| 词组 | ecology |
| 释义 | ecology Ecology is a scientific word that in recent years has come into widespread use among nonscien-tists. In its oldest sense, it means "a branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their environments." It can also refer in scientific use to the interrelationship itself, rather than to the study of it: • ... must be sought among the complex interactions of living organisms and their environments, in other words, in their ecologies —George L. Rotramel, Systematic Zoology, September 1973 This use of ecology is well established and above reproach. Such difficulties as arise with ecology have to do with its use by general (nonscientific) writers to mean "the environment" or "the natural world." Several recent commentators have noted and criticized this use of the word. Our files contain a few clear-cut examples of it, including the following: • To implement this policy in all corporate activities relating to the ecology —Annual Report, Owens-Illinois, 1970 • As to the furor over the ecology, it seems to me that its proponents are jousting windmills —letter to the editor, Johns Hopkins Mag., Spring 1971 • And it not only saves money; it's good for the ecology, too —television commentator, 30 Aug. 1977 Most of our evidence for ecology in this sense is from the early 1970s, when the environmental movement was first coming into its own and its terminology was still relatively new and unfamiliar to many people. No doubt ecology is still sometimes used to mean "environment," but our evidence suggests that such usage, which was never very common, is becoming increasingly rare. A current writer or speaker is far more likely to use environment than ecology in such contexts as those quoted above. |
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