are linked to their biotic and abiotic environ-
ments. Some view ecology as the science
of environment, although ecology may be dis-
tinguished from environmental science in its
primary emphasis on understanding living
organisms, not only at the individual, popula-
tion and species levels, but in terms of identi-
fiable communities of plant and animal
species in relatively proximate interactions.
The term ‘oecologie’ is most often seen as a
neologism coined by German biologist Ernst
Haeckel, who first used it in 1866, in part
inspired by Darwin’sOrigin of Species. But
the word draws directly on an older notion of
‘oeconomy’, which refers to management of
the ‘household’ in a broad sense (Worster,
1994: seeeconomy). This links the etymology
of ecology and economics in intriguing ways,
but also conveys something of the broad scope
of ecological enquiry, encompassing the world
of living things. In this sense, the lineage of
ecology is much older and more diverse, draw-
ing on the natural history of figures such as
Gilbert White (1720–93) and Linnaeus
(1707–78) (Worster, 1994), and linked by some
to Aristotle’s writings on environmental changes
in Greece. Significantly, modern ecology and
geographyhave been closely linked, not least
in drawing on the early biogeography of
Alexander von Humboldt. More generally, ties
between ecology and geography have been
forged and renewed based on shared concerns
and perspectives, including the spatial organ-
ization and foundation(s) of biodiversity and
how it is affected by human action, the impli-
cations of human action on the non-human
world more generally, and the use of synthetic,
relational and holistic reasoning to understand
how ostensibly discrete entities are connected
(not least in spatial terms).
Since the late nineteenth century, ecology in
the Anglo-American world has been closely
linked to environmental politics. During a first
generation of ecology, exemplified by Stephen
Forbes’s (1887) singular publication ‘The lake
as a microcosm’, ecology was animated by
concern with the implications of forestry, fish-
eries and agriculture (Schnieder, 2000). In the
post-Second World War period, this link
between environmental politics andenviron-
mentalismon the one hand and ecology on
the other was consolidated through scientific
enquiry into such matters as the ecological
effects of radiation from nuclear technologies
and the persistence of synthetic organic
compounds in the environment (the latter is
most famously associated with Rachel Carson
and her signature work,Silent spring). Close
association between environmentalism and
ecology has continued, as was clearly evident
in the way ecological enquiry was used to
mediate the northern spotted owl controversy
of the 1990s (Prudham, 2005). Not surpris-
ingly, the close association of ecology and
environmentalism has had a major impact on
intellectual and scholarly work inside and
around geography, helping to inspire the
emergence of a distinct interwoven field
ofenvironmental historyand historical
geography preoccupied with the human
origins and implications of environmental
change, and drawing upon such changes as the
basis of critique (see, e.g., Cronon, 1991; for a
discussion linking environmental history and
historical geography, see Williams, M., 1994a).
political ecology, as the name would
suggest, has been similarly concerned with
mobilizing ecological theories and methods in
exploring the local and regional origins and
implications of environmental degradation
(however defined) in the context of uneven
powerrelations.
During the middle of the twentieth century,
particularly after the work of Frederic E.
Clements, ecological research and theory
generally emphasized predictability, stability,
homeostasis and climax communities in the
development of self-contained ecosystems
whose development, when unimpeded by
human action, would tend towards increasing
biological diversity. Clementsian ecology in
particular stressed the recovery of ‘disturbed’
ecosystems from less to more diverse commu-
nities, culminating in highly stable climax
ecosystems characteristic of particularregions
(Clements, 1936). Later, this was augmented
by the development of an increasingly formal,
abstract and often highly mathematicalsys-
temsecology, emphasizing the modelling of
populations, energy and material flows within
ecosystems, and predicated on the assumption
that discrete populations of organisms compete
to fill exclusive ecological niches. Stability
and homeostasis remained core principles of
systems ecology.
Key concepts from Clementsian as well as
systems ecology informed modernistresource
managementparadigms. This includes the
Lotka–Volterra equations used to model inter-
connected and predictable oscillations of
predator and prey species in closed systems
of mutual dependence, and the characteristic
logistic growth curve underpinning maximum
sustained yield management prescriptions in
fisheries andforestry. In each case, popula-
tions are seen to converge on stable carryingGregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_E Final Proof page 176 1.4.2009 3:17pmECOLOGY