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See also: The ecosystem 134–137 ■ Macroecology 185 ■ The peaceful
coexistence of humankind and nature 297 ■ The Green Movement 308–309THE LIVING EARTH
new approach to the subject—
first set out in his 1953 book
The Fundamentals of Ecology—
revolutionized the purpose and
influence of ecological research.The “new ecology”
The holistic view of Earth involves
studying the systems of organisms
as a whole. As Odum explained,
one organism, or any one group of
organisms, cannot be understood
without studying the ecosystem in
which it lives. The holistic approach
examines all the roles played by
each member of an ecosystem,
and how that system interacts with
others. Climate, geology, water and
mineral input, and human activity
all affect—and are affected by—a
multitude of living communities.
Odum was writing in the 1950s
and ’60s, when there was a growing
awareness of the environmental
destruction wrought by humanity.
The role of people was a crucial part
of “systems ecology,” as he called
his idea. Odum wanted humans to
be sympathetic allies with the
natural world—collaborators rather
than manipulators—and his views
of an all-embracing ecology did
much to inspire the first Earth Day,
which was celebrated in 1970.
The holistic concept of Odum’s
“new ecology” deals with Earth
as a whole, bringing together
physics, chemistry, botany, zoology,
geology, and meteorology. The
fundamental assumptions of
ecology are that the ecosystem
is the basic unit of nature, that
biological diversity increases the
ability of ecosystems to survive,
and that the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts. Systems in the
natural world—whether they are
groups of cells in an animal’s body,the whole animal, or the ecosystem
in which the animal lives—are able
to self-regulate to provide stability.Integrated investigation
A holistic study of a lake ecosystem
would involve looking at all the
inputs into the lake and its margins
as well as all the outputs, including
energy, water, minerals, and
nutrients. It would also consider
any human inputs. The study
would examine the roles played
by both producer organisms, such
as plants and algae, and consumers
such as herbivores and carnivores.
The holistic approach also examines
changes over time, in which
developments that benefit some
organisms in the short-term might
lead to a lack of diversity in the
future. For example, although trout
thrive in warmish, alkaline waters,
if those waters become too warm
or acidic due to ecological change,
the fish can no longer breed.
Odum’s holistic approach leaves
a legacy of a far more detailed
appreciation of what is happening
in an ecosystem than a series of
individual species studies. ■Earth Day
After witnessing a horrific
oil spill in Santa Barbara,
California, in 1969, US Senator
Gaylord Nelson decided to
focus on growing worries
about pollution during a
national “teach-in” on the
environment. He could not
have envisaged the size of the
movement he would inspire.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million
Americans took part in the
first Earth Day, with rallies,
marches, and lectures taking
place nationwide. Such was
the effect of the protests that
later that year the Clean Air,
Clean Water, and Endangered
Species Acts became law, and
the Environmental Protection
Agency was established in the
US that December. Earth Day
became a global phenomenon,
with 200 million people
participating in 141 countries
in 1990—and built momentum
for the 1992 UN Earth Summit
in Rio de Janeiro. Earth Day
celebrations are held every
April, with a different theme
each time. In 2018, the focus
was on ending global pollution
by plastics.The first Earth Day on April 22,
1970, saw crowds such as this
one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
gather across the US to protest
against pollution and the use
of pesticides....ecology has been
badly presented and
has been broken into
too many antagonistic
subdivisions.
Eugene OdumUS_210-211_Holistic_view_of_Earth.indd 211 17/12/2018 14:33