360 THE STUDY OF PLANT COMMUNITIES * Chapter XII 



uncommon use of the term in popular magazines and even occa- 

 sionally in newspapers. This represents one phase of progress. 

 The other is indicated by the use of the term and ecological 

 methods by scholars and investigators in fields ordinarily not 

 thought of as ecological. Anthropologists have undoubtedly led 

 the way in adapting ecological methods to their problems and 

 have, consequently, influenced others to try similar applications 

 in different fields. Although the social ecology of animals has been 

 given much attention, there have been only a few advocates of 

 ecological methods in the analysis of man's social behavior. 2 How- 

 ever, human ecology is gaining increasing recognition among 

 sociologists under the pioneering influence of a few of their 

 number 177, 178 who have thought in terms of social ecology for 

 many years. As a part of the interpretation of man's activities 

 and responses, it follows that certain phases of psychological 

 action must likewise be given consideration in human ecology. 

 Also, if human communities are to be studied as a whole, econom- 

 ics, too, becomes susceptible to ecological interpretation. These 

 things make it apparent that human ecology is a comprehensive 

 subject but one with promise of substantial returns for its study. 



Some ideas of human ecology as expressed by a sociologist 177 

 seem particularly pertinent here. The scope of human ecology is 

 so great that it must have a synoptic view of plant, animal, and 

 human communities since all are interrelated and governed by the 

 same principles involved in competition, symbiosis, succession, 

 balance, and optimal population. Approached in this fashion, the 

 laws, processes, and structure of human population are seen to be 

 subservient to the more comprehensive laws of ecology since the 

 latter are the determiners of regional economic and social types. 

 When the arrangement and spatial adaptations of populations are 

 considered, such ecological processes as aggregation, mobility, 

 specialization, distance, and succession are excellent bases of 

 evaluation. They permit the establishment of ecological indices 

 for the measurement of types and trends of social mobility, dis- 

 stance, dominance, and change. 



Finally, let us return to a phase of the discussion that has been 

 touched upon earlier in several connections. No science can be 

 completely justified for itself alone since science is supported by 



