Natural environment

“ The two kinds of environment: Physical and Social Environment.—The other great influence is that of environment. By physical environment we mean the conditions of nature and society in which man lives, moves, and has his being. Physical environment includes the geographic, climatic, and other natural conditions which surround the people. | (a) Physical.| These conditions have an important influence upon the trend of human development and they are not, for the most part, under man’s control. ”

“ Before the advent of man this selection of types was made by the environment or by Nature, as the environment used to be called. Hence the expression, natural selection, is used to describe the process by which Nature or environment selects certain types for survival at the expense of the rest; the process by which animals that live in the desert gradually adapt themselves to endure great heat; and those that live near the Poles gradually adapt themselves to endure great cold. ”

“ The earth, its surrounding enveloe of life-giving water and air, and all its living things comprise the biosphere. Finally, man's total environmental system includes not only the biosphere but also his interactions with his natural and manmade surroundings. ”

“ The isolation of many such people has meant the preservation of a traditional way of life in close harmony with the natural environment. Their very survival has depended on their ecological awareness and adaptation. ”

“ The cutting down and washing of the [Pg 28] lands, the draining and filling of depressions, the flooding of the lands, the destruction (or succession) of plant and animal associations (including crop rotation) , are processes brought about or practiced by other organisms or animal agencies. An ecological standpoint gives us a consistent, comprehensive orientation of all these natural and “artificial” activities and processes, and shows the unity in all organic responses to the environment. Man’s influence in the main consists of hastening or retarding “natural processes.” ”

“ Principle 2 The natural resources of the earth, including the air, water, land, flora and fauna and especially representative samples of natural ecosystems, must be safeguarded for the benefit of present and future generations through careful planning or management, as appropriate. ”

“ The sum of all the conditions in which a plant or an animal is placed is called its environment, that is, its surroundings. The environment comprises the conditions of climate, soil, moisture, exposure to light, relation to food supply, contention with other plants or animals. ”

“ Naturalists know well enough how indeterminate the harmonies between a fauna and its environment are. An animal may better his chances of existence in either of many ways, - growing aquatic, arboreal, or subterranean ”

“ Vegetable and animal organisms do, it is true, adapt themselves to the environment; but their adaptation is essentially a method of using and modifying the environment in their own favor, precisely as is the case with human action. {23} Therefore Huxley's sharp distinction between natural plant life and man's artificial garden is misleading. ”

“ External Factors.—He begins by pointing out that living creatures are in the grip of a complex environment, which acts on them and to which they react. And whether we think of the seasons or the climate, the soil or the sea, we find that this environment is intricately variable. ”

“ The Physical Environment. The environment is in some way or other the cause, or at least the occasion, of all the acquired characters which the individual develops. But it is more than that. The living creature owes its continued existence to its environment. The physical environment includes air, earth, light, heat, water, food, climate, scenery, and so on. From this environment all living beings, including man, derive nourishment and warmth, and without it life and growth would be impossible. ”

“ Ecology is the science of the intricate web of relationships between living organisms and their living and nonliving surroundings. These interdependent living and nonliving parts make up ecosystems. Forests, lakes, and estuaries are examples. ”

“ Like the Vegetable Kingdom, animals are limited to certain areas by the conditions of climate and soil, the environment of an animal determining its development and survival. There are various systems of classification of animals. ”

“ Of this, fitness of environment is quite as essential a component as the fitness which arises in the process of organic evolution; and in fundamental characteristics the actual environment is the fittest possible abode of life.” Such is the thesis which this work seeks to establish through discussions of the physical and chemical characteristics of life and cosmogony, and through critical study of the properties of matter in their biological relations. ”

“ The tremendous importance of the direct influence of the physical environment on living creatures is most clearly seen in the case of plants and animals. Two or three illustrative points may be mentioned. (a) In some cases the environment exercises a regularly recurrent influence, and the living creature simply falls into step with it. ”

“ Environment—what part does it play? Its stamp is upon us, but other forces and influences also determine our reactions and mould our characters. Is the objective environment alone the sea in which we swim? More significant still are the emotions which a given environment induces in each individual. ”

“ While they bring out clearly the effect of mountain barriers, indented coasts, and easy routes whether by land or water, they scarcely touch on the more subtle relationships between man on the one hand and the climate, plants, and animals which form the dominant features of his physical environment on the other hand. ”

“ Economic Activity and Society Landscapes are Alive Ecosystems Terms used in the Description of Ecosystems Plants and Animals in Ecosystems The Dynamics of Ecosystems and Viability Real Ecology: Human Society
3.1⁠DEFINING ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN TERMS OF THE HUMAN LANDSCAPE
The world in which we live has been shaped by mankind. It is a human landscape. Thus an understanding of our world depends upon an understanding of ecology. After all:
#⁠The Human Landscape is a Physical Manifestation of Humanity's Ecological Relationship With Its Environment. ”

“ The Conservation of our Natural Resources.—Still another reason why we should study biology is that we may work understandingly for the conservation of our natural resources, especially of our forests. The forest, aside from its beauty and its health-giving properties, holds water in the earth. ”

“ Humanity. the human species, exists and is supported within the world of nature. And I mean that not figuratively but literally.
We are deep-air animals living inside an ecological system. We draw boundaries, of course, on the ecosphere or national and regional purposes. ”

“ But land and water plants, were they not sensitive to all the influences which combined make their environments, and had they not reacted to these influences, would never have attained the diversity which they now possess. The dependence of all living things upon water, and their power of reacting to all the influences of their environment to which they are sensitive, are the most striking phenomena displayed by animals and plants. ”

“ Man can no more be scientifically studied apart from the ground which he tills, or the lands over which he travels, or the seas over which he trades, than polar bear or desert cactus can be understood apart from its habitat. Man's relations to his environment are infinitely more numerous and complex than those of the most highly organized plant or animal. ”

“ I argue that we have much to learn from the history, theory, and organizational practices of the environmental movement. The environmental movement taught us to see "the environment" for the first time, to recognize its importance, and to change the way we thought about ecology, property, and economics in consequence. ”

“ Let us only for a moment consider how various are the external physical conditions in which animals live—climate, soil, temperature, land, water, air—the peculiarities of food, and the various ways in which it is to be sought ”

“ The importance of forests and grasslands to the stability of our environment in terms of air quality, water, wildlife, range, timber, and recreation is beyond calculation. Furthermore, the list of products from these lands that enhance our lives is extensive. ”

“ I must ease my conscience once for all on this point, and say what I feel about atavism and environment. Environment in the shape of friends, of locality, and other material circumstances, has certainly influenced my life very much, and I could never see why such a hybrid word as environment should be used instead of surroundings or circumstances. Creatures of circumstances would be far better understood than creatures of environment; but environment, I suppose, would sound more scientific. ”

“ Science attains the laws of Nature by the study of animal and human history. But this record is a history of continually closer conformity to environment on the part of all advancing forms. The animal kingdom is the clay which is turned, as Job says, to the seal of environment, and it makes little difference whether we study the seal or the impression; we shall read the same sentence. Environment has stamped its laws on the very structure of man's body and mind. ”

“ This definition is not sufficiently comprehensive to include all the elements that logically fall within the range of human ecology. In the absence of any precedent let us tentatively define human ecology as a study of the spatial and temporal [32] relations of human beings as affected by the selective, 64distributive, and accommodative forces of the environment. ”

“ A second great truth taught by examining the methods of these movements and studying the causes of this ceaseless tramp of organic life is, that certain essential elements of the environment itself are usually found to be traveling with or a little in advance of the migratory species. In other words, the rainfall and isothermal lines, the climatic and other conditions of life, are constantly and slowly changing relative to the locality, but moving in fact. ”

“ The life conditions consist in variable elements of the environment, the supply of materials necessary to support life, the difficulty of exploiting them, the state of the arts, and the circumstances of physiography, climate, meteorology, etc., which favor life or the contrary. ”

“ They live under conditions of extreme cold most of the year.
The Environment determines the Kind of Animals and Plants within It.—In our study of geography we learned that certain luxuriant growths of trees and climbing plants were characteristic of the tropics with its moist, warm climate. No one would expect to find living there the hardy stunted plants of the arctic region. Nor would we expect to find the same kinds of animal life in warm regions as in cold. The surroundings determine the kind of living things there. ”

“ Home exercise.—The study of the factors making up my own environment and how I can aid in their control.
Environment.—Each one of us, no matter where he lives, comes in contact with certain surroundings. Air is everywhere around us; light is necessary to us, so much so that we use artificial light at night. The city street, with its dirty and hard paving stones, has come to take the place of the soil of the village or farm. Water and food are a necessary part of our surroundings. Our clothing, useful to maintain a certain temperature, must also be included. ”

“ Give these plants the least bit of fair play as regards environment—a sheltered glen, or the shores of a loch or firth, where there is sufficient moisture, plenty of sun, and good soil enriched by the water running down from the wonderful bird cliffs inhabited by hundreds of thousands if not millions of birds, or by the droppings of reindeer, musk-oxen, and other animals, and a veritable paradise of verdure is produced. ”

“ The analysis of the infinitely complex relationships of living animals and plants to their environment, and to one another, is a relatively new science. People with a strong desire to know more about the great sea of life surrounding them have a real opportunity to contribute valuable observations to ecological knowledge. ”

“ But also the relation of man to external nature as the occupant of specific geographical areas, and subject to certain influences of climate, food, material appliances and conditions of life, involves conclusions of growing importance, in view of many novel questions to which the enlarged inquiry as to his true place in nature has given rise. ”

“ Education is environment; religion is environment; business and politics are environment; all the ideals, conventions, and prejudices of race and class are environment; literature, science, and the Press are environment; music, history, and sport are environment; beauty and ugliness are environment; example and precept are environment; war and travel and commerce are environment; sunshine and ozone, honour and dishonour, failure and success, are environment; love is environment. ”

“ Moreover, civilized man spreading everywhere and turning all parts of the earth's surface to his uses, has succeeded to some extent in reducing its physical differences. The earth as modified by human action is a conspicuous fact of historical development.234 Irrigation, drainage, fertilization of soils, terrace agriculture, denudation of forests and forestration of prairies have all combined to diminish the contrasts between diverse environments, while the acclimatization of plants, animals and men works even more plainly to the same end of uniformity. ”