Commoner's environmental laws. Nothing comes for free

Nature "knows" better

In the third law (nature “knows” best), Commoner says that until there is absolutely reliable information about the mechanisms and functions of nature, we, like a person unfamiliar with the structure of a watch but wanting to fix it, easily harm natural systems by trying to fix them. improve. He calls for extreme caution. The transformation of nature is economically disastrous and environmentally dangerous. Ultimately, conditions may be created that are unsuitable for life. The existing opinion about the improvement of nature without specifying the environmental criterion for improvement is meaningless. An illustration of the third “law” of ecology can be the fact that the mathematical calculation of the parameters of the biosphere alone requires immeasurably more time than the entire period of existence of our planet as solid. (The potentially feasible diversity of nature is estimated by numbers with the order of 10 1000 to 10 50 with the as yet unrealized speed of the computer - 10 "° operations per second - and the work of an incredible number (10 50) of machines; the operation of calculating a one-time problem of a variant of 10 50 differences will take 10 30 s, or 3x10 21 years, which is almost 10 12 times longer than the existence of life on Earth.) Nature still “knows” better than us.

You can give examples of the shooting of wolves, who turned out to be “forest orderlies,” or the destruction in China of sparrows, which supposedly destroy crops, but no one thought that crops without birds would be destroyed by harmful insects.

Nothing comes for free

The fourth law (nothing is given for free) has another interpretation: “you have to pay for everything.” This Commoner's law again concerns those problems that are generalized by the law of internal dynamic equilibrium and the law of development of a natural system at the expense of its environment. The global ecological system, i.e., the biosphere, is a single whole, within which any gain is associated with losses, but, on the other hand, everything that is extracted from nature must be compensated. Commoner explains his fourth “law” of ecology: “... the global ecosystem is a single whole in which nothing can be gained or lost and which cannot be the object of general improvement: everything that has been extracted from it by human labor, must be reimbursed. Payment on this bill cannot be avoided: it can only be deferred.” For example, when growing grains and vegetables, we extract chemical elements from the arable land (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, etc.), and if fertilizers are not added to it, the yield gradually begins to decline.

Let's turn again to the sad known history Aral Sea. To restore the marine ecosystem, significant cash. By June 1997, states Central Asia allocated over $2 billion to eliminate the consequences of the environmental disaster in the Aral Sea, but failed to restore the Aral Sea. In 1997, it was decided to form the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. Since 1998, contributions to this fund are made according to the principle: 0.3% of the budget revenues of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and 0.1% each for Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The 2003 European Environment Agency Report noted that due to “ greenhouse effect» there has been an increase in natural disasters, the economic losses from which amount to an average of 11 billion euros per year.

A person is inclined to think that he will escape trouble, that this will happen to someone else, but not to him. Here is another well-known sad example. The Chernobyl accident changed the point of view of many people on nuclear energy. An illustration of the fourth environmental law is the terrible price that the Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian peoples have paid and continue to pay for the “cheapest electricity”.

Modern ecology has its own laws, rules, empirical (Greek empeiria - experience based on experience) generalizations. The main problems of interaction between society and nature to some extent reflect four points that were formulated by the American biologist Barry Commoner in his book “The Closing Circle”. He called them “laws of ecology,” precisely in quotation marks.

The first “law” of ecology: everything is connected to everything

This law reflects the existence of close connections in the biosphere between living organisms and the physicochemical properties of the natural environment. Any change in the quality of the physical and chemical state of the natural environment is transmitted both within the ecosystem and between them, affecting their development and the biosphere as a whole. As an example, we can cite the situation in the ecosystem Sea of Azov. Just half a century ago, the productivity of the Azov Sea was 1.5 times higher than the North Sea, 8 times higher than the Baltic Sea and 25 times higher than the Black Sea. In addition, valuable sturgeon species were caught in the Sea of Azov. But due to the use of Don and Kuban runoff for irrigation and other economic needs, the salinity of the water has increased. This led to an invasion of Black Sea jellyfish, which previously were not here at all. This disrupted the ecological balance of the Azov Sea. The jellyfish ate plankton, which previously fed small fish, which, in turn, were food for much larger fish. Catches valuable species fell from the usual 90,000 tons to 5,700 tons.

The second “law” of ecology: everything has to go somewhere

The effect of this law is one of the main causes of the environmental crisis. Huge quantities of substances are extracted from the bowels of the Earth, converted into new compounds, which are dispersed in the surrounding natural environment, becoming involved in biochemical cycles. Some of them, chemically active, are capable of reacting with proteins, replacing nutrients, and influencing the development of living organisms. They are very dangerous. B. Commoner considers this using the example of mercury contained in a used battery or transistor, which passes through the environment: “garbage container - incinerator - atmosphere - body of water - mercury-methylating bacteria - zooplankton - fish - humans.” A small amount of mercury reaches the end, but it still reaches, accumulates and has its effect.

No less dangerous are the many hundreds of organic compounds - xenobiotics, which are scattered in the biosphere, have become involved in the global cycle, and accumulate in ever new generations of fish, birds, animals, and people. For example, DDT, its content in microalgae and bacteria is 20 - 100 times higher than in water, in the body of fish - 5 - 12 thousand times, in the body of waterfowl that feed on fish - 30 - 100 thousand times. In the early 80s, residents different countries The Earths contained 2 to 5 mg of DDT in their bodies for every kg of body weight.

The third “law” of ecology: nature knows best

This law is based on the results of the emergence and development of life on Earth, on natural selection in the process of the evolution of life. The main criterion for this selection is inclusion in the biotic cycle. Any substance produced by organisms must have an enzyme that decomposes it. Man, contrary to this law, has created substances, materials, products that are not subject to biological damage, biocorrosion and cannot be neutralized by nature (for example, polyethylene, DDT, etc.). Thus, humanity, acting on the biosphere as a powerful “geological force,” causes irreversible processes in it that can develop into a global crisis. There is only one way out - to find a compromise acceptable for nature and worthy for humanity. B. Commoner, in his lecture “Ecology and Social Action,” added to the wording of the law: “Nature knows best what to do, and people must decide how to do it as best as possible” [on 8].

The fourth “law” of ecology: nothing comes for free

B. Commoner writes: "The global ecosystem is a single whole in which nothing can be won or lost and which cannot be the object of general improvement; everything that has been extracted from it by human labor must be repaid. Payment of this bill "It cannot be avoided; it can only be delayed. The current environmental crisis suggests that the delay has been too long." B. Commoner did not provide evidence for this law; it is based on centuries-old experience of mankind. Global ecosystem, i.e. The biosphere is a single whole, within which any gain is accompanied by losses, but in a different place. For example, when growing grain, chemical elements are extracted from the soil, and if fertilizers are not added to it, the yields decrease.

Barry Commoner is a famous American ecologist. He is also the author of a number of books and a noted social and political activist.

Commoner was born in 1917. He attended Harvard University and received his doctorate in biology in 1941. Commoner, as a biologist, chose the main topic of his work - the problem of destruction of the ozone layer.

In 1950, Commoner was opposed to atmospheric testing nuclear weapons, tried to draw public attention to this problem. In 1960 he took part in the decision of other environmental problems, including environmental issues and energy research. He has written many books: Science and Survival (1967), The Closing Circle (1971), Energy and Human Welfare (1975), The Poverty of Power (1976), The Politics of Energy (1979), and Making Peace with the Planet ( 1990).

According to Commoner, today's industrial methods and the extraction of fossil fuels lead to active environmental pollution. He firmly believes that the pursuit of maximum profit currently takes precedence over the ecology of the planet. According to Commoner, only compensation for damage caused to nature is pointless. We must first focus on preventing future destruction of nature; For the most part, the solution to environmental problems lies in preserving the environment.

It took humanity almost 5 million years until its population reached 1 billion. Then it took only 50 years (in 1920-1970) until it doubled, that is, it grew from 1.8 billion to 3.5 billion people. In 1987, the world's population was 5 billion people. By the middle of the next century it could reach 12-14 billion people. Over the entire history of human existence, almost 150 species of mammals have disappeared, of which more than 40 species have disappeared over the past 50 years. Over the past 30 years, more than 40 species and 40 subspecies of birds have disappeared.

Ecology as a science is theoretical basis environmental protection and rational use of natural resources. The laws of ecology were formulated in 1974 by B. Commoner. They boil down to four basic principles that explain the sustainable development of nature and encourage humanity to be guided by them in their influence on the environment.

3. Nature knows best - the law has a double meaning - both a call to get closer to nature and a call to handle natural systems with extreme caution. This law is based on the results of the emergence and development of life on earth, on natural selection in the process of the evolution of life. Thus, for any organic substance produced by organisms, there is an enzyme in nature that can decompose this substance. None in nature organic matter will not be synthesized if there are no means to decompose it.

Contrary to this law, man created (and continues to create) chemical compounds, which, when released into the natural environment, do not decompose, accumulate and pollute it (polyethylene, DDT, etc.). This law warns us about the need for reasonable transformation of natural systems (the construction of dams, the transfer of river flows, land reclamation and much more).

4. Nothing is given for free (free translation - in the original something like “There are no free lunches”) The global ecological system, i.e. the biosphere, is a single whole, within which any gain is associated with losses, but, with on the other hand, everything that is extracted from nature must be replaced. Payments on this bill cannot be avoided, they can only be deferred.

First Law

Everything is connected to everything

1. Everything is connected to everything. This law reflects the existence of a colossal network of connections in the biosphere between living organisms and the natural environment. Any change in the quality of the natural environment is transmitted through existing connections both within biogeocenoses and between them and affects their development.

Barry Commoner's first law of ecology draws our attention to the general connection between processes and phenomena in nature and is very close in meaning to the law of internal dynamic equilibrium: a change in one of the indicators of the system causes functional-structural quantitative and qualitative changes, while the system itself leaves the total amount of material energetic qualities. A rabbit eats grass, a wolf eats a rabbit, but both the rabbit and the wolf have the same goal - to provide their body with food and, most importantly, energy.

Energy in various forms connects all organisms on Earth with each other and with their environment.

Almost all the energy, due to which all life on Earth exists, comes to Earth in the form of solar radiation. U different groups organisms have their own sources of energy and matter. All of these are irreplaceable resources.

In nature, any organism is affected by a huge number (tens and hundreds) of different factors at once. To Living being could successfully exist and reproduce, then these factors must fit into a certain range. This range is called the limit of tolerance (endurance) of a given type of organism. What unites living beings in a forest or meadow - trees, flowers, butterflies flying above them? Butterfly caterpillars feed on plant leaves; Butterflies and bees need the nectar that flowers give them, and plants can set seeds only after the flowers are pollinated by insects.

There is a well-known story about Darwin, who, when asked by his fellow countrymen what they should do to increase the buckwheat harvest, answered: “Breed cats.” And in vain the fellow countrymen were offended. Darwin, knowing that in nature “everything is connected to everything else,” reasoned that the cats would catch all the mice, the mice would stop destroying the bumblebees’ nests, the bumblebees would pollinate buckwheat, and the peasants would get a good harvest.

For example, the destruction of forests and the subsequent decrease in oxygen, as well as emissions of nitrogen oxide and freon into the atmosphere, have led to the depletion of the ozone layer in the atmosphere, which in turn has increased the intensity of ultraviolet radiation, reaching the ground and having a detrimental effect on living organisms. For example, over the past 40 years, 50 percent of the forests in the Nepalese Himalayas have been cleared, either for fuel or for wood products. But as soon as the trees were cut down, the falling monsoon rains washed away the soil from the mountain slopes. Because young trees cannot take root without topsoil, many mountains are now devoid of vegetation. Nepal loses millions of tons of topsoil every year due to deforestation.

There are similar problems in other countries.

In Bangladesh, heavy rains used to be blocked by trees; now, streams of water flow unhindered from the mountains devoid of vegetation to the coast, causing catastrophic floods there. In the past, devastating floods occurred in Bangladesh once every 50 years, but now every four years or more often.

In other parts of the world, deforestation has led to desertification and climate change in certain areas. In addition to forests, there are others Natural resources, which a person mercilessly spends. Environmentalists still know relatively little about how the parts of our giant ecosystem are interconnected, and problems may only be noticed when serious damage has already been done. Confirmation of this is the problem of waste disposal, which clearly explains the second law of ecology.

So, everything in nature is interconnected!

Second Law

Everything has to go somewhere (nothing disappears without a trace)

2. Everything has to go somewhere. Nothing disappears without a trace, this or that substance simply moves from place to place, passes from one molecular form to another, thereby affecting life processes living organisms. The effect of this law is one of the main causes of the environmental crisis. Huge quantities Substances such as petroleum and ore are extracted from the earth, converted into new compounds and dispersed into the environment.

Commoner's second law is also close to the one discussed above, as well as the law of the development of a natural system at the expense of its environment, especially its first consequence. Nowadays in industrial ecology a rule has been developed for the so-called life cycle things: when giving consent to the release of a product, society must clearly understand what will happen to it in the future, where its existence will end and what will have to be done with its “remains”. Therefore, we can only count on low-waste production. In this regard, with the development of technology it is necessary:

a) low energy and resource consumption,

b) creation of production in which waste from one production is the raw material of another production,

c) organization of reasonable disposal of inevitable waste

Imagine what it would look like ordinary house, if waste were not thrown out of it. Our planet is the same closed system: everything that we throw away must eventually accumulate somewhere within our home - the Earth. The partial destruction of the ozone layer shows that even such seemingly harmless gases as chlorofluorocarbons (freons) do not disappear without a trace, dissolving in the air. In addition to freons, there are hundreds of other potentially hazardous substances that are released into the atmosphere, rivers and oceans.

True, some waste, which is called “biodegradable,” can break down over time and be incorporated into natural processes, while others cannot. On many beaches around the world, plastic packaging is scattered that will remain in this form for several decades.

Laws of ecology — general patterns and principles of interaction between human society and the natural environment.

The significance of these laws is to regulate the nature and direction human activity within ecosystems of various levels. Among the laws of ecology formulated by different authors, the most famous are the four laws-aphorisms of the American environmental scientist Barry Commoner (1974):

"everything is connected to everything"(the law of the universal connection of things and phenomena in nature);
“everything has to go somewhere”(law of conservation of mass of matter);
"nothing comes for free"(about the price of development);
"nature knows best"(about the main criterion of evolutionary selection).

From the law of the universal connection of things and phenomena in nature(“everything is connected to everything”), several consequences follow:

law large numbers - cumulative effect large number random factors leads to a result almost independent of chance, i.e. having a systemic nature. Thus, myriads of bacteria in soil, water, and the bodies of living organisms create a special, relatively stable microbiological environment necessary for the normal existence of all living things. Or another example: the random behavior of a large number of molecules in a certain volume of gas completely determines certain values temperature and pressure;
Le Chatelier (Brown) principle - When an external influence takes the system out of a state of stable equilibrium, this equilibrium shifts in the direction in which the effect external influence decreases. At the biological level, it is realized in the form of the ability of ecosystems to self-regulate;
optimality law— any system operates with the greatest efficiency within certain spatiotemporal limits characteristic of it;
any systemic changes in nature have a direct or indirect impact on humans - from the state of the individual to complex social relations.

From law of conservation of mass of matter(“everything must go somewhere”), at least two postulates of practical importance follow:

Barry Commoner writes: “... the global ecosystem is a single whole in which nothing can be won or lost and which cannot be the object of overall improvement; everything that has been extracted from it by human labor must be replaced. Payment of this bill cannot be avoided; it can only be delayed. The current environmental crisis means that the delay is very long.”

Principle "nature knows best" determines, first of all, what can and what should not take place in the biosphere. Everything in nature - from simple molecules to humans - has gone through a fierce competition for the right to exist. Currently, the planet is inhabited by only 1/1000 species of plants and animals tested by evolution. The main criterion of this evolutionary selection is inclusion in the global biotic cycle, filling of all ecological niches. Any substance produced by organisms must have an enzyme that decomposes it, and all decay products must be re-involved in the cycle. With every biological species who violated this law, evolution sooner or later parted. Human industrial civilization grossly violates the closedness of the biotic cycle in on a global scale that cannot go unpunished. In this critical situation, a compromise must be found, which only a person with intelligence and the desire for this can do.

In addition to the formulations of Barry Commoner, modern ecologists have derived another law of ecology - “there is not enough for everyone” (the law of limited resources). It is obvious that the mass of nutrients for all forms of life on Earth is finite and limited. There is not enough of it for all the representatives appearing in the biosphere organic world, therefore, a significant increase in the number and mass of some organisms on a global scale can only occur at the expense of a decrease in the number and mass of others. The contradiction between the rate of reproduction and limited food resources in relation to the planet's population was first noticed by the English economist T.R. Malthus (1798), who tried to justify the inevitability of social competition with this. In turn, Charles Darwin borrowed from Malthus the concept of “struggle for existence” to explain the mechanism natural selection in living nature.

Law of Limited Resources- the source of all forms of competition, rivalry and antagonism in nature and, unfortunately, in society. And no matter how much one considers class struggle, racism, and interethnic conflicts to be purely social phenomena, they are all rooted in intraspecific competition, which sometimes takes much more brutal forms than in animals.

The significant difference is that in nature, as a result of competition, the best survive, but in human society- this is not true at all.

A generalized classification of environmental laws was presented by the famous Soviet scientist N.F. Reimers. They are given the following formulations:

law of socio-ecological balance(the need to maintain a balance between pressure on the environment and the restoration of this environment, both natural and artificial);
principle of cultural development management(imposing restrictions on extensive development, taking into account environmental restrictions);
rule of socio-ecological substitution(the need to identify ways to replace human needs);
law of socio-ecological irreversibility(impossibility of reversing the evolutionary movement, from complex forms to simpler ones);
law of the noosphere Vernadsky (the inevitability of the transformation of the biosphere under the influence of thought and human labor into the noosphere - the geosphere in which reason becomes dominant in the development of the “man-nature” system).

Compliance with these laws is possible provided that humanity understands its role in the mechanism for maintaining the stability of the biosphere. It is known that in the process of evolution, only those species that are capable of ensuring the sustainability of life and the environment are preserved. Only man, using the power of his mind, can direct the further development of the biosphere along the path of conservation wildlife, preserving civilization and humanity, creating a more just social system, the transition from the philosophy of war to the philosophy of peace and partnership, love and respect for future generations. All these are components of a new biosphere worldview, which should become universal.

Laws and principles of ecology

Law of the minimum

In 1840 Yu. Liebig found that the harvest is often limited not by those nutrients that are required in large quantities, but by those that are needed in small quantities, but of which there is little in the soil. The law he formulated said: “The substance that is in its minimum controls the harvest, and determines the size and stability of the latter over time.” Subsequently, a number of other factors, such as temperature, were added to the nutrients. The effect of this law is limited by two principles. Liebig's first law strictly applies only under stationary conditions. A more precise formulation: “in a stationary state, the limiting substance will be the substance whose available quantities are closest to the necessary minimum" The second principle concerns the interaction of factors. High concentration or availability of a substance may alter the minimum intake nutrient. The following law is formulated in ecology itself and generalizes the law of the minimum.

Law of Tolerance

This law is formulated as follows: the absence or impossibility of development of an ecosystem is determined not only by a deficiency, but also by an excess of any of the factors (heat, light, water). Consequently, organisms are characterized by both an ecological minimum and a maximum. Too much of a good thing is also bad. The range between the two values constitutes the tolerance limits within which the body responds normally to environmental influences. The law of tolerance proposed W. Shelford in 1913. A number of proposals complementing it can be formulated.

Organisms may have a wide range of tolerance for one factor and a narrow range for another.
Organisms with a wide range of tolerance to all factors are usually the most widespread.
If conditions for one environmental factor are not optimal for a species, then the range of tolerance to other environmental factors may narrow.
In nature, organisms very often find themselves in conditions that do not correspond to the optimal value of a particular factor determined in the laboratory.
The breeding season is usually critical; During this period, many environmental factors often turn out to be limiting.

Living organisms change environmental conditions to weaken the limiting influence physical factors. Species with a wide geographic distribution form locally adapted populations called ecotypes. Their optimum and tolerance limits correspond to local conditions.

General concept of limiting factors

Most important factors on land they are light, temperature and water (precipitation), and in the sea they are light, temperature and salinity. These physical conditions existence can to be limiting and influencing favorably. All environmental factors depend on each other and act in concert. Other limiting factors include atmospheric gases (carbon dioxide, oxygen) and biogenic salts. In formulating the “law of the minimum,” Liebig had in mind the limiting influence of vital chemical elements, present in the environment in small and variable quantities. They are called trace elements and include iron, copper, zinc, boron, silicon, molybdenum, chlorine, vanadium, cobalt, iodine, sodium. Many microelements, like vitamins, act as catalysts. Phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sulfur, magnesium, which are required by organisms in large quantities, are called macroelements. An important limiting factor in modern conditions is environmental pollution. The main limiting factor, according to Yu. Odumu, - sizes and quality oikosa", or our " natural monastery" not just the number of calories that can be squeezed out of the ground. The landscape is not only a warehouse for supplies, but also the house in which we live. “The goal should be to preserve at least a third of all land as protected open space. This means that a third of all our habitat should be national or local parks, nature reserves, green spaces, wilderness areas, etc.” The territory needed by one person, according to various estimates, ranges from 1 to 5 hectares. The second of these figures exceeds the area that currently accounts for one inhabitant of the Earth.

The population density is approaching one person per 2 hectares of land. Suitable for Agriculture only 24% of land. Although an area of just 0.12 hectares can provide enough calories to support the existence of one person, for good nutrition with plenty of meat, fruits and greens, about 0.6 hectares per person is needed. In addition, about 0.4 hectares are required for production various kinds fiber (paper, wood, cotton) and another 0.2 hectares for roads, airports, buildings, etc. Hence the concept of the “golden billion”, according to which optimal quantity The population is 1 billion people, and therefore, there are already about 5 billion “extra people”. For the first time in its history, man was faced with extreme rather than local restrictions. Overcoming limiting factors requires enormous expenditures of matter and energy. Doubling the yield requires a tenfold increase in the amount of fertilizers, pesticides and power (animals or machines). Population size is also a limiting factor.

Law of competitive exclusion

This law is formulated as follows: two species occupying the same ecological niche cannot coexist in one place for an indefinitely long time.

Which species wins depends on external conditions. In similar conditions, anyone can win. An important factor for victory is the rate of population growth. The inability of a species to compete biotically leads to its displacement and the need to adapt to more difficult conditions and factors.

The law of competitive exclusion can also work in human society. The peculiarity of its action at the present time is that civilizations cannot disperse. They have nowhere to leave their territory, because in the biosphere there is no free space for settlement and there is no excess of resources, which leads to an intensification of the struggle with all the ensuing consequences. We can talk about environmental rivalry between countries and even environmental wars or wars caused by environmental reasons. At one time, Hitler justified his aggressive policy Nazi Germany struggle for living space. Resources of oil, coal, etc. and then they were important. More more weight they have in the 21st century. In addition, there was the need for territories for the disposal of radioactive and other waste. Wars—hot and cold—take on an environmental dimension. Many events in modern history, for example, the collapse of the USSR, are perceived in a new way if you look at them from an environmental perspective. One civilization can not only conquer another, but use it for selfish purposes from an environmental point of view. This will be ecological colonialism. This is how political, social and environmental issues intertwine.

Basic law of ecology

One of the main achievements of ecology was the discovery that not only organisms and species develop, but also. The sequence of communities replacing each other in a given area is called succession. Succession occurs as a result of changes in the physical environment under the influence of the community, i.e. controlled by him.

High productivity gives low reliability - another formulation of the basic law of ecology, from which it follows next rule: “Optimal efficiency is always less than maximum.” Diversity, according to the basic law of ecology, is directly related to sustainability. However, it is not yet known to what extent this relationship is causal.

Some other laws and principles important for ecology.

Law of emergence: the whole always has special properties that its part does not have.

Law of Requisite Variety: a system cannot consist of absolutely identical elements, but can have a hierarchical organization and integrative levels.

Law of Irreversibility of Evolution: an organism (population, species) cannot return to the previous state achieved in the series of its ancestors.

Law of Organizational Complexity: the historical development of living organisms leads to the complication of their organization through the differentiation of organs and functions.

Biogenetic law(E. Haeckel): the ontogeny of an organism is a brief repetition of the phylogeny of a given species, i.e. The individual in his development repeats, in abbreviated form, the historical development of his species.

The law of uneven development of parts of the system: systems of the same hierarchy level do not develop strictly synchronously, while some reach a higher stage of development, others remain in a less developed state. This law is directly related to the law of necessary diversity.

Law of Preservation of Life: life can only exist in the process of movement of a flow of substances, energy, and information through a living body.

The principle of maintaining orderliness(Ya. Prigozhy): in open systems entropy does not increase, but decreases until a minimum constant value is reached, always greater than zero.

Le Chatelier-Brown principle: when an external influence takes the system out of a state of stable equilibrium, this equilibrium shifts in the direction in which the effect of the external influence is weakened.

Energy Saving Principle(L. Onsager): given the probability of a process developing in a certain set of directions allowed by the principles of thermodynamics, the one that provides a minimum of energy dissipation is realized.

Law of Energy and Information Maximization: the best chance of self-preservation has the system that is most conducive to the intake, production and effective use energy and information; the maximum supply of a substance does not guarantee the system success in competition.

The law of system development at the expense of the environment: any system can develop only through the use of material, energy and information capabilities of its environment; Absolutely isolated self-development is impossible.

Schrödinger's rule“about feeding” the organism with negative entropy: the orderliness of the organism is higher than the environment, and the organism gives into this environment more disorder than it receives. This rule correlates with Prigogine’s principle of maintaining orderliness.

Rule for accelerating evolution: with increasing complexity of the organization of biological systems, the duration of existence of a species on average decreases, and the rate of evolution increases. The average lifespan of a bird species is 2 million years, and a mammal species is 800 thousand years. The number of extinct species of birds and mammals in comparison with their entire number is large.

Law of relative independence of adaptation: high adaptability to one of environmental factors does not provide the same degree of adaptation to other living conditions (on the contrary, it can limit these possibilities due to the physiological and morphological characteristics of organisms).

Principle of minimum population size: There is a minimum population size below which its numbers cannot fall.

Rule of representation of a genus by one species: in homogeneous conditions and in a limited area, a taxonomic genus is usually represented by only one species. Apparently, this is due to the proximity of the ecological niches of species of the same genus.

The law of depletion of living matter in its island concentrations(G.F. Hilmi): “An individual system operating in an environment with a level of organization lower than the level of the system itself is doomed: gradually losing its structure, the system will dissolve in the environment after some time.” This leads to an important conclusion for human environmental activities: the artificial preservation of small-sized ecosystems (in a limited area, for example, a nature reserve) leads to their gradual destruction and does not ensure the conservation of species and communities.

Law of the Pyramid of Energy(R. Lindeman): from one trophic level of the ecological pyramid moves to another, more high level on average about 10% of the energy received at the previous level. Reverse flow from higher to higher low levels much weaker - no more than 0.5-0.25%, and therefore there is no need to talk about the energy cycle in the biocenosis.

The rule of mandatory filling of ecological niches: empty ecological niche is always and necessarily naturally filled (“nature abhors a vacuum”).

The principle of ecosystem formation: long-term existence of organisms is possible only within the framework ecological systems, where their components and elements complement each other and are mutually adapted. From these environmental laws and principles follow some conclusions that are valid for the “man - natural environment" They belong to the type of law of diversity limitation, i.e. impose restrictions on human activities to transform nature.

Boomerang Law: everything that is extracted from the biosphere by human labor must be returned to it.

The law of the indispensability of the biosphere: the biosphere cannot be replaced by an artificial environment, just as, say, new types of life cannot be created. Man cannot build a perpetual motion machine, while the biosphere is practically a “perpetual motion machine”.

Law of shagreen leather: global initial natural resource potential during historical development is continuously depleted. This follows from the fact that there are currently no fundamentally new resources that could appear. Each person needs 200 tons of solids per year to live, which he converts into a useful product with the help of 800 tons of water and an average of 1000 W of energy. Man takes all this from what is already available in nature.

The principle of event remoteness: descendants will come up with something to prevent possible negative consequences. The question of how far the laws of ecology can be transferred to human relationships with environment, remains open, since man is different from all other species. For example, in most species, the rate of population growth decreases as population density increases; In humans, on the contrary, population growth in this case accelerates. Some regulatory mechanisms of nature are absent in humans, and this may serve as an additional reason for technological optimism for some, and for environmental pessimists, indicate the danger of such a catastrophe, which is impossible for any other species.