N. K. Koltsov’s School of Experimental Biology and the Emergence of G. G. Vinberg’s Concept of the Biotic Balance

Occupation:
Affiliation: St. Petersburg Branch of S. I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Saint Petersburg, Universitetskaia nab., 5

Journal name

Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki

Edition

Volume 41 3

Pages

458-483

Abstract

Modern aquatic ecology is largely based on the so-called metabolic approach to aquatic ecosystems. Its origins should be sought in the traditions of physiological experiments conducted by the Russian / Soviet and international biologists in the first quarter of the 20 th century. By the mid-20 th century, basic systemic concepts of production hydrobiology that regarded a water body as an integrated whole have been formulated in the USSR. In particular, the notion of the biotic balance of a water body was introduced by G. G. Vinberg in 1948. These concepts were physiologically rooted, with oxygen release and consumption by the aquatic organisms seen as the main processes. This paper aims to analyze the possible influence of the ideas of experimental biology, developed by the school of N. K. Koltsov, on the formation of Vinberg’s concept of the biotic balance. It is shown that the studies of oxygen balance in water bodies demanded the studies on the physiology of aquatic organisms right from the start. The school of experimental biology founded by Koltsov conducted the ecophysiological experiments in the years to follow, and the so-called hydrophysiological line of research led by S. N. Skadovskii emerged within the framework of this school. A disciple of Skadovskii, Vinberg conducted the studies of primary production and destruction in a water body, having developed a relevant method for quantitative assessment of the speed of these processes, and subsequently developed the concept of the biotic balance in a water body as an integrated whole. In this work Vinberg was also governed by L. L. Rossolimo’s idea of a lake as an accumulator of substances in a landscape. Therefore, it may be said that the balance approach in the modern production hydrobiology is based on the ideas of physicochemical processes in water bodies. At the same time, Vinberg’s idea of the biotic balance could only emerge due to the synthesis of approaches and methods from different disciplines: physiology, hydrobiology, hydrology, and physical chemistry.

Abstract (other)

Keywords

history of hydrobiology, experimental biology, physicochemical biology, hydrophysiology, N. K. Koltsov, S. N. Skadovskii, G. G. Vinberg, history of ecology, production hydrobiology

Received

27.09.2020

Publication date

29.09.2020

Number of characters

57546

Cite

GOST	Rizhinashvili A. N. K. Koltsov’s School of Experimental Biology and the Emergence of G. G. Vinberg’s Concept of the Biotic Balance // Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki – 2020. – V. 41. – 3 C. 458-483 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://vietmag.org/S020596060010868-6-1 (circulation date: 24.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S020596060010868-6
MLA	Rizhinashvili, Alexandra "N. K. Koltsov’s School of Experimental Biology and the Emergence of G. G. Vinberg’s Concept of the Biotic Balance." Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 41.3 (2020):458-483. DOI: 10.31857/S020596060010868-6
APA	Rizhinashvili A. (2020). N. K. Koltsov’s School of Experimental Biology and the Emergence of G. G. Vinberg’s Concept of the Biotic Balance. Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 41(3), pp.458-483 DOI: 10.31857/S020596060010868-6

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