Agroecology involves various approaches to solve actual challenges of agricultural production. Though agroecology initially dealt primarily with crop production and protection aspects, in recent decades new dimensions such as environmental, social, economic, ethical and development issues are becoming relevant. Today, the term ‘agroecology’ means either a scientific discipline, agricultural practice, or political or social movement. Here we study the different meanings of agroecology. For that we analyse the historical development of agroecology. We present examples from USA, Brazil, Germany, and France. We study and discuss the evolution of different meanings agroecology. The use of the term agroecology can be traced back to the 1930s. Until the 1960s agroecology referred only as a purely scientific discipline. Then, different branches of agroecology developed. Following environmental movements in the 1960s that went against industrial agriculture, agroecology evolved and fostered agroecological movements in the 1990s. Agroecology as an agricultural practice emerged in the 1980s, and was often intertwined with movements. Further, the scales and dimensions of agroecological investigations changed over the past 80 years from the plot and field scales to the farm and agroecosystem scales. Actually three approaches persist: (1) investigations at plot and field scales, (2) investigations at the agroecosystem and farm scales, and (3) investigations covering the whole food system. These different approaches of agroecological science can be explained by the history of nations. In France, agroecology was mainly understood as a farming practice and to certain extent as a movement, whereas the corresponding scientific discipline was agronomy. In Germany, agroecology has a long tradition as a scientific discipline. In the USA and in Brazil all three interpretations of agroecology occur, albeit with a predominance of agroecology as a science in the USA and a stronger emphasis on movement and agricultural practice in Brazil. These varied meanings of the term agroecology cause confusion among scientists and the public, and we recommend that those who publish using this term be explicit in their interpretation.

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农业生态学是一门科学，一种运动和一种实践。回顾

农业生态学涉及解决农业生产实际挑战的各种方法。尽管农业生态学最初主要涉及作物生产和保护方面，但在最近的几十年中，诸如环境，社会，经济，道德和发展问题等新领域正变得越来越重要。今天，“农业生态学”一词是指科学学科，农业实践或政治或社会运动。在这里，我们研究农业生态学的不同含义。为此，我们分析了农业生态学的历史发展。我们提供来自美国，巴西，德国和法国的示例。我们研究并讨论了不同意义的农业生态学的演变。农业生态一词的使用可以追溯到1930年代。直到1960年代，农业生态学才被称为纯粹的科学学科。然后，发展了农业生态学的不同分支。在1960年代与工业农业背道而驰的环境运动之后，农业生态学得到了发展，并在1990年代促进了农业生态学运动。农业生态学作为一种农业实践在1980年代兴起，并且经常与运动交织在一起。此外，在过去的80年中，农业生态调查的规模和规模从地块和田地规模变为了农场和农业生态系统规模。实际上，仍然存在三种方法：（1）在田地和田地范围内进行调查，（2）在农业生态系统和农场范围内进行调查，以及（3）涵盖整个食品系统的调查。农业生态科学的这些不同方法可以用国家的历史来解释。在法国，农业生态学主要被理解为一种农业实践，在一定程度上被理解为一种运动，而相应的科学学科是农学。在德国，农业生态学作为科学学科有着悠久的传统。在美国和巴西，对农业生态学的所有三种解释都出现了，尽管在美国农业生态学作为一门科学占主导地位，而在巴西则更加重视运动和农业实践。农业生态一词的这些不同含义引起了科学家和公众的困惑，我们建议使用该术语发表的人们在其解释中应该明确。尽管在美国农业生态学作为一门主要学科，而在巴西则更加重视运动和农业实践。农业生态一词的这些不同含义引起了科学家和公众的困惑，我们建议使用该术语发表的人们在其解释中应该明确。尽管在美国农业生态学作为一门主要学科，而在巴西则更加重视运动和农业实践。农业生态一词的这些不同含义引起了科学家和公众的困惑，我们建议使用该术语发表的人们在其解释中应该明确。