The origins of ecology as a scientific discipline can be traced back to the early 1800s, when naturalists like Alexander von Humboldt and George Perkins Marsh began studying the relationships between living organisms and their environments. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, scientists like Ernst Haeckel, Henry Chandler Cowles, and Frederic Clements continued to develop the field of ecology, establishing its key concepts and principles. Ecology became more widely recognized as a distinct field of study in the 1950s and 1960s, when Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring raised awareness of the impact of human activities on the environment.
