Talk:Ecosystem
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Hi everybody, have a look at http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D6kosystem#Mosaik-Zyklus-Konzept --145.254.76.223 14:39, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC) 146.229.16.228 MH printer (in German)
But its not in spanish, Alcyone
Hi people, great discussion! Some observations here.
- The article was too much a result of several inputs. I tried to reorganize and re-edit it so as to avoid repetitions.
- In my opinion, a single species surviving in isolation from everything else can most certainly be considered an ecosystem. It is a system in which an organism lives with its physical environment. There is flow of matter and energy and continuation of life;
- I had not yet elaborated the current situation of ecosystem describtion and identification that a team of ecologists as currently working on;
- Personally, I never saw the significance of energy and matter flows in considering ecosystems. They seem to be mere components like the elements. I could imagine ecosystems with completely different environments and species composition having very similar flows of energy and matter. What for me has always been important is the composition of species and their continuation;
- The system concept should be indifferent from the point of view whether or not it has intrinsic regulatory factors, as both regulationists and stoachists recognize the existance of ecosystems. So I tried to seperate that now.
- When re-reading the article, I realized that still, the reader did not get a concept of how an ecosystem can be "visualized" and spatially separated. I took a look at our German, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese counterparts and realized that each had some important elements and concepts that were lacking in the others. Some more work is needed regarding the ideas on climax, etc. I will look into that later. Please send comments to daanv @ birdlist.org.
Cheers, Daan
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[edit] Comments for consideration of the author:
"An ecosystem is a dynamic and complex whole, interacting as an ecological unit. Some consider this the basic unit in ecology: a structured functional unit in equilibrium, characterized by energy and matter flows between its constituent elements. Others consider this vision limited."
Bold textIs this vision merely limited, or is it merely fundamental, and as such comprehensive? Are populations of a single bacterium, for example, (presuming such could be found--deep in the earth, shall we speculate, that persists in dynamically stable interactions with its habitat) not ecosystems? If not, what are they, and why are they not ecosystems? Would they be if they were found with one other organism? Two? How many? At what point does a sustained population or populations become an ecosystem?Bold text
"The organisms in an ecosystem are usually well balanced with each other and their environment. This balance is achieved through various types of symbiosis, such as predation, parasitism, mutualism, commensalism, competition, and amensalism. Introduction of new elements, whether abiotic or biotic, into an ecosystem tend to have a disruptive effect. In some cases, this can lead to ecological collapse and the death of many native species. The abstract notion of ecological health attempts to measure the robustness and recovery capacity for an ecosystem."
Bold textAre "disruption" and "ecological collapse" and "the death of many native species" not euphemisims for mere Italic textchange,Italic text however dramatic or faint (to the senses of the observer and her judgment)?
Reconciliator 07:31, 13 November 2005 (UTC)
Hi folks, I am new at this. I am Daan Vreugdenhil, and have had to deal with the concept of ecosystems in the context of the Convention on Biological diversity (CBD). I did not see how to make comments in Talk, to I try to give my motivation here. There were two issues I felt important to express in this article. 1. In the context of the CBD we need an ecosystem concept that can be geographically delimited and defined by modifiers. To that end, a paragraph was needed. This par. made the observation on seperation by mountains, etc. less significant, as many other specific modefiers exist. 2. A smaller number of ecologists sees ecosystems as non-regulated non-deterministic units, without a 'balance of nature". This is an important view that should not be withheld from the reader. I have tried to explain that without showing a preference one way or the other. I hope we can reach a common dinominator through some email exchanges. You can contact me at daanv @ birdlist.org also this place rocks
Hi folks. I agree with Daan above (1). Show us the boundaries between one ecosystem and another. After this project fails, we are left with the conclusion that there is only one ecosystem and that it includes the sun. peter@managingwholes.com wot idiot wrote this, ficco.
[edit] ECOSYSTEM
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Marvelous work
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