Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T11:15:44.737Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vernadsky and Biospheral Ecology*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Nicholas Polunin  and
Jacques Grinevald
Nicholas Polunin
Affiliation:
President of the World Council For The Biosphere, Environmental Conservation, Geneva, Switzerland
Jacques Grinevald
Affiliation:
University of Geneva, Institut Universitaire d'Etudes du Développement, 24 rue Rothschild, 1211 Genève 21, Switzerland; Man, Technology and Environment Program, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The concept of The Biosphere as the integrated living and life-supporting system comprising the peripheral envelope of planet Earth together with its surrounding atmosphere so far down, and up, as any form of life exists naturally, stems from the writings of V.I. Vernadsky in the 1920s but has only emerged and become widely accepted in the latest decades. Yet it is quite one of the largest and most important entities with which humans have to deal, being, moreover, the only natural habitat and life-support of Mankind and Nature and, as such, needful of safeguarding and healthful maintenance.

No other meaning than the above should be attached to the term Biosphere, the importance of which concept and actuality being such that it should be far more widely known than is currently the case — to which end a small conference was held in 1987 and a larger one is contemplated in 1990 on the theme of Threats to The Biosphere and Imperative Countermeasures.

Other activities on behalf of The Biosphere include the ‘Johnny Biosphere’ media campaign of Dr John R. Vallentyne, those of The World Campaign for The Biosphere and its sponsoring World Council For The Biosphere, and the newly-established [International] Vernadsky Foundation which it is hoped will have, as one of its main objectives, the fostering of due reverence for life in its full Biospheral context.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , Summer 1988 , pp. 117 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anon. (1982). Declaration: The World Campaign for The Biosphere. Environmental Conservation, 9(2), pp. 91–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolin, B. (1979). Global ecology and Man. Pp. 27–56 in Proceedings of the World Climate Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, 12–23 February 1979. (WMO No. 537.) World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland: xii + 791 pp.Google Scholar
Budyko, M.I. (1980). Global Ecology, transl. from the Russian. Progress Publishers, Moscow, USSR: 323 pp.Google Scholar
Budyko, M.I. (1986). The Evolution of the Biosphere, transl. from the Russian. Reidel, Dordrecht, Netherlands: xv + 423 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chardin, P. Teilhard de (1977). The Future of Man, transl. from the French. (Fount Paperbacks.) Collins, London, England, UK: 332 pp.Google Scholar
Clark, W.C. & Munn, R.E. (Eds) (1986). Sustainable Development of the Biosphere. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, and Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, UK: viii + 491 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Cole, Lamont C. (1958). The ecosphere. Scientific American, 194(4), pp. 83–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dütsch, H.U. (1987). Guest Comment: The Antarctic ‘Ozone Hole’ and its possible global consequences. Environmental Conservation, 14(2), pp. 94–7, 2 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flohn, H. (1980). Man's increasing impact on Earth's climate: Atmospheric Processes. Pp. 31–44 (and following Discussion to p. 59) in Polunin (1980), q.v.Google Scholar
Fortescue, J.A.C. (1980). Environmental Geochemistry: A Holistic Approach. (Ecological Studies 35.) Springer-Verlag, New York-Heidelberg-Berlin: xvii + 347 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillard, A. (1969). On terminology of biosphere and ecosphere. Nature (London), 223, pp. 500–1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gribbin, J. (1988). The Hole in the Sky: Man's Threat to the Ozone Layer. Corgi Books, London, England, UK: xiv + 192 pp.Google Scholar
Grinevald, J. (1986). [Review of] ‘The Biosphere’ by Vladimir I. Vernadsky. Environmental Conservation, 13(3), pp. 285–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grinevald, J. (1987 a). Le développement de/dans la biosphère. Pp. 29–44 in L'homme inachevé, Cahiers de l'I.U.E.D. 17, Genéve, Switzerland, and Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, France: 169 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grinevald, J. (1987 b). Vernadsky and Lotka as Source for Georgescu-Roegen's Bioeconomics. Paper presented at the International Conference on Economics and Ecology, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 26–29 09 1987: 23 pp. (mimeogr.).Google Scholar
Grinevald, J. (in press). On a holistic concept for deep and global ecology: The Biosphere. Fundamenta Scientiae, 8(2).Google Scholar
Grinevald, J. (MS.). Sketch for a history of the idea of The Biosphere. In Proceedings of the Gaia Conference 1987, Eds Peter Bunyard & Edward Goldsmith.Google Scholar
Grinevald, J. (in prep.). La Biosphère de la Planète Terre: Origines. Evolution et Actualité d'Un Concept Holistique. (Rapport à ECOROPA.) Sang de la Terre, Paris, France.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, G.E. (1943). The biogeochemistry of aluminium and certain related elements. Quarterly Review of Biology, 18(1), pp. 12–29.Google Scholar
Hutchinson, G.E. (1948). On Living In The Biosphere. Scientific Monthly, 67, pp. 383–98.Google ScholarPubMed
Hutchinson, G.E. (1970). The Biosphere. Scientific American, 223(3), pp. 45–53. (Special number devoted to The Biosphere, reissued as ‘A Scientific American Book’. Freeman, San Francisco, California, USA: vii + 134 pp., 1970.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchinson, G.E. (1979). The Kindly Fruits of the Earth: Recollections of an Embryo Ecologist. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, USA: xxx + 264 pp.Google Scholar
Kovda, V.A. (1970). Contemporary scientific concepts relating to the biosphere. Pp. 13–29 in Use and Conservation of the Biosphere: Proceedings of the Intergovernmental Conference of Experts on the Scientific Basis for Rational Use and Conservation of the Resources of the Biosphere. (‘Natural Resources Research X’.) UNESCO, Paris, France: 272 pp.Google Scholar
Lieth, H. & Whittaker, R.H. (1975). Primary Productivity of the Biosphere. (Ecological Studies 14.) Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: vi + 339 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindeman, R.L. (1942). The trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology. Ecology, 23, pp. 399–418, illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovelock, J.E. (1986). Prehistory of Gaia. New Scientist, 111 (1517), p. 51.Google Scholar
Malone, T.F. (1986). Mission to Planet Earth: integrating studies of global change. Environment, 28(8), pp. 6–11 & 39–42.Google Scholar
Malone, T.F. & Roederer, J.G. (Eds) (1985). Global Change: The Proceedings of a Symposium Sponsored by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) during its 20th General Assembly in Ottawa, Canada, on September 25, 1984. ICSU Press & Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, UK: xxviii + 512 pp.Google Scholar
Margulis, L. & Sagan, D. (1987). Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution. Allen & Unwin, London, England, UK: 301 pp.Google Scholar
Martinez-Alier, J. (1987). Ecological Economics. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, England, UK: ix + 286 pp.Google Scholar
NASA Advisory Council (1988). Earth System Science: A Closer View. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC, USA: 208 pp.Google Scholar
Pauling, Linus, Benavides, Felipe, Wahlen, Friedrich T., Kassas, Mohamed & Vohra, B.B. (1982). Open Letter: To all who should be concerned. Environmental Conservation, 9(2), pp. 89–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (1951). Seeking botanical particles about the North Poles. Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift, 45(2), pp. 320–54, illustr.Google Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (1972). The Biosphere today. Pp. 33–52 (and Discussion and Addenda to page 64) in The Environmental Future: Proceedings of the first International Conference on Environmental Future, held in Finland from 27 June to 3 July 1971, Ed. Polunin, N.. Macmillan, London, England, UK, and Barnes & Noble, New York, NY, USA: xiv + 660 pp., illustr.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (Ed.) (1980). Growth Without Ecodisasters? Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Environmental Future, held in Reykjavik, Iceland, 5–11 June 1977. Macmillan, London & Basingstoke, England, UK, and Halsted Press Division of John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA: xxvi + 675 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (1982). Our global environment and the World Campaign for The Biosphere. Environmental Conservation, 9(2), pp. 115–21, 2 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (1984). Geneses and progress of the World Campaign and Council For The Biosphere. Environmental Conservation, 11(4), pp. 293–8, 2 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (1987 a). Editorial: Our world menaced. Environmental Conservation, 14(2), pp. 99–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (1987 b). Third International Conference on Environmental Future: Maintenance of The Biosphere, held in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, during 24–26 September 1987. Environmental Conservation, 14(4), pp. 372–3, 2 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (1987 c). [Notes for] Around the World Talk…Our World Menaced. The Foundation for Environmental Conservation, Geneva, Switzerland: 7 pp. (mimeogr.)Google Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas [as N.P.] (1988 a). Vernadsky Commemoration ‘Round Table’ Resolutions. Environmental Conservation, 15(2), p. 177.Google Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas (1988 b). Jubilee events dedicated to Academician V.I. Vernadsky's 125th Birthday anniversary, including International Symposium held in Leningrad, Kiev, and Moscow, during 4–12 March 1988. Environmental Conservation, 15(2), pp. 187–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas & SirBurnett, John (Eds) (in prep.). Maintenance of The Biosphere: Proceeding of the Third International Conference on Environmental Future, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, 24–26 September 1987. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.Google Scholar
Polunin, Nicholas, Pady, S.M. & Kelly, C.D. (1947). Arctic aerobiology. Nature (London), 160, pp. 876–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prance, G.T. & Elias, T.S. (Eds) (1977). Extinction is Forever: The Status of Threatened and Endangered Plants of the Americas. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, New York, N.Y., USA: vi + 437 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Ramade, F. (1987). Les Catastrophes écologiques. McGraw-Hill, Paris, France: v + 318 pp.Google Scholar
Rowland, F.S. (1988). Chlorofluorocarbons, stratospheric ozone, and the Antarctic ‘ozone hole’. Environmental Conservation, 15(2), pp. 101–15, 5 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southwick, C.H. (1985). Global Ecology. Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA: xi + 323 pp.Google Scholar
Sukachev, V.N. & Dylis, N. (1968). Fundamentals of Forest Biogeocoenology, transl. from the Russian (1964). Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh & London, UK: viii + 672 pp.Google Scholar
Tansley, Arthur G. (1935). The use and abuse of vegetational concepts and terms. Ecology, 16, pp. 284–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teilhard de Chardin, P. – see Chardin, P. Teilhard deGoogle Scholar
Vallentyne, John R. (1984). ‘Johnny Biosphere’. Environmental Conservation, 11(4), pp. 363–4, 2 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vallentyne, John R. (1986). The necessity of a behavioural code of practice for living in The Biosphere. Pp. 406–14 in Ecosystem Theory and Application (Ed. Polunin, Nicholas). John Wiley & Sons, Chichester-New York-Brisbane-Toronto-Singapore: xv + 445 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Vernadsky, V.I. (1924). La Gécochimie. Félix Alcan, Paris, France: iv + 404 pp.Google Scholar
Vernadsky, V.I. (1925). L'autotrophie de l'humanité. Revue Générale des Sciences, 36, pp. 495–502.Google Scholar
Vernadsky, V.I. (1929). La Biosphère. (Nouvelle collection scientifique.) Félix Alcan, Paris, France: xii + 232 pp.Google Scholar
Vernadsky, V.I. (1944). Problems of Biogeochemistry, II: The fundamental matter-energy difference between the living and the inert natural bodies of the biosphere (Transl. by G. Vernadsky, edited and condensed by G.E. Hutchinson.) Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 35. pp. 483–517.Google Scholar
Vernadsky, V.I. (1945 a). The Biosphere and Noosphere. American Scientist, 33, pp. 1–12.Google Scholar
Vernadsky, V.I. (1945 b). La biogéochimie. Scientia, 77–78, pp. 77–84.Google Scholar
Vinogradski, , Sergei Nikolaevich — see Winogradsky, S.Google Scholar
Ward, Barbara & Dubos, René (1972). Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet. Norton, New York, NY. USA: xxv + 225 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Wilson, J.T. (1968 a). The current revolution in earth sciences. Transactions of the Roval Society of Canada, 6. pp. 273–81.Google Scholar
Wilson, J.T. (1968 b). Static or mobile earth: the current scientific revolution. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 112(5), pp. 309–20.Google Scholar
Winogradsky, S. [Sergei Nikolaevich Vinogradski] (1949). Microbiologie du Sol. Masson, Paris, France: 861 pp.Google Scholar