Human Ecology

The human ecology is the branch of the ecology which applies to the human being.

It is possible to apply the definition of Ernst Haeckel (1834 - 1919) to the Mankind and to define the human ecology as being the part of the ecology which studies the mankind, the organized activity of this Espèce, and its Environnement.

Human ecology has several objectives.

First of all, it consists in studying a species, the human being, which constitutes in itself a ecosystem.

Then, she considers the environment of Vie the human ones, on various scales (for example, by studying the human one and urban ecosystem it Ville). Whereas he was neglected a long time by the ecologists, the human being is regarded by human ecology as a ecological Facteur new; one thus studies the Impact of his activity on his environment, and in return the impact of the modifications of his environment on human itself (for example, consequences of the Catastrophe of Tchernobyl on the human health).

The mankind is different from the other alive species with various titles:

the Espèce migrated and colonized practically all the continents. Except for rare exceptions (extremely cold or very arid mediums), the human ones were established on the totality of terrestrial surface;
the human being modifies its environment of life voluntarily and consciously (for example, by clearing forests to build cities, by removing marshes to eliminate the mosquitos);
the human being disturbs great balances of the Biosphère and the Biodiversité by the means of the Agriculture and industrial, for example by producing the CFC which involve the destruction of the layer of ozone;
the human being acts consciously and deliberately to try to restore certain balances (by the means of international protocols, such as the Protocole of Kyoto);
the human being is the only species whose activity in a point of the sphere can have consequences in a completely different point (for example, the emission of the Gaz to greenhouse effect by the developed countries could involve a climate warming which could lead to the disappearance of Bangladesh).

Assimilation of the human being to an ecosystem

The human body can be comparable with a Biotope, i.e. a medium defined by a whole of physicochemical conditions. It consists of a skeleton, a whole of bodies and systems of Communication between those.

This human body is a medium of life for a whole whole of living beings. On the skin, in the digestive system, in the hair, cohabit of many bacteria (certain symbiotic, others commensales, to see parasitic), insects (such as the lice, chips), of the acarina, the worms (tapeworms, ascaris…).

According to the ecological terminology, the whole of the living beings (the biocénose) and its medium of life (the biotope) constitute an ecosystem. This ecosystem - the human organism must maintain many characteristics constant or almost constants (i.e. in a certain beach of values) in order to ensure the survival of the various living beings; one speaks about Homéostasie. For example

conservation of the temperature;
conservation of acidity (pH) in the digestive tract (useful for digestion and the organizations there alive);
conservation of the water content (balance of the entries by drink and food, and left by sudation, breathing, digestion and excretion).

All these balances are maintained under the constraint of hormones produced by the organization thanks to complex sensory systems. Like an ecosystem, the human one is born, grows, reaches its state of balance - the climax - and declines (senescence).

Environment of the human being

The human environment of life itself is more difficult to describe. Certain authors, like Michel Lamy, proposed the idea of ecological envelopes, some Naturelle S, the other artificial ones (i.e., manufactured), the ones individual, other social, the even total ones.

The individual envelopes are those constituent the environment of a single individual. It is quite simply:

the Skin which ensures a protection against the microbial aggressions, a mechanical and chemical protection (for example, against UV, to limit the burns of solar origin);
the Clothing, which also protects from outside (heat, the cold, social conventions);
personal space (for example, the Child research the physical contact, whereas the adult imposes more distance with the other human ones - this distance is variable according to the Culture S -, and increases or decreases its own space according to its Bien-être or of its level of Stress).

The social envelopes are those which protect from the human groups, rather than of the isolated individuals. They are for example built constructions the such Maison S. In certain countries, these constructions ensure the protection of the people, but also of the pets and the grains. In the developed countries, simple shelter at the beginning, construction became work place and of leisure (what isolates the individual or the group from the other human ones). A building is a system in itself, which consumes Eau, energy, Nourriture and which rejects polluted water, Déchet S, smoke.

The Ville is an additional envelope, it became the medium of life from approximately 50% of the human population. The city (which can become Mégalopole) is a kind of macro-ecosystem organized by the human being, consisted three large types of structures: places of dwelling, work places, and places of entertainment, more or less overlapping ones in the others. The Urbaniste S distinguish in their organization from the centres of population, the green areas, the industrial parks, the retail parks… and the axes of Communication (for example the Highway network) making it possible to serve them and pass from the ones to the others.

Lastly, the human ones belonging to diversity of alive, they are integral part of the Biosphère, which is itself an envelope of life, localized in the terrestrial envelopes (Lithosphère, atmosphere and Hydrosphère).

The human ones primarily colonized the Lithosphère, but it should be noted that approximately 50% of the World population live in the zones of contact between ground and Océan S, very rich in food, easy to exploit or facilitating the Communication S. the villages, the cities are often built along the River. The Hydrosphère is exploited by the human being primarily for the fishing and maritime circulation. The lithosphere or Pédosphère (zone of ground) is exploited for the mining Agriculture and resources.

The atmosphere finally, is an envelope essential with the human life, in this which it constitutes a respiratory medium.

Action of the human being on its environment of life

If the human being, like any other alive species of the sphere, needs a certain medium of Vie to live and develop, it is also the only species whose activity has a major influence on its medium of life.

See too

School of Chicago and the urban Sociology

External bonds

Ekopédia, the encyclopedia of the technique of life: Ecological Wiki
Literary analyzes of the novels of Jules Verne: Analyzes of some novels of Jules Verne under consideration under the angle of human ecology and the transdisciplinarity
Of human ecology to the transdisciplinarity: The approach adopted in human ecology is basically that of the transdisciplinarity
the International Certificate of Human Ecology: The site of the CIEH at the University of Pau and the Countries of Adour.
SIEH : Site of the International Company of Human Ecology.