The Influence of Agriculture on Natural Environment in the Works by Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Lyell and Justus von Liebig

Assessment of the influence of agriculture on natural environment is now one of the most topical issues in modern ecology. Crop and forage lands occupy immense spaces, which used to host natural ecosystems, and significantly transform natural environment. In this respect, crop farming deserves particular attention, as tilling has the most profound transforming effect on all natural landscape components, especially soil, flora and fauna, and aquatic regime of the area. In this article we attempt to trace the origins of scientific concepts of the impact of agriculture on natural systems. The emergence of interest in this matter among the scientific community can be traced back to the first half of the 19th century. This interest was evoked by the socioeconomic situation in the era of industrial revolution and by the progress in the development of natural sciences in which two fundamental ideas, the integrity and continuous development of nature, became established at the time. The article analyzes the views of three prominent naturalists of the first half of the 19th century – a German naturalist and geographer Alexander von Humboldt, a Scottish geologist Charles Lyell, and a German agrochemist Justus von Liebig – on the influence of land development on natural environment.

Keywords

transformation of natural landscapes, ecological role of agriculture, history of science, Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Lyell, Justus von Liebig.

Received

26.06.2022

Publication date

27.06.2022

Number of characters

40236

Cite

GOST	Anpilogova D. The Influence of Agriculture on Natural Environment in the Works by Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Lyell and Justus von Liebig // Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki – 2022. – V. 43. – Issue 2 C. 245-262 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://vietmag.org/S020596060020636-1-1 (circulation date: 20.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S020596060020636-1
MLA	Anpilogova, Daria "The Influence of Agriculture on Natural Environment in the Works by Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Lyell and Justus von Liebig." Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 43.2 (2022):245-262. DOI: 10.31857/S020596060020636-1
APA	Anpilogova D. (2022). The Influence of Agriculture on Natural Environment in the Works by Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Lyell and Justus von Liebig. Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 43(2), pp.245-262 DOI: 10.31857/S020596060020636-1

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