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If ecology is in charge of studying the relationships of living beings and their habitat or environment, human ecology does the same, focusing its field of study on the study of people and their relationship with the environment.
Human ecology has a strong herd component, mainly oriented to the social sciences. In fact, it is a discipline that is part of the sociological studies program, and in addition many other sciences converge such as cultural anthropology, human geography, social psychology or demography. Do you keep wondering what is human ecology? In the following ecologiaverde article we will explain it to you.
Human ecology: what are your goals
In human ecology, the ecosystem is made up not only natural elements, but also those others that the human being has built, so they will be considered part of it from living organisms, air, soil or water, among other resources, in addition to the physical structures that make it up, including constructions architectural structures and their ensemble.
In this way, ecosystems are from an urban landscape to a small town, a farm, a hamlet, a cabin in the forest or a rural environment and of any other nature where there is human presence. Likewise, the ecosystem in which it is foreseen that it will exist in the future will be the object of study, with which a specific planning is sought.
Within these ecosystems, there are human beings and their way of organizing themselves socially, with the logical differences between one and another countries or cultures. Ultimately, different social systems are built that establish a interaction between that social system and the environment.
It is easy to understand, therefore, that there are endless disciplines and approaches involved in the look and analysis carried out by human ecology. On the one hand, the social system has its dynamics, that is, it follows its rules, and these in turn are translated into a certain social organization. Rules are created that influence the behavior of the same social system as a result of the interaction of numerous factors such as population, psychology, values and knowledge of the population.
The double dimension of the individual and of society, the values and knowledge (with special importance of technology) that are translated into action, actions that affect the environment, modify it in one way or another, to a greater or lesser extent.
While social systems range from one person's family to the other extreme, encompassing the entire population of the planet, human ecology tends to focus on groups of people living in a given ecosystem to study how resources are obtained from it.
Constant environmental problems
In this sense, the ecosystem provides matter, energy and information to the social system, logically with a utilitarian purpose. There is a constant movement of energy (workforce or machinery), information (things are organized according to a series of ideas) and matter, such as construction materials, food and resources in general.
It is this interaction between the human social system and the ecosystem that can cause environmental disasters, without forgetting that the reverse can also happen. The former occurs when, for example, human activities consciously harm the environment or after a series of knock-on effects. The various variables at stake make the ecosystem unstable and there is a tug of war between population expansion and preservation of the environment. It is then when there are countless conflict situations.
Sustainability or, more specifically, sustainable development seeks that balance point between both elements, a reciprocal adaptation that allows preserving the environment and at the same time satisfying man's needs, although these are a subjective concept that will depend on predefined and at the same time changing social schemes.
Within this scheme can be studied from the problem of traffic in cities to, say, the deterioration of the marine ecosystem as a result of overfishing. Unfortunately, there are almost infinite examples of resource abuse, causing systematic exploitation, since in this world of ours, sustainable development processes are rare, not only on a global level, but on a small scale.
In reality, the demand on ecosystems continues to increase, and this entails a deterioration of the planet's environmental health at breakneck speed. Like a boomerang, its consequences end up affecting us. Variables such as consumption, technology, environment and population interact, they depend on each other. And, obviously, although the demands on ecosystems multiply exponentially, in the end there will always be a limit, even if it is nothing, as is already happening on so many occasions, and on other occasions we are on the way. Is there a solution, can we change, the human being is able to establish a more respectful relationship with the environment? The disastrous chains of effects that are established between the ecosystem and the social system do not allow us to be optimistic, but we also bet on ecologically sustainable development on a planetary level.
What is human ecology: summary
As we have already explained to you previously, human ecology is an academic discipline that integrates within sociological studies, being a meeting point between disciplines such as cultural anthopology, geography, psychology or demography. In fact, it is precisely this multidisciplinary nature that allows the study of the connections established by the population with the ecosystem to be approached from a broad approach. Basically, the interactions that occur between the social system and the environment in a given context or ecosystem are studied, focusing on social organization and the use of technology and knowledge to alter the environment for survival and survival. exploitation.
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