Laws of ecology

Ecosystems of the Earth substantially differ in size, but all of them are included into a unified global ecosystem – biosphere. The functioning of all ecosystems and especially biosphere as the global ecosystem submits certain laws. Knowledge of these laws is necessary for further normal existence of humankind. More than 200 ecological laws, principles and theorems are now known. The majority of them have biological character. Among natural laws there are ordinary scientific laws of deterministic type, which strictly regulate relations between components of ecosystems, but the majority of them are laws - tendencies which act not in all cases.

Historically the first ecology law became the law, which sets the dependence of living creatures on factors which limit their development (the so-called limiting factors).

Law of minimum (Yu. Libikh in 1840). The stability of organism is determined by the weakest link in the chain of its ecological requirements. The law of minimum is presently expanded for any ecological factors, but it is complemented with two limitations:

1. it refers to the systems which are in a stationary state;

2. it refers not only to one factor but also to the complex of factors which are different in their nature and in affecting organisms and populations.

The law of limiting factors, or the law of F. Blekhman (1909). Environment factors, which have the maximal value under specific conditions, especially hamper (limit) possibilities of existence of the species at the given moment.

The law of tolerance of Shelford (1913). Side by side with influence of shortage (the minimum of ecological factors), the influence of surplus, i.e. the maximum of factors, such as light, warmth, moisture and others can also be negative.

The stronger is the deviation from the optimum the more oppressive is this factor influence for the organism. Both insufficient and surplus action of the factor negatively influences vital functions of individuals.

Ambiguity of the factor influencing different functions. Any factor variously influences functions of an organism. The optimum for one process can be the pessimum for another.

Rule of factors interaction. Some factors can strengthen or soften the force of other factors action. For example, the surplus of heat can be softened by the increased humidity, lack of light for photosynthesis is compensated by the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, etc. However, it does not follow from this that the factors can be mutually replaced. They are not interchangeable.

Rule of limiting factors. Factor, being in the state of insufficiency or surplus (nearby critical points) negatively influences organisms and, in addition, limits the possibility of force of other factors, including those being in the optimum. For example, if all necessary for the plant chemical elements are in sufficiency in soil, except for one, then growth and development of the plant will depend on that chemical element which is insufficient.

Man often violates practically all the objective laws and mechanisms of nature. Especially it refers to the limiting factors. The disclosure of limiting factors is very important, since knowledge of these factors is the key to managing the vital functions of organisms.

Law of biogenic migration of atoms of Vernadsky: «Migration of chemical elements on the Earth surface and in the biosphere on the whole is carried out either with the direct participation of the living substance (biogenic migration) or it goes in the environment the geochemical features of which (O₂, CO₂, H₂ et cetera) are conditioned by the living matter, both that which presently inhabits the biosphere and that which acted on the Earth during all geological history». According to this law, understanding of general chemical processes, which are and were on the land, in the atmosphere and in the inhabited depths of the lithosphere and hydrosphere, and also geological layers, built by the past activity of organisms, is impossible without taking into account biotic and biogenic factors, including evolutional ones. Affecting the biosphere and its living substance by man changes the conditions of the biogenic migration of atoms which in the historical prospect can cause even deeper chemical changes. As a result the process can become self-developing, independent of people’s desire and practically uncontrollable.

Thus, from this law follows the vital for humanity need of preserving the planet biosphere in relatively invariable state and the necessity of taking into account all kinds of influence when making any projects of nature transformation.

Law of internal dynamic equilibrium: «A substance, energy, information and dynamic qualities of the separate natural systems and their hierarchies are interconnected so that any change of these indexes causes concomitant (accompanying) functional and structural quantitative and quality changes, saving (preserving) the total sum of material and energy, informative and dynamic qualities in the system or in the hierarchy of the systems».

The followings empiric consequences follow from this law:

1. Any change of environment (substance, energy, information, dynamic qualities of ecosystems) inevitably results in the development of natural chain reactions, going toward the neutralization of the produced change or forming new natural systems the generation of which with the considerable changes of the environment can have the irreversible character.

2. Interaction of material and energy ecological components (energy, gases, liquids, organisms of consumers, producers and decomposers) of information and dynamic qualities of the natural systems in number is not linear, i.e. weak influence or change of one indexes can cause a strong deviation in other indexes and in the system on the whole.

3. Changes produced in large ecosystems are relatively irreversible. Passing through the hierarchy from the bottom to the top (from the place of influence to the biosphere on the whole), they change global processes and transfer them to a new evolutional level.

4. Any local transformation of nature causes in the global sum-total of the biosphere and in its largest subdivisions response reactions, resulting in relative invariability of ecological and economic potential. The increase of this potential is possible only with the help of considerable growth of power investments. Artificial growth of ecological and economic potential is limited by thermodynamics stability of the natural systems.

Law of internal dynamic equilibrium is one of the key positions in nature management. Accordance to it in the case of insignificant interference with the natural environment its ecosystems are capable of self-regulation and self-restoration, but if this interference exceeds certain limits and already can not be “paid off” in the hierarchical chain of ecosystems, then it results in considerable violations of energy and biological balances on large territories and in the biosphere on the whole.

Law of genetic variety: «all living matter is genetically different and has a tendency to the increase of biological heterogeneity». The law matters very much for the nature protection, especially in the area of biological technologies (gene engineering, biological medicines), when it is not always possible to foresee the result.

Law of historical irreversibility: «the development of biosphere and humanity as a whole can not go from later phases to the initial ones, the general process of development is unidirectional. Only separate elements of social relations (slavery) or management types repeat themselves».

Law of constancy (V.I. Vernadsky): “The amount of living substance of the biosphere for the given geological period is constant “. This law is practically a quantitative consequence of the law of internal dynamic equilibrium for the scale of global ecosystem (the biosphere). It is clear that since the living substance according to the law of biogenic migration of atoms is an energy mediator between the Sun and the Earth, then either its amount must be constant or its energy characteristics must change.

According to the law of constancy, any change of the amount of living substance in one of regions of the biosphere unavoidably entails its change equal in size in some other region, but with an opposite sign. The consequence of this law is the rule of obligatory filling in of ecological niches.

Law of correlation (G. Cuvier): “In an organism as in an integral system all its parts correspond to each other both in the structure and in functions”. A change of one part inevitably causes changes in the others.

Law of energy maximization (G. and Yu. Odumov, is complemented by N.F. Reymers): in the competition with other systems that of them is saved (survives) which in the best way forwards (promotes) the supply (entering) of energy and information and makes use of their maximal amount most effectively”. For this purpose such system creates the stores (depositories) of high-quality energy part of which is spent for the receipt of new energy, for providing the normal rotation of substances and for creating regulating mechanisms, supporting the stability of the system and its ability of adaptation to the changing conditions, for adjusting the exchange with other systems. Maximization means the increase of chances for survival.

The absolutely isolated development is impossible.

This law has an important practical value due to basic consequences:

а) Absolutely waste-free (wasteless) production is impossible, therefore it is important to create low-waste production with small resource-intensiveness both at the entrance and at the output of the system. At present it is ideal to create the cyclic production (waste of one production is the raw material for the other) and organize reasonable waste burials for inevitable waste, neutralization of not removable power waste;

b) Any developed biotic system, using and modifying the environment, presents a potential threat for less organized (more primitive) systems. Consequently, affecting the habitation environment man can neutralize this influence, as it can be destructive for nature and man.

Biogeochemical principles which are sometimes called the laws of Vernadsky and Bauer have a great practical value:

1. Geochemical energy of living substance in the biosphere (including humanity as the highest, endowed with reason, demonstration of living substance) strives for the maximal manifestation;

2. Organisms which maximally increase their biogenic geochemical energy during their life activity survive in the process of the evolution of species (kinds).

Analogical formulations were given by Bauer for the principles of the biosystems functioning.

Law of natural resources scarcity. Rule of one percent. Since the planet Earth is a natural limited system, then there can not be infinite (everlasting) parts on it, therefore all natural resources of the Earth are finite. Energy resources can be considered to be inexhaustible supposing that energy of the Sun is practically an eternal energy source. The error here consists in the fact that limitations laid by energy properties of the biosphere are not taken into account. According to the rule of one percent, the change of energy properties within the framework of this value does not destroy the biosphere equilibrium. All the large-scale phenomena on the Earth (powerful cyclones, eruptions of volcanoes, process of global photosynthesis) have total energy, not exceeding one percent of the energy of the Sun radiation, falling on the Earth surface. At present the artificial energy introduction into the biosphere reached values which are close to maximum (different from them no more than by one degree).

At the beginning of the 70-ies American environmentalist B. Kommoner formulated four statements, exposing the essence of the rational nature management system. These statements are called laws. Essence of these laws is as follows.

1. All is related to everything, or in nature everything is interconnected and interdependent. This is the statement about ecosystems and the biosphere. The biosphere is our common house. There cannot be ecological prosperity in one separate country. The whole world community must fight the ocean contamination, the hotbed effect and ozone holes.

2. Everything must be paid for, or nothing is given free. This is the general law of the rational nature management. Energy should be paid for additional waste cleaning, fertilizing is the charge for a good harvest. The world community finances scientific projects which allow to preserve biological variety and climate. Rich countries help poor countries to improve ecological situation.

3. It is necessary to put everything somewhere. This is the statement about economic activity of man, waste of which is inevitable, and it is necessary to think about diminishing its amount and about the subsequent burial place for this waste. The world community issued special acts about the prohibition of the export of poisonous and radio-active waste and its burial in other countries. The world ocean is not the place for burial of waste either. Every country must bury waste on its own territory. Natural ecosystems are not the place for creating dumps of waste, although these ecosystems are able to disinfect some quantity of contaminating substances without the ecological equilibrium violation. High clearing ability is possessed by water ecosystems.

4. Nature knows better. This is the most important statenent of the nature management, which means that it is impossible to try to conquer nature, and it is necessary to cooperate with it, using biological mechanisms for cleaning liquid-waste drains, increasing harvests of cultural plants. One should not forget that man is a biological kind, a part of nature, but not its master. Man must preserve natural regulatory mechanisms of preservation of the ecological biosphere equilibrium, not trying to be cleverer than nature.

In the 90-ies American environmentalist D. Chiras came to the conclusion, that Nature, from the point of view of man, exists always and resists degradation due to the action of four ecological laws:

recycling or repeated multiple-use of basic substances;

permanent renewal of resources;

conservative consumption (living creatures consume only what they need, no more and no less);

population control (nature does not allow explosive growth of populations, regulates the amount of different species creating corresponding conditions for their existence and reproduction).

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29