study of energy relations within terrestrial communi- 

 ties is that of Stanchinsky (1931 ). 



Physiological ecology had its historical beginnings 

 in the correlation of biological phenomena with vari- 

 ations in temperature stimulated by Galileo's inven- 

 tion of a hermetically sealed thermometer about 1612 

 AD. The French naturalist Reaumur summed the 

 mean daily teni[>eratures for Ajjril, May, and June in 

 1734 and again in 1735, and correlated the earlier 

 maturing of fruit and grain during the first year with 

 the greater accumulation of heat. A discovery of 

 parallel significance was of oxygen in 1774 by the 

 English clerg\'man. Priestley, and the finding by 

 Lavoisier, a Frenchman, in 1777 that it was an essen- 

 tial part of air. Claude Bernard, another French 

 physiologist, enunciated the principle of homeostasis 

 in 1876. This concept originally referred to regula- 

 tory mechanisms which maintained the "internal en- 

 vironment" of the body constant in the face of chang- 

 ing external conditions. Later, the concept came to 

 be applied also to maintenance of community inter- 

 relations. \'an't HofT, a Dutch scientist, contributed 

 to physiological ecology in 1884 in describing how 

 the speed of chemical reactions increased two- or 

 three-fold with each rise of 10°C. K. G. Semper and 

 Charles B. Davenport clearly established physiologi- 

 cal ecology in bringing together pertinent information 

 in 1881 and 1897-1899 respectively. More recent 

 summaries of knowledge and methods in this general 

 field have been made by V. E. Shelford in Laboratory 

 and Field Ecology (1929) and by Samuel Brody in 

 Biocncrgctics and Growth (1945). 



The development of animal behavior or ethology 

 may be traced back through the natural history of 

 ancient times. More recently the 13 volumes of 

 Thierleben. prepared by A. E. Brehm during the 

 period 1911 to 1918, are noteworthy. H. S. Jennings, 

 1906, and Jacques Loeb. 1918, made valuable contri- 

 butions to the understanding of the behavior of in- 

 vertebrates. Precise modern techniques and concepts 

 as applied to vertebrates began to take form about 

 1920 with the development of banding and marking 

 of individual animals by S. Prentiss Baldwin (1919) 

 and the recognition of territories in the nesting of 

 birds by H. E. Howard (1920). The formulation of 

 the concept of releasers as controlling instinctive be- 

 havior by Wallace Craig (1908), K. Lorenz (1935). 

 and X. Tinbergen (1951) has produced a profound 

 effect on present-day thinking. 



In regard to other divisions of ecology, the crys- 



tallization of studies in oceanography may be credited 

 to i-:dward Forbes 1843, Maury 1855, Alexander 

 Agassiz 1888, Petersen and his colleagues 1911, and 

 Murray and Hjort 1912; limnology to Forel 1869, 

 Hirge 18^)3, Juday 1896, Ward and Whipple 1918, 

 Thienemann 191.^1935, and Xaumann 1918-1932; 

 and wildlife management to Aldo Leoi)old 1933. 



Ecology, then, is of comparatively recent develop- 

 ment as a distinct science, but its roots extend well 

 back into the past. Doubtless the most comprehensive 

 treatment of the subject in all its aspects is Principles 

 oj Animal Ecoloijy by Alice, I-Jiierson, Park, Park 

 and Schmidt, published in 1949 (for citations of his- 

 toric interest in this chapter, see this reference). 

 .Since ecology is a young science, it should be empha- 

 sized that its concci)ts and techni(|ues have not be- 

 come standardized and that there is opportunity and 

 stimulus here for many new investigators. 



The Ecological Society of America was founded 

 in 1915. and in 1960 had a membership of over two 

 thousand. The British Ideological Society, organized 

 in 1913, has a membership of about one thousand. 

 The society in America has given birth to several off- 

 spring during its 45 years of existence : The Wildlife 

 Society, Society of Limnologists and Oceanog- 

 raphers. The Nature Conservancy, and a Section on 

 Animal Behavior and Sociobiology. Several of these 

 organizations have their own journals. The Ecologi- 

 cal Society of America publishes two periodicals: 

 Ecology for short papers and Ecological Monographs 

 for long ones. The British Ecological Society also 

 publishes two : Journal oj Ecology for plant papers 

 and Journal oj Animal Ecology for animal papers. 

 Oikos began publication in 1949 to represent ecolo- 

 gists in Denmark, Finland. Iceland, Norway, and 

 Sweden. Announcement was made in 1960 of the or- 

 ganization of the International Society for Tropical 

 Ecology to include India and adjacent countries. 

 There will be a Bulletin. The Ecological Society of 

 Australia was organized in 1960. The New Zealand 

 Ecological Society came into existence in 1952 and 

 regularly ])ublishes Proceedings of its annual con- 

 ferences. The Japanese Journal oj Ecology, begun in 

 1954, is the official publication of the Ecological So- 

 ciety of Japan. Most of its articles are in Japanese, 

 but they have summaries in a European language. 

 Finally, many papers of interest to ecologists appear 

 in zoological journals of various sorts that do not 

 carry the word ecology in their titles. 



The scope and history of ecology 



