[Demography and human ecology]. / Demografia e ecologia humana.

PIP: At the end of the 19th century the German biologist Ernest Haekel was the first scientist to use the term ecology, which was defined as the study of relationships of organisms or groups of organisms with the environment and indicated the interdependence of the living world, including plants, animals, and humans. This concept also indicates a continuous process of adaptation of organisms to their external environment. The basic concepts of scientific ecology, which developed at the end of the 19th century, can be attributed to Darwin: the relationships between living beings and the notion of the process of adaptation to their environment. The term human ecology appeared in the early 1920s. Human ecology embodies fundamental ideas: biotype, habitat, community, biocenosis, ecosystem, biomass, interchange and equilibrium, and circulation of energy. The accumulated knowledge about human ecology is broken down using the criteria of topography (ecology of humid forests, deserts, lakes, etc.); followed by the appearance of species; and the variants of classical division: auto ecology (influence of external factors on living beings) and sinecology (the study of groups of associated organisms, i.e., natural, animal, and vegetation communities). The species are considered on the basis of equality or sinecology (all of them have the same interests), while in human ecology a species is determined by its relation to a reference group--autoecology or anthropocentric ecology. In 1911, J. Thompson bridged the gap between biological knowledge and social sciences; in 1921, H. Barrows identified human ecology as a component of geography; in 1925, L. Bernard presented the classification of ecosystems; and in 1936, Ezra Park published his work, Human Ecology, followed in 1945 by the emergence of the Chicago school. Demography and human ecology are intimately connected because population is the result of natural and migratory movements, therefore the two sciences require a methodology that integrates the dynamics of biocultural interactions.^ieng

[The demography of Portugal in the context of the European Community at the beginning of the 1990s]. / A demografia portuguesa no contexto da Europa Comunitaria no inicio dos anos noventa.

PIP: Recent population trends in Portugal are reviewed and compared to those in other countries of the European Community. The author presents data on population density, rates of natural increase and migration, and population growth from 1970 to 1991. Other demographic factors compared include mortality, infant mortality, fertility, nuptiality, and demographic aging.^ieng

[Demographic trends in Portugal in the period 1970-1980: global aspects]. / Conjuntura demografica da populacao portuguesa no periodo de 1970-80: aspectos globais.

PIP: Demographic trends in Portugal between 1970 and 1980 are reviewed. Consideration is given to data sources, population trends, population characteristics, mortality, fertility and nuptiality, and migration. Comparisons are made with the rest of Europe.^ieng