches. 12 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Autecology/ Population ecology: Population ecology deals with the dynamics of populations within species, and the interactions of these populations with environmental factors. Population ecology, usually focusing on the abundance and distribution of individual species and the factors that cause such distribution. Synecology / Community ecology: Community ecologystudies the interactions between species within an ecological community. Landscape ecology:studies the interactions between discrete elements of a landscape. Ecosystem ecology: Ecosystem ecology studies the flows of energy and matter through ecosystems. Ecosystem ecology having to do with the structure and function of the entire suiteof microbes, plants, and animals, and their abiotic environment, and how the partsinteract to generate the whole. This branch of ecology often focuses on the energyand nutrient flows of ecosystems, and when this approach is combined withcomputer analysis and simulation we often call it systems ecology (Levin, 1998). Global ecology: looks at ecological questions at the global level, often askingmacroecological questions.. Biodiversity: An accepted shortening of the phrase ‘biological diversity’. The biological variation found in a defined spatial area: can refer to variation at the level of genome, phenotype, species, community or ecosystem. Most commonly used to describe species richness or diversity, but this common usage should not restrict its correct wider definition (Rosenzweig, 2003). Climate Change: Long-term changes in the climatic variables experienced in a defined spatial area (which could vary from local weather to global climate). Recent usage refers to recent and future climate change, which is expected to impose stresses on human standard of living and on the integrity of natural systems. Community: All species in a defined spatial area or ecosystem, which interact via trophic, competitive, commensal, amensal or mutualistic interactions. Members of a community may interact directly, or indirectly (e.g. apparent competition) if they share interaction links to other species in the community. There is some 13 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology debate regarding the true scale at which a ‘community’ can be defined as an independent unit of organisation, with no interaction links outside its boundaries. A common obfuscation is to define a ‘sub-community’ (an arbitrarily chosen set of species that are part of a wider community) as a ‘community’ associated with a key species (e.g. the herbivore ‘community’ associated with a certain plant species) (Rosenzweig, 2003). Competition: The process via which multiple organisms gain a greater or lesser share of a limited resource. During exploitation competition, strategies concentrate on the gathering of the resource. During interference competition, organisms engage in strategies that protect their share of the resource for future use, or prevent competitors from exploiting that resource (Allee et al., 1949). Evolution: Change in the relative frequencies of heritable genetic information across generations of organisms. This change can be driven by the deterministic process of natural selection, which acts on genetic variation caused by stochastic mutation processes. Or, evolutionary change can occur via stochastic genetic drift in small populations: drift favours some alleles numerically even though they offer no fitness advantage to their carriers. There exists an important distinction between microevolution, which is change in heritable characteristics within species over short evolutionary timescales, and macroevolution, which is the larger-scale formation of new species during adaptive radiations. Global Warming: A significant, long-term increase in mean global temperatures (air or ocean) during the 20th century, and projected to continue into the future. Commonly used synonymously with climate change, but actually only a subset of the climatic parameters that are predicted to change. It should also be noted that an increase in global mean temperature does not mean that any specific part of the globe can expect to be warmer in the future (Egerton, 2007). Invasive Species: As a broad definition, any species that has recently expanded its realised niche to colonise a new biogeographical area.Can be used synonymously with ‘non-native’. The negative connotations of the 14 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology word ‘invasive’ makes ‘invasive species’ commonly synonymous with ‘exotic pest’ or ‘exotic weed’, i.e. a species from ‘elsewhere’ that causes harm to human economy or standard of living. In conservation biology, also commonly defined as a non-native species that harms native biodiversity. Note that only a fraction of non-native species that colonise a new area become established, and that only a fraction of these established invaders cause harm to humans or to biodiversity. An important challenge is to predict invasiveness and therefore prevent introduction of harmful invasive organisms (Allee et al., 1949). Restoration Ecology: The deliberate management of communities and/or ecosystems, in an attempt to regenerate or recreate historical levels of native biodiversity. Scavenging: Feeding on dead bodies. Animals feeding on flesh of dead animal is called scavengers Amensalism: An interaction in which one organism suffers a reduction in resources, or an increase in costs imposed by conditions, due to the presence of another organism. The latter species gains no benefit or cost from its interaction with the harmed organism. It is this lack of benefit or cost to one interactor that distinguishes amensalism from competition, predation or parasitism. Commensalism: An interaction in which one organism gains resources (or shelter from conditions) from the presence of the other species. The latter species gains no benefit or cost from its interaction with the commensal. Mutualism/Symbiosis: A biotic interaction in which two organisms gain an increase in resources, or a reduction in stressful conditions, from the presence of the other organism. Some mutualisms are obligate, such that neither species can exist without the other, while many are facultative, such that the mutualists can still persist (but with less numerical success) in each other’s absence. Protocooperation: It is non-obligatory beneficial relationship that develops when two different organisms get associated. Competition: It is rivalry for obtaining the same resources. Intraspecific competition reduces the size of the population. Interspecific competition causes one to be eliminated (Grause hypothesis/ Principle of Competitive exclusion) or undergo different adaptations. Parasitism: A trophic interaction in which individuals of one species (the parasite) feeds upon the tissues of living individuals of another species (the host). Strictly, parasite-host interactions should not 15 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology cause death of the host individual. If death occurs (for example in deadly diseases), the parasite produces multiple generations of offspring per host individual (hence death of the host cannot be attributed directly to the actions of any single parasite individual). Predation: A trophic interaction in which individuals of one species (the predator) kills and eats individuals of another species (the prey). Altruistic Behaviour: This is sacrificial of an individual or small number of individual for protecting the remaining members 7. Cultural Ecology and Human Ecology Cultural ecology and human ecology are closely related and represent a continuum of approaches and themes within the human environment and nature society subfields of geography, the cognate disciplines, and the expanding domains of interdisciplinary ideas and research. Specifically, cultural ecology denotes the habitually embedded adaptive practices and behaviors that have coevolved in the relations between humans and their nonhuman worlds; Human ecology denotes systems of bidirectional interactions, mutual linfluences, and dynamics of change within human societies and their environments. In addition to the meanings associated with the traditional subfields, the terms cultural ecology and human ecology both are used more expansively. Their broader meanings, increasingly common, denote the range of activities, institutions, and ideas that are rooted in the interrelations of humans, their societies, and their environments. In the early 21st century, the influence of the concepts of cultural ecology and human ecology—such as adaptation, sustainability, and degradation—is integral to rapidly expanding interdisciplinary subfields such as political ecology, sustainability science, global change science, land change science, environment developmentand population environment studies, agro-biodiversity analysis, political ecologies of health, resilience ecology, ecological footprint analysis, and social ecological systems(SESs). 8. Anthropologists used ecological concepts Anthropologists used ecological concepts to study the history and culture of human groups and societies to explain their success, failure, or adaptation. The concepts of equilibrium, movement of 16 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology resources, sustainable development (meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs), and the adaptation of organizational systems have been applied to the study of families, communities, race relations, schools, workplaces, government agencies, and other social institutions. It was in the study of urban environments that the concepts of human ecology achieved prominence. Sociologists working in this area—Park and Burgess (1920s), Frazier and Sutherland (1930s), and Janowitz (1950s)—addressed key issues such as the impact of human settlement on land use patterns (for example, traffic flow patterns, water and flood management), the intertwined history of industrial development and urban decay, race relations, and white flight to the suburbs—in other words, the components of urban and regional planning. The underlying issue understands how demands for space and resources influence the development of community and business organizations across rural and urban landscapes, and how the environment influences the structures and strictures imposed by human social systems. 9. Importance of Ecology 1. Since all of us live in a natural or partly natural ecosystem, then considerable pleasure can be derived by studying the environment around us. 2. Human economies are based on the exploitation and management of nature. Applied ecology is used every day in forestry, fisheries, range management, agriculture, and so on to provide us with the food and fiber we need. 3. Human societies can often be understood very clearly from an ecological perspectives as we study, for example, the population dynamics (demography) of our own species, the food and fossil energy flowing through our society. 4. Humans appear to be changing aspects of the global environment in many ways. Thus, ecology can be very useful to help us understand what these changes are, what the implications might be for various ecosystems, and how we might intervene in either human economies or in nature to try to mitigate or otherwise alter these changes. There are many professional ecologists, who believe that these apparent changes from human activities have the potential to generate enormous harm to both natural ecosystems and human economies. Understanding, predicting and adapting to these issues 17 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology could be the most important of all possible issue for humans to deal with. In this case ecology and environmentalism can be the same (May, 1999). 10. Summary Considerable disagreement exists within anthropology regarding the application of ecological concepts and principles to the study of human social behavior. For cultural ecologists, ecology serves more as an orientation for the study of human environmental relations than as an operational set of theoretical principles which can be used to explain specific human social behaviors. Human ecology is the study of the interactions of humans with their environments,or the study of the distribution and abundance of humans. Since ancient times there have been many attempts to explain events in terms of environmental influences on human behavior. Around the turn of the century, geographers, notably Friedrich Ratzel in Germany and his American disciple, Ellen C. Semple, espoused the view that humans were completely the product of their environment, a theory that came to be called environmental determinism. In place o f the discredited determinism, a new theory, called environmental possibilism, was proposed. Its proponents asserted that while the environment did not directly cause specific cultural developments, the presence or absence of specific environmental factors placed limits on such developments by either permitting or forbidding their occurrence. carrying capacity is "the number of individuals that ahabitat can support. The Cultural Ecology theory considers how environmental forces influence humans and how human activities affect the biosphere and the Earth itself Julian Steward (1955) defined the cultural core as the features of a society that are the most closely related to subsistence activities and economic arrangements. Ethnoecology is the paradigm that investigates native thought about environmental phenomena. Historical ecology examines how culture and environment mutually influence each other overtime. 18 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology Ecologists study many different aspects of ecosystems. One aspect that is of particular importance is population ecology. Systems ecology is an interdisciplinary field of ecology, a subset of Earth system science that takes a holistic approach to the study of ecological systems, especially ecosystems. Ecosystems have measurable emergent properties, such as productivity, diversity, stability. Ecosystem ecology studies the flows of energy and matter through ecosystems. Cultural ecology and human ecology are closely related and represent a continuum of approaches and themes within the human environment and nature society subfields of geography, the cognate disciplines, and the expanding domains of interdisciplinary ideas and research. Anthropologists used ecological concepts to study the history and culture of human groups and societies toexplain their success, failure, or adaptation. Thus, ecology can be very useful to help us understand what these changes are, what the implications might be for various ecosystems, and how we might intervene in either human economies or in nature to try to mitigate or otherwise alter these changes. 19 Concept of Human Ecology Anthropology View publication stats
