Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T06:11:10.100Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Section I - History and concepts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Göran I. Ågren  and
Folke O. Andersson
Göran I. Ågren
Affiliation:
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Folke O. Andersson
Affiliation:
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Get access

Summary

History and concepts

Understanding the environment has always been important for mankind. In this section we briefly trace how this has led to the development of modern ecology. We will also define the scientific arena of ecology and in particular that of ecosystem ecology and how it relates to other scientific disciplines. Ecosystem ecology relies on some fundamental cornerstones: mass balance, limiting nutrients, optimality and steady state. These concepts are explained and used to demonstrate our philosophical attitude towards the discipline.

Type
Chapter
Information
Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology
Principles and Applications
 , pp. 7
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×