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Social or human ecology borrowed its conceptual framework and much of its method from plant and animal ecology. In the biological science, the concept is concerned with the fact that “the structure and behaviour of organisms are significantly affected by their living together with other organisms of the same and other species and by their habitat.”
Social or human ecology proceeds on the assumption that men are also animals, and as such “they exhibit the effects of physical aggregation and of their habitat.” In other words, human ecology is the study of groups in relation to their environment.
This is not altogether a new branch of knowledge. Much of what is characterised today as social or human ecology had already been studied in a less systematic and scientific manner by geographers, historians and philosophers under the general theme of ‘environmentalism’.
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The importance of ecological balance may be studied with reference to the influence exercised by animals, insects and microbes upon human beings and their societies. “We prey upon some of them and they, of course, return the compliment. Nature exhibits an endless cycle of eating and being eaten, and from this process our own kind is not exempt”.
Lions and tigers prey upon human beings, and we include in our dietary menu a variety of fish and meat. In the animal world, one is the food of the other. If, for some reason, a particular species becomes extinct, the lives of animals which preyed upon this particular species would be endangered.
The importance of maintaining ecological balance is brought out dramatically by the relationship that Darwin and Huxley discovered between the number of old maids in a region’s population and the abundance of its clover crop.
“Old maids, it seems, have a propensity to keep cats. As the cats increase, the field mice decrease, because more of them are eaten by more cats. If the number of field mice decreases, the number of bumblebees increases, because the mice feed on bumblebee larvae. As bumblebees increase, so also does the clover, because the clover flower is pollinated primarily by bumblebees. In short, as the number of old maids increases, so also does the yield of clover. But this is only half the story. An increase in the clover yield contributes to the prosperity of farmers, induces them to marry, and thus reduces the number of old maids. This reduces the cats, increases the mice, reduces the bumblebees, and reduces the clover crop. In short, an increase in the clover crop ultimately causes its decrease. And similarly, an increase in the number of old maids ultimately brings about their decrease, which again results in increase and so on in a cycle revolving forever.”
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Stories like these illustrate the important point that a balance has to be maintained between man and the animal world around him. There are, for instance, birds which are very useful in keeping the environment clean. The crows, vultures and some other birds are known as scavenger birds because they live on what man throws around him which tends to pollute the environment.
We may also think of the ecological relationship between human species and its food supply. It is common knowledge now that industrial pollutants tend to decrease the supply of fish in the rivers and vast masses of water into which these pollutants flow.
The insecticides and pesticides which are generally used for controlling the diseases of plants have the same effect of reducing the supply of fish when these flow into rivers and tanks and pollute water. It is thus abundantly clear that alterations in the balance between men and other species may have serious social consequences.
But keeping in view the unique characteristics of man and the human community, we should distinguish human ecology from plant and animal ecology. Unlike plants and animals, human beings possess elaborate technology and culture; hence they can, in large measure, make their own environment. Moreover, in human groups we find the life of the individuals regulated by formal organisations and institutions.
The influence of physical factors upon social life and psychological phenomena cannot, however, be altogether ignored. We may look upon them as conditioning factors that offer the possibilities and set the limits for social and psychological existence and development. As Wirth puts it – “they set the stage for man, the actor”.