Ecology of contexts
Encyclopedia
The ecology of contexts is a term used in many disciplines and refers to the dynamic interplay of contexts and demands that constrain and define an entity.
exists amid contexts including climate
, soil
, plant genetics
, government policies
, and the personal beliefs and predilections of the agriculturalist. Not only are these contexts too numerous to list in their entirety for any agroecosystem, but their interactions are so complex it is impossible to perfectly characterize a system, let alone predict the effect a given perturbation will have on the whole. At the same time, all of these contexts are dynamic, albeit at wildly diverging time scales, so the ecology of contexts for an agroecosystem is fundamentally mutable. An awareness of the ecology of contexts is helpful for agroecologists, as the nearly axiomatic
acceptance dynamic, and thereby unperfectable, nature of agroecosystems precludes the often damaging notion of a best or ideal approach to agroecosystem management as well as an awareness of the complexity of the response that can result from any perturbation of the system.
This concept of the ecology of contexts provides a useful epistemological device for understanding agroecosystems.
From computer science
is the concept of ecology of context-aware computing, where a device's operation is tempered by information the device itself has about how the environment will affect its functioning and vice versa.
In the field of music therapy
, Trygve Aasgaard dealt with the reciprocity of an ecology of contexts, seeing the role of music in therapy as responsive to cultural and other contexts, while at the same time forming part of the environmental context.
This dual relationship of an entity in an ecology of contexts underscores the ecological analogy, with its emphasis on holonic
interactions.
Environmental ecology
An agroecosystemAgroecosystem
An agroecosystem is the basic unit of study for an agroecologist, and is somewhat arbitrarily defined as a spatially and functionally coherent unit of agricultural activity, and includes the living and nonliving components involved in that unit as well as their interactions.An agroecosystem can be...
exists amid contexts including climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
, soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
, plant genetics
Plant breeding
Plant breeding is the art and science of changing the genetics of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. Plant breeding can be accomplished through many different techniques ranging from simply selecting plants with desirable characteristics for propagation, to more complex molecular...
, government policies
Agricultural policy
Agricultural policy describes a set of laws relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets...
, and the personal beliefs and predilections of the agriculturalist. Not only are these contexts too numerous to list in their entirety for any agroecosystem, but their interactions are so complex it is impossible to perfectly characterize a system, let alone predict the effect a given perturbation will have on the whole. At the same time, all of these contexts are dynamic, albeit at wildly diverging time scales, so the ecology of contexts for an agroecosystem is fundamentally mutable. An awareness of the ecology of contexts is helpful for agroecologists, as the nearly axiomatic
Axiomatic
* In mathematics, an "axiomatic" theory is one based on axioms* Axiomatic , a collection of short stories by Greg Egan* Axiomatic , a 2005 album by Australian band Taxiride...
acceptance dynamic, and thereby unperfectable, nature of agroecosystems precludes the often damaging notion of a best or ideal approach to agroecosystem management as well as an awareness of the complexity of the response that can result from any perturbation of the system.
This concept of the ecology of contexts provides a useful epistemological device for understanding agroecosystems.
Human ecology
In child development, for instance, it can refer to the nested scales at which influences on children reside, from the individual (e.g. age) to the broadest elements, like government policies or cultural attitudes.From computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
is the concept of ecology of context-aware computing, where a device's operation is tempered by information the device itself has about how the environment will affect its functioning and vice versa.
In the field of music therapy
Music therapy
Music therapy is an allied health profession and one of the expressive therapies, consisting of an interpersonal process in which a trained music therapist uses music and all of its facets—physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual—to help clients to improve or maintain their...
, Trygve Aasgaard dealt with the reciprocity of an ecology of contexts, seeing the role of music in therapy as responsive to cultural and other contexts, while at the same time forming part of the environmental context.
This dual relationship of an entity in an ecology of contexts underscores the ecological analogy, with its emphasis on holonic
Holon (philosophy)
A holon is something that is simultaneously a whole and a part. The word was coined by Arthur Koestler in his book The Ghost in the Machine . Koestler was compelled by two observations in proposing the notion of the holon...
interactions.