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Unit 1: Basic Ecological Concepts and Principles Related to Agricultural Systems

Principle 2: Ecosystems are organized, integrated networks of species and populations.

(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

While ecosystems are dynamic and constantly changing, they are not random or chaotic. Ecosystems have an organization and structure based on the relationships within and between groups of organisms. In the classic text Fundamentals of Ecology, author Eugene Odum discusses what he calls the “community concept,” which directly addresses this principle. Here’s what he has to say: “The community concept … emphasizes the fact that diverse organisms usually live together in an orderly manner, not just haphazardly strewn over the earth, as independent beings. … the biotic community is constantly changing, but it has structures and functions which can be studied and described, and which are unique attributes of the group.”  Odum (1971)