E cosystem

Abstract

Abstract The concept of an ecosystem has been around for many decades in the field of ecology. From its humble beginnings as an idea or construct to its current state as a rich and at times all encompassing subdiscipline of ecosystem ecology, the term ecosystem took nearly 35 years to be properly defined and another 35 to reach its current status. Ecology is the study of how living things interact with their environment, and it could be argued that community and ecosystem ecology are two general subdisciplines of ecology that address complex ecological systems. While community ecology is not the focus of this article, it is intimately tied to the field of ecosystem ecology in that communities are a component of ecosystems. Ecosystems are complex and dynamic, with clearly defined structure and function, and their components are interdependent and interact with each other. The ecosystem concept lends itself well to the management and conservation of Earth's resources, given the dynamic and complex nature of their interactions, including those with humans. Indeed, the terms ecosystem‐based management, ecosystem services, ecosystem assessments , and whole ecosystem experiments have become powerful tools for assessing and managing the Earth's resources.