Editing Ecology (section)

=== Early beginnings ===
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| quote = By ecology, we mean the whole science of the relations of the organism to the environment including, in the broad sense, all the "conditions of existence". Thus, the theory of evolution explains the housekeeping relations of organisms mechanistically as the necessary consequences of effectual causes; and so forms the [[monism|monistic]] groundwork of ecology.
| source = Ernst Haeckel (1866)<ref name="Stauffer57" />{{Rp|140}} {{Cref2|B}}
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Ecology has a complex origin, due in large part to its interdisciplinary nature.<ref name="Egerton01"/> Ancient Greek philosophers such as [[Hippocrates]] and [[Aristotle]] were among the first to record observations on natural history. However, they viewed life in terms of [[essentialism]], where species were conceptualized as static unchanging things while varieties were seen as aberrations of an [[Idealism|idealized type]]. This contrasts against the modern understanding of [[Theoretical ecology|ecological theory]] where varieties are viewed as the real phenomena of interest and having a role in the origins of adaptations by means of [[natural selection]].<ref name="Odum05" /><ref name="Benson00"/><ref name="Sober80">{{cite journal| last1=Sober| first1=E.| title=Evolution, population thinking, and essentialism| journal=Philosophy of Science| volume=47| issue=3| pages=350–383| jstor=186950| doi=10.1086/288942| year=1980| s2cid=170129617}}</ref> Early conceptions of ecology, such as a balance and regulation in nature can be traced to [[Herodotus]] (died ''c''. 425 BC), who described one of the earliest accounts of [[mutualism (biology)|mutualism]] in his observation of "natural dentistry". Basking [[Nile crocodile]]s, he noted, would open their mouths to give [[sandpiper]]s safe access to pluck [[leech]]es out, giving nutrition to the sandpiper and oral hygiene for the crocodile.<ref name="Egerton01" /> Aristotle was an early influence on the philosophical development of ecology. He and his student [[Theophrastus]] made extensive observations on plant and animal migrations, biogeography, physiology, and their behavior, giving an early analogue to the modern concept of an ecological niche.<ref name="Hughes85"/><ref name="Hughes75"/>

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| quote = Nowhere can one see more clearly illustrated what may be called the sensibility of such an organic complex, – expressed by the fact that whatever affects any species belonging to it, must speedily have its influence of some sort upon the whole assemblage. He will thus be made to see the impossibility of studying any form completely, out of relation to the other forms, – the necessity for taking a comprehensive survey of the whole as a condition to a satisfactory understanding of any part.
| source = Stephen Forbes (1887)<ref name="Forbes1887"/>
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[[File:Nicola Perscheid - Ernst Haeckel.jpg|90px]] [[File:Warming,Eugen-c1900.jpg|90px]]
<div style="border: none; width:180px;"><div class="thumbcaption"> [[Ernst Haeckel]] (left) and [[Eugenius Warming]] (right), two founders of ecology</div></div></div>

Ecological concepts such as food chains, population regulation, and productivity were first developed in the 1700s, through the published works of microscopist [[Antonie van Leeuwenhoek]] (1632–1723) and botanist [[Richard Bradley (botanist)|Richard Bradley]] (1688?–1732).<ref name="Odum05" /> Biogeographer [[Alexander von Humboldt]] (1769–1859) was an early pioneer in ecological thinking and was among the first to recognize ecological gradients, where species are replaced or altered in form along [[environmental gradient]]s, such as a [[cline (biology)|cline]] forming along a rise in elevation. Humboldt drew inspiration from [[Isaac Newton]], as he developed a form of "terrestrial physics". In Newtonian fashion, he brought a scientific exactitude for measurement into natural history and even alluded to concepts that are the foundation of a modern ecological law on species-to-area relationships.<ref name="Kingsland04" /><ref name="Rosenzweig03"/><ref name="Hawkins01"/> Natural historians, such as Humboldt, [[James Hutton]], and [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]] (among others) laid the foundations of the modern ecological sciences.<ref name="McIntosh85">{{cite book| last1=McIntosh| first1=R. P.| title=The Background of Ecology: Concept and Theory| publisher=Cambridge University Press| year=1985| isbn=0-521-27087-1| page=400| url=https://archive.org/details/backgroundofecol0000mcin| url-access=registration}}</ref> The term "ecology" ({{langx|de|Oekologie, Ökologie}}) was coined by [[Ernst Haeckel]] in his book ''Generelle Morphologie der Organismen'' (1866).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Haeckel|first1=Ernst|title=Generelle Morphologie der Organismen|trans-title=The General Morphology of Organisms|date=1866|publisher=Georg Reimer|location=Berlin, (Germany)|volume=2|page=286|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52177#page/454/mode/1up|language=de|access-date=27 February 2019|archive-date=18 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618151420/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52177#page/454/mode/1up|url-status=live}} From p. 286: ''"Unter Oecologie verstehen wir die gesammte Wissenschaft von den Beziehungen des Organismus zur umgebenden Aussenwelt, wohin wir im weiteren Sinne alle "Existenz-Bedingungen" rechnen können."'' (By "ecology" we understand the comprehensive science of the relationships of the organism to its surrounding environment, where we can include, in the broader sense, all "conditions of existence".)</ref> Haeckel was a zoologist, artist, writer, and later in life a professor of comparative anatomy.<ref name="Stauffer57"/><ref name="Friederichs58"/>

Opinions differ on who was the founder of modern ecological theory. Some mark Haeckel's definition as the beginning;<ref name="Hinchman07"/> others say it was [[Eugenius Warming]] with the writing of [[Plantesamfund|Oecology of Plants: An Introduction to the Study of Plant Communities]] (1895),<ref name="Goodland75"/> or [[Carl Linnaeus]]' principles on the economy of nature that matured in the early 18th century.<ref name="Egerton07"/><ref name="Kormandy78"/> Linnaeus founded an early branch of ecology that he called the economy of nature.<ref name="Egerton07"/> His works influenced Charles Darwin, who adopted Linnaeus' phrase on the ''economy or polity of nature'' in ''[[The Origin of Species]]''.<ref name="Stauffer57" /> Linnaeus was the first to frame the [[balance of nature]] as a testable hypothesis. Haeckel, who admired Darwin's work, defined ecology in reference to the economy of nature, which has led some to question whether ecology and the economy of nature are synonymous.<ref name="Kormandy78" />

[[File:Darwin EcoExperiment.JPG|thumb|The layout of the first ecological experiment, carried out in a grass garden at [[Woburn Abbey]] in 1816, was noted by Charles Darwin in ''The Origin of Species''. The experiment studied the performance of different mixtures of species planted in different kinds of soils.<ref name="Hector02" /><ref name="Sinclair26" />]]

From Aristotle until Darwin, the natural world was predominantly considered static and unchanging. Prior to ''The Origin of Species'', there was little appreciation or understanding of the dynamic and reciprocal relations between organisms, their adaptations, and the environment.<ref name="Benson00"/> An exception is the 1789 publication ''Natural History of Selborne'' by [[Gilbert White]] (1720–1793), considered by some to be one of the earliest texts on ecology.<ref name="May99"/> While [[Charles Darwin]] is mainly noted for his treatise on evolution,<ref name=Darwin/> he was one of the founders of [[soil ecology]],<ref name="Meysman06"/> and he made note of the first ecological experiment in ''The Origin of Species''.<ref name="Hector02"/> Evolutionary theory changed the way that researchers approached the ecological sciences.<ref name="Acot97"/>