在生态学领域中,存在着生态系统整体论与还原论的争论.Tansley A.G.提出,生态系统是“准有机体”.Odum兄弟提出的“生态系统能量说”被广泛接受,但也受到质疑,称其为“还原论者的整体论”.基于对上述质疑的回应以及对生态系统整体论的追求,Patten B.C.等提出“生态网络理论”,运用“网络‘环境子’分析”方法,试图从物理层面分析解决生物层面的“涌现性”问题.不过,这一理论也受到批判,认为其在探究符号化的现象对生态系统的动态影响时,陷入了还原论困境.Jφrgensen S.E.等更进一步,提出“系统论”的生态系统生态学,试图从系统科学的角度研究生态系统的“物质-能量-信息-网络”系统.这一理论受到生态学界高度重视,但是也存在着在具体研究过程中如何平衡能量视角和生物地球化学视角的问题.由上述争论可见,生态系统生态学研究的趋势是从“物质实体”到“能量流动”,再到“网络信息”,最后到“开放系统”层层递进.目前面临的关键问题是:如何在更好地定义生态系统整体性的基础上,采取相应的能够体现生态系统整体性的方法,去获得更多、更好的生态系统整体性的认识.%The debate of holism and reductionism regarding the ecosystem suggests that ecosystem holism requires further understanding.Tansley created the term "ecosystem" and regarded it as "quasi organisms" including the biotic and abiotic associations and human interventions.Thereafter,Lindeman,Eugene,and Howard Odum were fundamental in the development of a systemic-holistic approach.Specifically,Lindeman submitted a chapter of his thesis for publication in the journal Ecology that outlined the Ten Percent Law (namely,the trophodynamics of ecology).Odum brothers adopted the term "ecosystem" and developed it further.The two brothers worked closely together-they were both committed to promoting Lindeman's functional-systemic approach.Because of their efforts,ecosystem was seen as the fundamental functional unit for ecology,which brought together biotic and abiotic components to form circular paths of energy flow.However,the system ecology of Odum brothers was inappropriate based on material-energy,which was viewed as "reductionist holism".Patten et al.proposed the ecological network theory to avoid the reductionism dilemma of the holism of Odum brothers.The ecological network was not only the description of trophic relationships in food webs,but also a representation of the biotic interactions in an ecosystem,in which species were connected by pairwise interactions or links.These interactions can be trophic or symbiotic.Patten et al.considered entities as networks of interrelated factors and defined them as ecosystems.The ecosystem was an entirety formed by an organic or an inorganic entity as well as its featured environment,and constituted an analyzable unit.In this way,Patten et al.attempted to improve the theory of Odum brothers to moderate holism to strengthen the ontological ecosystem holism,and tried to make the context of ecosystem have more wholeness.Patten et al.adopted the "network environ analysis" to consider the emergence of ecosystem on the physical level,and proposed that more attention should be paid to biological phenomena.However,in ecosystems,there are random quantification problems regarding qualitative ecosystem processes,resulting in the study of semiotic phenomena to fall into reductionism dilemma.Jφrgensen et al.proposed the "system theory" of ecosystem ecology and declared their intention not only to just repeat what was already known but also to introduce some new perspectives about ecosystems.They attempted to boost ecosystem research to an integrated framework including material-energy-information-network and asserted that ecosystems have seven attributes.Their efforts were of importance because they were from not only an epistemological viewpoint but also a scientific viewpoint.However,their tasks still have issues on how to balance energy and biogeochemistry.From the above argument,it can be implied that the trend of ecosystem ecology research is a progressive transformation from "material entity"-" energy flow""information network",and finally to "open system".The key challenge of ecosystem ecology is how to better understand the wholeness of ecosystem by adopting a method that appropriately reflects the wholeness of ecosystem.
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