HUMAN ECOLOQY AS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONCEPT
67
tion as “applied” ecology, identifying it as the “management and safeguarding of environmental resources”, implying knowledge of human
behavior on two “functional levels : short-term, practical application and
long-term, theoretical integration”. Cox (1969) would agree that “the
goal of conservation ecology is . . . to develop an understanding of the
functioning of world ecosystems and to devise ecologically sound
techniques for their management”. He recognizes applied ecology as an
action aspect also, as “active management by man . . . necessary for the
perpetuation of some desired condition” since ecosystems are dynamic.
Resource management is similarly being defined increasingly in an
ecological context (Simmonds, 1966). Watt (1968) claims that “all the
resource management fields are related to each other by dependence on
a common science: ecology . . .” I n the book “The Ecosystem Concept
in Natural Resource Management’’ (Van Dyne, 1969), Spurr suggests
that “a natural resource ecosystem is an integrated ecological system,
one element of which is a product of direct or indirect use to man”. He
endorses an applied approach, defining management as “the manipulation of the ecosystem by man”. Owen (1971) includes, among five
fundamental principles of conservation, the idea of “interlocking
resource relationships”. Specific resource fields, such as forestry, have
been identified a number of times with “the ecosystem as a conceptual
management tool.” (cf. Rowe et al., 1960; Schultz, 1967; Van Dyne,
1969).
Common inclusions in the above definition seem to be the idea of (a)
management or manipulation of ( b ) a resource or ecological system for
(c) the benefit or satisfaction of man by way of (a) applied ecological
principles. These combined would, it seems, provide adequate evidence
of the importance of conservation in the well-being of man and justify
its definition as applied human ecology and thus its inclusion here.
6. Public health as applied human ecology
Public health ought to also be included as an aspect of applied human
ecology. Bodily protection and health are prime requirements if any
organism is to survive. Health is an area of applied science where the
techniques and benefits have been distributed widely among men.
Through most of human history, the environment prevailed and
disease and pestilence held men at their mercy. This has changed
dramatically in the past century and a half: man’s relationship to his
environment will never be the same. This does not mean that all health
problems have been defeated-or where beaten down that they will
remain defeated. For example, cities historically have been concentrstions of communicable disease and while the technologically advanced
nations generally no longer fear infectious killers in crowded urb4n areas,
67
tion as “applied” ecology, identifying it as the “management and safeguarding of environmental resources”, implying knowledge of human
behavior on two “functional levels : short-term, practical application and
long-term, theoretical integration”. Cox (1969) would agree that “the
goal of conservation ecology is . . . to develop an understanding of the
functioning of world ecosystems and to devise ecologically sound
techniques for their management”. He recognizes applied ecology as an
action aspect also, as “active management by man . . . necessary for the
perpetuation of some desired condition” since ecosystems are dynamic.
Resource management is similarly being defined increasingly in an
ecological context (Simmonds, 1966). Watt (1968) claims that “all the
resource management fields are related to each other by dependence on
a common science: ecology . . .” I n the book “The Ecosystem Concept
in Natural Resource Management’’ (Van Dyne, 1969), Spurr suggests
that “a natural resource ecosystem is an integrated ecological system,
one element of which is a product of direct or indirect use to man”. He
endorses an applied approach, defining management as “the manipulation of the ecosystem by man”. Owen (1971) includes, among five
fundamental principles of conservation, the idea of “interlocking
resource relationships”. Specific resource fields, such as forestry, have
been identified a number of times with “the ecosystem as a conceptual
management tool.” (cf. Rowe et al., 1960; Schultz, 1967; Van Dyne,
1969).
Common inclusions in the above definition seem to be the idea of (a)
management or manipulation of ( b ) a resource or ecological system for
(c) the benefit or satisfaction of man by way of (a) applied ecological
principles. These combined would, it seems, provide adequate evidence
of the importance of conservation in the well-being of man and justify
its definition as applied human ecology and thus its inclusion here.
6. Public health as applied human ecology
Public health ought to also be included as an aspect of applied human
ecology. Bodily protection and health are prime requirements if any
organism is to survive. Health is an area of applied science where the
techniques and benefits have been distributed widely among men.
Through most of human history, the environment prevailed and
disease and pestilence held men at their mercy. This has changed
dramatically in the past century and a half: man’s relationship to his
environment will never be the same. This does not mean that all health
problems have been defeated-or where beaten down that they will
remain defeated. For example, cities historically have been concentrstions of communicable disease and while the technologically advanced
nations generally no longer fear infectious killers in crowded urb4n areas,