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The Concepts of "Interaction" and "Operational Environment" in Environmental Analyses
Author(s) -
Spomer G. G.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1934391
Subject(s) - organism , ecology , focus (optics) , environmental resource management , interpretation (philosophy) , computer science , environmental science , biology , paleontology , physics , optics , programming language
It is suggested that interactions between an organism and its general environment represent exchanges of energy or material and that such exchangeable entities, or "operational factors" should be the initial focus of an environmental analysis. It is only through such exchanges that an organism is "aware" of its environment and, hence, the operational portion of its environment is the sum of the sources of and sinks for operational factors. Implications of these concepts in environmental analysis and ecological interpretation are discussed.