Subject, tasks and objects of studying ecology, structure of modern ecology. Brief history of development

The subject of ecology is the totality of connections between organisms and the environment, fertility, mortality, intraspecific relationships, energy flows, and the circulation of substances. The main object of study in ecology - ecosystems(single natural complexes formed by living organisms and their environment).

The challenges of ecology are very diverse. They can be divided into theoretical and applied.

TO theoretical problems relate:

1. Development general theory sustainability of ecological systems.

2. Study of ecological mechanisms of adaptation to the environment.

3. Study of population regulation.

4. Study biological diversity and the mechanisms for its maintenance.

5. Research of production processes.

6. Study of processes occurring in the biosphere in order to maintain its stability.

7. Modeling the state of ecosystems and global biosphere processes.

TO applied tasks include the following:

1. Prediction and assessment of negative consequences in the natural environment under the influence of human activity.

2. Improvements in environmental quality natural environment.

3. Conservation, reproduction and rational use natural resources.

4. Optimization of engineering, economic, organizational, legal, social and other solutions to ensure economically safe sustainable development, primarily in the most environmentally disadvantaged areas.

Main sections of ecology.

The structure of ecology is considered from various points of view, and a unified system does not yet exist. Theoretical basis ecology is general ecology, which includes a number of sections:

1. Autecology (from the Greek autos - himself) - a branch of ecology that studies the relationship of an organism with the external environment, which is based on its morphophysiological reactions to environmental influences. Any ecological study begins with the study of these reactions.

2. Demecology (from Greek demos - people) or population ecology studies natural groupings of individuals of the same species, that is, populations are elementary supraorganismal macrosystems. The most important task of demecology is to clarify the conditions for the formation of a population, as well as intra-population groups and their relationships, structure, and population dynamics.

3. Eidecology (from the Greek eidos - image, appearance) , or ecology of species, is the least developed section of modern ecology. A species as a level of organization of living nature, as a supraorganismal biological macrosystem, is just beginning to become an object of environmental research. In environmental science, the integration of living organisms into systems is traditionally based on the following scheme: individual (organism) - population - biogeocenosis (ecosystem) - biosphere. The view is not reflected in this diagram. Thus, any new individual (organism) and population, as representatives of a specific species, are simultaneously part of a certain biocenosis, that is, they seem to have double subordination. This second system of integration of living nature can be represented by the following scheme: individual - population - species - biosphere.

4. Synecology (from the Greek syn - together) , or ecology of communities (biocenology), studies associations of populations different types plants, animals and microorganisms forming biocenoses, their formation and development, structure, dynamics, interactions with physical and chemical environmental factors, energy, productivity and other features. Based on out-, demo- and eidecology, synecology acquires its own clearly defined character. Synecological research is aimed at studying the relationships of populations, communities and ecosystems with the environment.

There is a close relationship between the sections and areas of ecology.

From the point of view of objects of study, ecology is divided into plant ecology,animals, microorganisms, humans, etc. The division is artificial. The artificial gap between these sciences continues to this day, but attempts are being made to unite them.

Modern science is not limited only to the biological discipline. The relevance and versatility of the emerging problem caused by the worsening environmental situation has led to the greening of many natural, technical and humanities. At the intersection of ecology with other industries, the development of new directions continues: environmental engineering, geoecology, mathematics, agriculture, space, etc.

That. ecology is associated with biological sciences, non-biological sciences, and social sciences.

Ecological methods

1. field studies.
2. office processing (using equipment)
3. mathematical methods(statistical)

4. modeling (Example: did not take into account local peculiarities river flow of the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers, did not model the situation, as a result, there is a problem of the Aral Sea);

5. forecasting (it is known that the Earth’s world reserves remain [at the current rate of resource use]: oil, gas - 85-80 years; coal- 140 years; copper - 64 years; silver - 29 years; rare earth metals - 45-60 years; iron ore).

Ecology(from the Greek "oikos" - house, dwelling and "logos" - teaching) - a science that studies the conditions of existence of living organisms and the relationship between organisms and the environment in which they live. Ecology initially developed as component biology, in close connection with other natural sciences - chemistry, physics, geology, geography, and mathematics. The subject of study in ecology is the totality and structure of connections between organisms and the environment. The main object of study in ecology is ecosystems, i.e. unified natural complexes formed by living organisms and their habitat. The field of ecology also includes the study certain types of organisms(organismal level), their populations, i.e. collections of individuals of the same species (population-species level) and biosphere as a whole (biosphere level).

A traditional part of ecology is general ecology, which studies the general patterns of relationships between any living organisms and the environment (including humans as a biological species). The following main sections are distinguished as part of general ecology:

Autecology, exploring the individual connections of an individual organism (species, individual) with the environment;

Population ecology(demecology), which studies the structure and dynamics of populations of individual species;

Synecology(biocenology), which studies the relationships of populations, communities and ecosystems with the environment.

For all these areas, the main thing is to study survival of living things in the environment, i.e. patterns of adaptation of organisms and their communities to the environment, self-regulation, sustainability of ecosystems and the biosphere, etc. In this understanding, general ecology is often called bioecology.

In addition, ecology is classified according to specific objects and environments of study, for example, they distinguish animal ecology, plant ecology, ecology of microorganisms.

In modern ecology, great importance is given to the problems of human interaction with the natural environment. This is due to a sharp increase in the mutual negative influence of man and the environment, the increased role of economic, social and moral aspects, due to the negative consequences of scientific and technological progress.

Thus, modern ecology is not limited only to the framework of biological science, it is an interdisciplinary science based on all natural sciences, as well as the sciences of the socio-economic cycle. At the intersection of ecology with other branches of knowledge, new directions such as environmental engineering, geoecology, mathematical ecology and etc.

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. Special disciplines such as social ecology, studying relationships in the “human society-nature” system and human ecology(anthropoecology), which examines the interaction of man as a biosocial being with the surrounding world.

Environmental objectives include:

Development of a general theory of ecosystem sustainability;

Study of ecological mechanisms of adaptation to the environment;

Study of population regulation;

Study of biodiversity 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 solved by ecology are:

Prediction and assessment of possible negative consequences for the natural environment under the influence of human activities;

Improving the quality of the natural environment;

Conservation and reproduction of natural resources, rational use of natural resources;

Optimization of engineering, economic, organizational, legal, social and other solutions to ensure environmentally safe sustainable development, primarily in environmentally disadvantaged regions.

The strategic task of ecology is 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.

Ecology as a body of knowledge that determines the relationship of living things with their surrounding organic and inorganic environment dates back to the distant past. An essentially ecological approach to the study of biological systems appeared in the 18th century in the works of the Russian scientist S. P. Krasheninnikov, the French biologist J. Buffon, the Swedish naturalist C. Linnaeus, and others. In the same period, J. B. Lamarck and T. Malthus first warned humanity about the possible negative consequences of human impact on nature.

In the second half of the 19th century, ecology emerged as an independent field of knowledge. The works of the Russian scientist V.V. Dokuchaev, whom the famous modern American ecologist Yu. Odum considers one of the founders of ecology, belong to this period. At the end of the 70s. In the 19th century, German hydrobiologist K. Mobius introduced the most important concept of biocenosis as a natural combination of organisms under certain environmental conditions.

A significant contribution to the development of the fundamentals of ecology was made by Charles Darwin, who realized the main factors in the evolution of living organisms. What Darwin called the “struggle for existence” can be interpreted from the standpoint of ecology as the relationship of living organisms with the abiotic (external) environment and with the biotic (each other) environment. The name "ecology" originates in the works of the German evolutionary biologist E. Haeckel. In his 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 a word, ecology is the study of all the complex relationships that Darwin called “the conditions that give rise to the struggle for existence.”

As an independent science, ecology was finally formed at the beginning of the 20th century, in particular, in the works of the American scientist C. Adams and the Russian scientist V.I. Vernadsky, who created the doctrine of the biosphere.

In the 30s and 40s. In the 20th century, ecology rose to a higher level of development in the works of A. Tansley, who formulated the concept of an ecosystem, and V.N. Sukachev, who substantiated a similar concept of biogeocenosis. In the second half of the 20th century, ecology finally emerged as a complex science, including the sciences of protecting the natural and human environment.

The term “ecology” (from the Greek oikos – dwelling, habitat and logos – science) was proposed by E. Haeckel in 1866 to designate the biological science that studies the relationships of animals with organic and inorganic environments. Since that time, the idea of ​​the content of ecology has undergone a number of clarifications and specifications. However, there is still no clear and strict definition of ecology, and there is still debate about what ecology is, whether it should be considered as a single science or whether plant ecology and animal ecology are independent disciplines. The question has not been resolved whether biocenology refers to ecology or is it a separate field of science. It is no coincidence that environmental manuals appear almost simultaneously, written from fundamentally different positions. In some, ecology is interpreted as modern natural history, in others - as a doctrine of the structure of nature, in which specific species are considered only as means of transforming matter and energy in biosystems, in others - as a doctrine of population, etc.

Ecology is a science that studies the patterns of life activity of organisms (in all its manifestations, at all levels of integration) in their natural habitat, taking into account changes introduced into the environment by human activity. From this formulation we can conclude that all studies that study the life of animals and plants in natural conditions, discover the laws by which organisms are united into biological systems, and establish the role of individual species in the life of the biosphere are classified as ecological.

Ecology (Greek oikos - dwelling, residence, logos - science) is the biological science of the relationship between living organisms and their habitat. This term was proposed in 1866 by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel. The formation of ecology became possible after extensive information was accumulated about the diversity of living organisms on Earth and the characteristics of their way of life in various habitats and an understanding arose that the structure, functioning and development of all living beings, their relationships with the environment are subject to certain patterns that needs to be studied. The objects of ecology are primarily systems above the level of organisms, that is, the study of the organization and functioning of supraorganismal systems: populations, biocenoses (communities), biogeocenoses (ecosystems) and the biosphere as a whole. In other words, the main object of study in ecology is ecosystems, i.e., unified natural complexes formed by living organisms and their habitat. The objectives of ecology vary depending on the level of organization of living matter being studied. Population ecology studies patterns of population dynamics and structure, as well as interaction processes (competition, predation) between populations of different species. The tasks of community ecology (biocenology) include the study of the patterns of organization of various communities, or biocenoses, their structure and functioning (the circulation of substances and the transformation of energy in food chains). The main theoretical and practical task of ecology is to reveal the general patterns of the organization of life and, on this basis, to develop principles for the rational use of natural resources in the conditions of the ever-increasing influence of man on the biosphere. The interaction between human society and nature has become one of the the most important problems modernity, since the situation that develops in the relationship between man and nature often becomes critical: reserves of fresh water and minerals (oil, gas, non-ferrous metals, etc.) are depleted, the condition of soils, water and air basins is deteriorating, desertification of vast territories occurs, The fight against diseases and pests of agricultural crops is becoming more complicated. Anthropogenic changes have affected almost all ecosystems of the planet, the gas composition of the atmosphere, and the energy balance of the Earth. This means that human activity has come into conflict with nature, as a result of which its dynamic balance has been disrupted in many areas of the world. To solve these global problems and above all, the problems of intensification and rational use, conservation and reproduction of biosphere resources, ecology unites in scientific research the efforts of botanists, zoologists and microbiologists, gives the doctrine of evolution, genetics, biochemistry and biophysics their true universality. The range of environmental problems also includes issues of environmental education and enlightenment, moral, ethical, philosophical and even legal issues. Consequently, ecology becomes not only a biological science, but also a social one.

Ecology is one of the relatively young, rapidly developing sciences. N.F. Reimers distinguishes that it “... from a strictly biological science has turned into a significant cycle of knowledge, incorporating sections of geography, geology, chemistry, physics, sociology, cultural theory, economics, even theology - in fact, all known scientific disciplines. In unified science a new angle of view has been formed, a new subject of it - consideration of the totality of natural (including cosmic) and partly social, significant for the central member of the analysis (subject, living macro- and micro-object, object with the participation of living things or important for living things, including humans) (for a person) phenomena and objects from the point of view of interests (without quotes or in quotes) of this central subject or living object (as well as systems with their participation)."

Currently, ecology has split into a number of scientific branches and disciplines, sometimes far from its original understanding as a biological science (bioecology) about the relationships of living organisms with their environment. So, N.F. Reimers, identifies about 50 industries

N.F. Reimers (1994) suggests dividing ecology according to the size of objects of study into: autoecology (individuals and organisms as representatives of a species); demecology (ecology of small groups); population ecology; special ecology (ecology of the species); synecology (ecology of communities); biocenology (ecology of biocenoses); biogeocenology (the study of ecosystems at various hierarchical levels of organization); biosphereology (the study of the biosphere); ecospherelogy (global ecology).

V.A. Radkevich divides ecology according to the size of the objects of study into autecology (individuals, an organism and its environment), de-ecology, or population ecology (population and its environment), synecology (biotic community, ecosystem and their environment), geographical or landscape ecology (large geosystems, geographical processes involving living things and their environment) and global ecology (megaecology, the study of the Earth’s biosphere)

In relation to the subjects of study, ecology is divided into the ecology of microorganisms (prokaryotes), fungi, plants, animals, humans, agricultural, industrial (engineering), and general ecology.

Based on environments and components, the ecology of land, fresh water bodies, marine, Far North, high mountains, and chemical (geochemical, biochemical) is distinguished. According to approaches to the subject, analytical and dynamic ecologies are distinguished.

From the point of view of the time factor, historical and evolutionary ecologies (including archaeology) are considered. In the system of human ecology, social ecology is distinguished (the relationship of social groups of society with their living environment), which differs from the ecology of the individual and the ecology of human populations at the functional-spatial level, equal to synecology, but having the peculiarity that communities of people, in connection with their environment, have a dominant social organization (social ecology is considered for levels from elementary groups to humanity as a whole).

Modern ecology and its structure.

The structure of modern ecology

Ecology is divided into fundamental and applied. Fundamental ecology studies the most general environmental patterns, while applied ecology uses the acquired knowledge to ensure sustainable development of society.

The basis of ecology is bioecology as a section general biology. “Saving a person means, first of all, saving nature. And here only biologists can provide the necessary arguments to prove the legitimacy of the thesis expressed.”

Bioecology (like any science) is divided into general and specific. General bioecology includes sections:

1. Autecology – studies the interaction with the environment of individual organisms of certain species.

2. Population ecology (demecology) – studies the structure of populations and its changes under the influence of environmental factors.

3. Synecology - studies the structure and functioning of communities and ecosystems.

Other sections include general bioecology:

– evolutionary ecology – studies the ecological mechanisms of evolutionary transformation of populations;

– paleoecology – studies the ecological connections of extinct groups of organisms and communities;

– morphological ecology – studies the patterns of changes in the structure of organs and structures depending on living conditions;

– physiological ecology – studies the patterns of physiological changes that underlie the adaptation of organisms;

– biochemical ecology – studies the molecular mechanisms of adaptive transformations in organisms in response to environmental changes;

– mathematical ecology – based on identified patterns, develops mathematical models that make it possible to predict the state of ecosystems and also manage them.

Private bioecology studies the ecology of individual taxonomic groups, for example: animal ecology, mammal ecology, muskrat ecology; plant ecology, pollination ecology, pine ecology; algae ecology; ecology of mushrooms, etc.

Bioecology is closely related to landscape ecology, for example:

– ecology of aquatic landscapes (hydrobiology) – oceans, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, canals...

– ecology of terrestrial landscapes – forests, steppes, deserts, highlands...

Separately, sections of fundamental ecology related to human existence and activities are highlighted:

– human ecology – studies humans as a biological species that enters into various ecological interactions;

– social ecology – studies the interaction of human society and environment;

– global ecology – studies the most large-scale problems of human ecology and social ecology.

Applied ecology includes: industrial ecology, agricultural ecology, urban ecology (settlements), medical ecology, ecology of administrative regions, environmental law, disaster ecology and many other sections. Applied ecology is closely related to nature and environmental protection.

Ecological knowledge should serve as the basis for rational environmental management. They are the basis for the creation and development of a network of protected areas: reserves, nature reserves and national parks, as well as the protection of individual natural monuments. Rational use of natural resources is the basis for sustainable development of humanity.

In the second half of the twentieth century, due to the intense impact of human society on the biosphere, an environmental crisis began, which became especially acute in recent decades. Modern ecology includes many sections and covers a wide variety of aspects of human activity; the whole society is being greened.

Environmental problems.

The tasks of ecology include studying the relationships of organisms and their populations with the environment, studying the effect of the environment on the structure, vital activity and behavior of the organism, establishing the relationship between the environment and the size of populations. Ecology studies the relationships between populations of different species in a community, between populations and environmental factors, their influence on the distribution of species, on the development and change of communities. The study of the struggle for existence in populations and the directions of natural selection is also part of the task of ecology. Ecology is inextricably linked with evolutionary studies, especially with the problems of microevolution, since it studies the processes occurring in populations.

Ecology is of great importance for the development of various sectors of the national economy. The most important areas of application of environmental knowledge are nature conservation, Agriculture, some industries (for example, the creation of waste-free technologies). Ecology serves as the main theoretical basis for the development of various sectors of the national economy.

1. Stages of environmental development

Ecology has its roots in the distant past. The need for knowledge that determines the “relationship of living things to the surrounding organic and inorganic environment” arose a long time ago. Suffice it to recall the works of Aristotle (384-322 BC), Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), R. Boyle (1627-1691) and others, in which the importance of the habitat in the life of organisms and the occurrence of them to certain habitats to verify this.

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 19th 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. Lepekhina, A.F. Middendorf, S.P. Krasheninnikov, the French scientist J. Buffon, the Swedish naturalist C. Linnaeus, the German scientist G. Yeager and others.

During the same period, J.-B. Lamarck (1744-1829) and T. Malthus (1766-1834) for the first time warned humanity about the possible negative consequences of human impact on nature.

Second phase

Formation of ecology into an independent branch of knowledge (after the 60s of the 19th century). The beginning of the stage was marked by the publication of works by Russian scientists K.F. Roulier (1814-1858), N.A. Severtsova (1827-1885), V.V. Dokuchaev (1846-1903), who first substantiated a number of principles and concepts of ecology, which have not lost their significance to this day. It is no coincidence that the American ecologist Yu. Odum (1975) believes V.V. Dokuchaev one of the founders of ecology. At the end of the 70s. XIX century German hydrobiologist K. Möbius (1877) introduces the most important concept of biocenosis as a regular 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 among themselves, 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 finally took shape as an independent science at the beginning of the 20th 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 20th 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 highest in the world, especially in the field of fundamental developments. During this period, such outstanding scientists as academicians V.I. worked in our country. Vernadsky and V.N. Sukachev, as well as prominent ecologists V.V. Stanchinsky, E.S. Bauer, G.G. Gause, V.N. Beklemishev, A.N. Formozov, D.N. Kashkarov and others.

In the second half of the 20th century. In connection with the progressive pollution of the environment and the sharp increase in human impact on nature, ecology is of particular importance.

The third stage begins (50s of the XX century - up to the present) - the transformation of ecology into a complex science, including the sciences of protecting 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 development of ecology in the world is associated with the names of such major foreign scientists as Y. Odum, Tszh. M. Andersen, E. Pianka, R. Ricklefs, M. Bigon, A. Schweider, J. Harper, R. Whittaker, N. Borlaug, T. Miller, B. Ne-5el, etc. Among domestic scientists, I should be named .P. Gerasimova, A.M. Gilyarov, V.G. Gorshkova, Yu.A. Israel, Yu.N. Kurazhskovsky, K.S. Loseva, N.N. Moiseeva, Ya.P. Naumova, N.F. Reimers, V.V. Rozanova, Yu.M. Svirikeva, V.E. Sokolova, V.D. Fedorova, S.S. Shvarts, A.V. Yablokova, A.L. Yanshina and others.

The first environmental acts in Rus' have been known since the 9th century.<И вв. (например, свод законов Ярослава Мудрого «Русская Правда», в которых были установлены правила охраны охотничьих и бортничьих угодий). 8 XIV-XVII вв. на южных границах Русского государства существовали «засечные леса», своеобразные охраняемые территории, на которых были запрещены хозяйственные рубки. История сохранила более 60 природоохранных указов Петра I. При нем же началось изучение богатейших природных ресурсов России. В 1805 г. в Москве было основано общество испытателей природы. В конце XIX - начале XX в. возникло движение за охрану редких объектов природы. Трудами выдающихся ученых В.В. Докучаева, К.М. Бэра, Г.А. Кожевникова, И.П. Бородина, Д.Н. Анучина, С.В. Завадского и других были заложены научные основы охраны природы.

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 activity - nature conservation - was born and received legislative expression.

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 USSR, nature conservation began to be viewed as “a unified system of measures aimed at the protection, development, qualitative enrichment and rational use of the country’s natural resources "(from the resolution of the First All-Russian Congress on Nature Conservation, 1929).

Thus, a new type of environmental activity has emerged in Russia - the rational use of natural resources.

In the 1950s, the further development of productive forces in the country and the increasing negative impact of humans on nature necessitated the creation of another form regulating the interaction between society and nature - the 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, the words of I.V. were canonized. Michurin about the need not to wait for mercy from nature.

In the 60-80s. in the USSR, government resolutions were adopted almost every year 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. In 1986, the largest environmental disaster in the history of human development occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Today Russia continues to find itself in a difficult environmental situation.

Environmental factors and relationships between the organism and the environment. Definition of the concept of environment. Classification of environmental factors, factors-resources, factors-conditions. Patterns of influence of factors. Ecological plasticity of organisms.

Environmental factors these are individual properties or elements of the environment that affect living organisms directly or indirectly, at least during one of the stages of individual development. Environmental factors are manifold. There are several qualifications, depending on the approach. This is based on the impact on the life activity of organisms, the degree of variability over time, and the duration of action. Let's consider the classification of environmental factors.

Environmental environmental factors.