Professional Development Program

Courses

Resources

Videos

 

Help

PAGE 7 / 102

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

WHAT IS AN ECOSYSTEM?

Let’s start with definitions from two of our key references:
“Any unit that includes all of the organisms (i.e., the community) in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles [within the unit] is an ecosystem.”  Odum (1971).
“An ecosystem can be defined as a functional system of complementary relations between living organisms and their environment, delimited by arbitrarily chosen boundaries, which in space and time appear to maintain a steady yet dynamic equilibrium.”  Gliessman (2007).
PAGE 7 / 102