The Rise of Systems Theory in Ecology

Abstract

The emergence of systems theory in ecology, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s, was accompanied by the hope that ecology might turn into an exact science with prognostic potential and a set of uniform theoretical foundations. The impact of systems theory on ecology was manifested mainly in the formulation and devel- opment of ecosystem theory. The widely-held view is that ecosystem theory is concerned primarily with units comprising communities of organisms of various species and the abiotic environment of these communities. The components of systems are seen to interact with one another. The main elements in any historical reconstruction of the emergence of ecosystem theory include the establishment of general systems theory and its associated theories (including cybernetics, information theory etc.), the introduction of the term “ecosystem” and early ecosystem theories.