Editing Ecology (section)

== Human ecology ==
{{Main|Human ecology}}
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| quote = The history of life on Earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings. To a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth's vegetation and its animal life have been molded by the environment. Considering the whole span of earthly time, the opposite effect, in which life actually modifies its surroundings, has been relatively slight. Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species man acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.
| source = Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring"<ref name=Carson/>
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Ecology is as much a biological science as it is a human science.<ref name="Odum05" /> Human ecology is an [[interdisciplinary]] investigation into the ecology of our species. "Human ecology may be defined: (1) from a bioecological standpoint as the study of man as the ecological dominant in plant and animal communities and systems; (2) from a bioecological standpoint as simply another animal affecting and being affected by his physical environment; and (3) as a human being, somehow different from animal life in general, interacting with physical and modified environments in a distinctive and creative way. A truly interdisciplinary human ecology will most likely address itself to all three."<ref name="Young74"/>{{rp|3}} The term was formally introduced in 1921, but many sociologists, geographers, psychologists, and other disciplines were interested in human relations to natural systems centuries prior, especially in the late 19th century.<ref name="Young74"/><ref name="Gross04"/>

The ecological complexities human beings are facing through the technological transformation of the planetary biome has brought on the [[Anthropocene]]. The unique set of circumstances has generated the need for a new unifying science called [[coupled human and natural systems]] that builds upon, but moves beyond the field of human ecology.<ref name="Liu09" /> Ecosystems tie into human societies through the critical and all-encompassing life-supporting functions they sustain. In recognition of these functions and the incapability of traditional economic valuation methods to see the value in ecosystems, there has been a surge of interest in [[social capital|social]]-[[natural capital]], which provides the means to put a value on the stock and use of information and materials stemming from [[ecosystem services|ecosystem goods and services]]. Ecosystems produce, regulate, maintain, and supply services of critical necessity and beneficial to human health (cognitive and physiological), economies, and they even provide an information or reference function as a living library giving opportunities for science and cognitive development in children engaged in the complexity of the natural world. Ecosystems relate importantly to human ecology as they are the ultimate base foundation of global economics as every commodity, and the capacity for exchange ultimately stems from the ecosystems on Earth.<ref name="Liu09" /><ref name="MEA05"/><ref name="de Groot02"/><ref name="Aguirre09"/>

=== Restoration Ecology ===
{{main|Restoration ecology}}
{{see also|Natural resource management}}

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| quote = Ecosystem management is not just about science nor is it simply an extension of traditional resource management; it offers a fundamental reframing of how humans may work with nature.
| source = Grumbine (1994)<ref name="Grumbine94">{{cite journal|last1=Grumbine|first1=R. E.|year=1994|title=What is ecosystem management?|journal=Conservation Biology|volume=8|issue=1|pages=27–38|url=http://www.pelagicos.net/MARS6920_spring2010/readings/Grumbine_1994.pdf|doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08010027.x|bibcode=1994ConBi...8...27G |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502051519/http://www.pelagicos.net/MARS6920_spring2010/readings/Grumbine_1994.pdf|archive-date=2 May 2013}}</ref>{{Rp|27}}
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Ecology is an employed science of restoration, repairing disturbed sites through human intervention, in natural resource management, and in [[environmental impact assessment]]s. Edward O. Wilson predicted in 1992 that the 21st century "will be the era of restoration in ecology".<ref name="Wilson92">{{cite book| last1=Wilson| first1=E. O.| year=1992| title=The Diversity of Life| publisher=Harvard University Press| isbn=978-0-674-05817-0| page=[https://archive.org/details/diversityoflife000wils/page/n448 440]| url=https://archive.org/details/diversityoflife000wils| url-access=registration}}</ref> Ecological science has boomed in the industrial investment of restoring ecosystems and their processes in abandoned sites after disturbance. Natural resource managers, in [[silviculture|forestry]], for example, employ ecologists to develop, adapt, and implement [[Ecosystem management|ecosystem based methods]] into the planning, operation, and restoration phases of land-use. 

Another example of conservation is seen on the east coast of the United States in Boston, MA. The city of Boston implemented the Wetland Ordinance,<ref>{{cite web |title=Boston Wetlands Ordinance |url=https://www.boston.gov/departments/environment/boston-conservation-commission |website=City of Boston |date=17 July 2016 |access-date=5 December 2022 |archive-date=5 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205224924/https://www.boston.gov/departments/environment/boston-conservation-commission |url-status=live }}</ref> improving the stability of their wetland environments by implementing soil amendments that will improve groundwater storage and flow, and trimming or removal of vegetation that could cause harm to water quality.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Ecological science is used in the methods of sustainable harvesting, disease, and fire outbreak management, in fisheries stock management, for integrating land-use with protected areas and communities, and conservation in complex geo-political landscapes.<ref name="Hammond09" /><ref name="Grumbine94" /><ref name="Slocombe93">{{cite journal| last1=Slocombe| first1=D. S.| title=Implementing ecosystem-based management| volume=43| issue=9| pages=612–622| year=1993| jstor=1312148| doi=10.2307/1312148| journal=BioScience}}</ref><ref name="Hobbs01">{{cite journal| last1=Hobss| first1=R. J.| last2=Harris| first2=J. A.| title=Restoration ecology: Repairing the Earth's ecosystems in the new millennium| journal=Restoration Ecology| volume=9| issue=2| pages=239–246|doi=10.1046/j.1526-100x.2001.009002239.x| url=http://planet.botany.uwc.ac.za/nisl/invasives/assignment1/hobbsandharris.pdf| year=2001| bibcode=2001ResEc...9..239H| s2cid=908668| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512223703/http://planet.botany.uwc.ac.za/nisl/invasives/assignment1/hobbsandharris.pdf| archive-date=12 May 2013}}</ref>