As with other sciences, ecology's conceptual foundations emerged long after its origin. Clarification of these foundations should enable human ecology to provide understanding of the fact that industrial civilization causes ecosystem breakdowns. Arthur Tansley's reasons for superseding the community concept and coining the term “ecosystem” need to be known. Sociologists have widely misunderstood the term. Their “ecological complex” is not synonymous with it. Tinkering with ensuing lists of variables can be highly misleading. Human ecology should be the study of whatever ecosystems involve humans. Until we put behind us the unnerving impact of inappropriate criticism, rejoin bioecology enough to get over thinking of succession as invader-driven, and recognize seral stages for what they are, sociologists will fail to comprehend the ineluctable difference between industrialism and ecological climax. Available literature can facilitate sociologists' necessary retooling.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdamsCharles C.1913. Guide to the Study of Animal Ecology. New York: Macmillan.
2.
AlihanMilla A.1938. Social Ecology: A Critical Analysis. New York: Columbia University Press.
3.
AlihanMilla A.1970. Corporate Etiquette. New York: Weybright and Talley.
BaileyKenneth D.1990. “From POET to PISTOL: Reflections on the Ecological Complex”. Sociological Inquiry60 (November): 386–394.
6.
BennettJohn W.1976. The Ecological Transition: Cultural Anthropology and Human Adaptation. New York: Pergamon Press.
7.
BernardJessie. 1973. The Sociology of Community. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
8.
BerryBrian J.L.KasardaJohn D.1977. Contemporary Urban Ecology. New York: Macmillan.
9.
BeusCurtis E.1993. “Sociology, Human Ecology and Ecology”. Pp. 93–132 in Advances in Human Ecology, Vol. 2, edited by FreeseLee. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
10.
BrooksWilliam K.1915. The Foundations of Zoology. 2nd ed.New York: Columbia University Press.
11.
BrownLester R.1992. “Foreword”. Pp. xi–xiii in Ecocide in the USSR, by FeshbachMurrayFriendlyAlbertJr.New York: Basic Books.
12.
BrownM. E.1979. “Sociology as Critical Theory”. Pp. 251–275 in Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology, edited by McNallS.G.New York: St. Martin's Press.
13.
BurchWilliam R.Jr.1984. “Much Ado About Nothing—Some Reflections on the Wider and Wilder Implications of Social Carrying Capacity”. Leisure Sciences6 (4): 487–496.
14.
BurgessErnest W.1928. “Residential Segregation in American Cities”. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science140 (November): 105–115.
15.
BurgessErnest W.1945. “Contribution of Robert E. Park to Sociology”. Sociology and Social Research29 (March–April): 255–261.
16.
CattonWilliam R.Jr.1980. Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
17.
CattonWilliam R.Jr.1992. “Sociology As an Ecological Science”. Paper presented at the Meetings of the Society for Human Ecology, Snowbird, Utah, October.
18.
CattonWilliam R.Jr.1993. “Carrying Capacity and the Death of a Culture: A Tale of Two Autopsies”. Sociological Inquiry63 (May): 202–223.
19.
CherrettJ.M.1989. “Key Concepts: The Results of a Survey of Our Members' Opinions”. Pp. 1–6 in Ecological Concepts: The Contribution of Ecology to an Understanding of the Natural World, edited by CherrettJ.M.Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
20.
ClementsFrederic E.1916. Plant Succession: An Analysis of the Development of Vegetation. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution.
21.
Contemporary Authors—Permanent Series, vol. 2. 1978. Detroit: Gale Research Company.
22.
Council on Environmental Quality and Department of State. 1980. Global 2000 Report to the President, Vols. I, II, and III. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
23.
DerksenLindaGartrellJohn. 1993. “The Social Context of Recycling”. American Sociological Review58 (June): 434–442.
24.
DickensPeter. 1993. “Society and Nature”. Pp. 141–166 in Developments in Sociology: An Annual Review, Vol. 9, edited by HaralambosMichael. Ormskirk, UK: Causeway Press.
25.
DuncanO.D.1959. “Human Ecology and Population Studies”. Pp. 678–716 in The Study of Population, edited by HauserP.M.DuncanO.D.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
26.
DuncanO.D.1961. “From Social System to Ecosystem”. Sociological Inquiry31 (Spring): 140–149.
27.
DuncanO.D.1964. “Social Organization and the Ecosysem”. Pp. 36–82 in Handbook of Modern Sociology, edited by FarisR.E.L.Chicago: Rand McNally.
28.
DunlapRiley E.CattonWilliam R.Jr.1993. “Struggling with Human Exemptionalism: The Rise, Decline and Revitalization of Environmental Sociology”. Paper prepared for presentation at 1993 meetings of the American Sociological Association, “Social Theory and the Environment” session, Miami Beach, FL, August.
29.
DurkheimEmile. [1893]1984. The Division of Labor in Society. Transl. by HallsW.D.New York: The Free Press.
30.
FarisEllsworth. 1944. “Robert E. Park, 1864–1944”. American Sociological Review9 (June): 322–324.
31.
FarisRobert E.L.1967. Chicago Sociology 1920–1932. San Francisco: Chandler.
32.
FeshbachMurrayFriendlyAlbertJr.1992. Ecocide in the USSR: Health and Nature Under Siege. New York: Basic Books.
33.
FreeseLee, ed. 1992. Advances in Human Ecology, Vol. 1. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
34.
FreeseLee, ed. 1993. Advances in Human Ecology, Vol. 2. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
35.
FreudenburgWilliam R.1985. “Succession and Success: A New Look at an Old Concept”. Sociological Spectrum5 (3): 269–289.
36.
GeeWilson, ed. 1929. Research in the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan.
37.
GibbsJack P.MartinWalter T.1959. “Toward a Theoretical System of Human Ecology”. Pacific Sociological Review2 (Spring): 29–36.
38.
HaeckelErnst. [1868]1876. The History of Creation. Transl. by LankesterE. R.London: Henry S. King & Co..
39.
HawleyAmos H.1944. “Ecology and Human Ecology”. Social Forces22 (May): 398–405.
40.
HawleyAmos H.1950. Human Ecology: A Theory of Community Structure. New York: Ronald Press.
41.
HawleyAmos H.1986. Human Ecology: A Theoretical Essay. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
42.
HollingsheadA.B.1941. “Review of Social Ecology: A Critical Analysis, by Milla A Alihan”. American Journal of Sociology46 (May): 906–908.
43.
HoltonGeraldRollerDuane H.D.1958. Foundations of Modern Physical Science. Reading, MAAddison-Wesley.
44.
HomansGeorge C.1950. The Human Group. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
45.
HughesHolly L.1993. “Metropolitan Structure and the Suburban Hierarchy”. American Sociological Review58 (June): 417–433.
46.
Independent Commission on International Development Issues. 1980. North-South: A Program for Survival. Cambridge: MIT Press.
47.
KitaharaMichio. 1991. The Tragedy of Evolution: The Human Animal Confronts Modern Society. New York: Praeger.
48.
KrebsCharles J.1972. Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance. New York: Harper & Row.
49.
LenskiGerhardLenskiJean. 1987. Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. 5th edn.New York: McGraw-Hill.
OgburnWilliam F.1957. “Cultural Lag As Theory”. Sociology and Social Research41 (January-February): 167–174.
62.
OlsenMarvin E.1993. “Components of Socioecological Organization: Tools, Resources, Energy, and Power”. Pp. 35–67 in Advances in Human Ecology, Vol. 2, edited by FreeseLee. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
63.
ParkRobert E.BurgessErnest W.[1921]1924. Introduction to the Science of Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
64.
RicklefsRobert E.1983. The Economy of Nature: A Textbook in Basic Ecology. 2nd edn.New York: Chiron Press.
65.
RossEdward Alsworth. 1905. The Foundations of Sociology. New York: Macmillan.
66.
SchmidCalvin F.1950. “Generalizations Concerning the Ecology of the American City”. American Sociological Review15 (April): 264–281.
67.
SearsPaul B.1956. “Some Notes on the Ecology of Ecologista”. Scientific Monthly83 (July): 22–27.
68.
ShelbyBoHeberleinThomas A.1986. Carrying Capacity in Recreation Settings. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.
69.
SimonJulian L.KahnHerman. 1984. The Resourceful Earth: A Response to Global 2000. New York: Basil Blackwell.
70.
SorokinPitirim A.1975. Hunger as a Factor in Human Affairs. Transl. by SorokinElena P.SmithT. Lynn. Gainesville: The University Presses of Florida.
71.
SpencerHerbert. [1860]1896. “The Social Organism”. Pp. 265–307 in Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative. New York: D. Appleton and Company.
72.
SpencerHerbert. 1910. The Principles of Biology, Vol. 2. Rev. and enlarged edn.New York: D. Appleton.
73.
StephanG. Edward. 1970. “The Concept of Community in Human Ecology”. Pacific Sociological Review13 (Fall): 218–228.
74.
StewardJulian H.1968. “Cultural Ecology”. Pp. 337–344 in International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 4, edited by SillsDavid L.New York: The Macmillan Company and The Free Press.
75.
StrettonHugh. 1976. Capitalism, Socialism and the Environment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
76.
SumnerWilliam Graham. [1896]1913. “Earth Hunger or the Philosophy of Land Grabbing”. Pp. 31–64 in Earth-Hunger and Other Essays, edited by KellerA.G.New Haven: Yale University Press.
77.
TansleyArthur G.[1926]1929. “Succession: The Concept and Its Values”. Pp. 677–686 in Proceedings of the International Congress of Plant Sciences, Ithaca, NY. Menasha, WI: Banta.
78.
TansleyArthur G.1935. “The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts”. Ecology16 (July): 284–307.
79.
TansleyArthur G.1939. “British Ecology During the Past Quarter Century: The Plant Community and the Ecosystem”. Journal of Ecology27 (August): 513–530.
80.
TansleyArthur G.1947. “Obituary Notice: Frederic Edward Clements, 1874–1945”. Journal of Ecology34 (February): 194–196.
81.
TheodorsonGeorge A.1982. Urban Patterns: Studies in Human Ecology. Rev. edn.University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.
82.
WilderRaymond L.1965. Introduction to the Foundations of Mathematics. 2nd edn.New York: John Wiley & Sons.
83.
WisniewskiRobert L.1980. “Carrying Capacity: Understanding Our Biological Limitations”. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations7: 55–70.
84.
WrightE.O.1975. “Alternative Perspectives in the Marxian Theory of Accumulation and Crisis”. The Insurgent Sociologist6 (Fall): 5–39.
85.
YoungGerald L., ed. 1983. Origins of Human Ecology. Stroudsburg, PAHutchinson Ross Publishing.
