Editing Ecosystem (section)

== Study approaches ==

=== Ecosystem ecology ===
{{Main|Ecosystem ecology}}
{{See also|Ecosystem model}}

[[File:East Scotia Ridge - Plos Biol 04.tif|thumb|right|A [[hydrothermal vent]] is an ecosystem on the ocean floor. (The scale bar is 1 m.)]]
[[Ecosystem ecology]] is the "study of the interactions between organisms and their environment as an integrated system".<ref name="Chapin-2011m" />{{rp|458}} The size of ecosystems can range up to ten [[order of magnitude|orders of magnitude]], from the surface layers of rocks to the surface of the planet.<ref name="Chapin-2011a" />{{rp|6}}

The [[Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study]] started in 1963 to study the [[White Mountains (New Hampshire)|White Mountains in New Hampshire]]. It was the first successful attempt to study an entire [[Watershed management|watershed]] as an ecosystem. The study used stream [[chemistry]] as a means of monitoring ecosystem properties, and developed a detailed [[biogeochemistry|biogeochemical model]] of the ecosystem.<ref name="Lindenmayer-2010">{{cite book|last=Lindenmayer|first=David B.|title=Effective Ecological Monitoring|author2=Gene E. Likens|publisher=CSIRO Publishing|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84971-145-6|location=Collingwood, Australia|pages=87–145|chapter=The Problematic, the Effective and the Ugly – Some Case Studies}}</ref> [[Long Term Ecological Research Network|Long-term research]] at the site led to the discovery of [[acid rain]] in North America in 1972. Researchers documented the depletion of soil [[cations]] (especially calcium) over the next several decades.<ref name="Likens-2004">{{cite journal|last=Likens|first=Gene E.|year=2004|title=Some perspectives on long-term biogeochemical research from the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study|url=http://www.ci.uri.edu/CIIP/SummerPracticum/Docs2007/Likens_LongTermResearch_Ecology2004.pdf|journal=Ecology|volume=85|issue=9|pages=2355–2362|doi=10.1890/03-0243|jstor=3450233|bibcode=2004Ecol...85.2355L |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501031912/http://www.ci.uri.edu/CIIP/SummerPracticum/Docs2007/Likens_LongTermResearch_Ecology2004.pdf|archive-date=2013-05-01}}</ref>

Ecosystems can be studied through a variety of approaches—theoretical studies, studies monitoring specific ecosystems over long periods of time, those that look at differences between ecosystems to elucidate how they work and direct manipulative experimentation.<ref name="Carpenter-1998">{{cite journal|last=Carpenter|first=Stephen R.|author2=Jonathan J. Cole|author3=Timothy E. Essington|author4=James R. Hodgson|author5=Jeffrey N. Houser|author6=James F. Kitchell|author7=Michael L. Pace|year=1998|title=Evaluating Alternative Explanations in Ecosystem Experiments|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226770761|journal=Ecosystems|volume=1|issue=4|pages=335–344|doi=10.1007/s100219900025|bibcode=1998Ecosy...1..335C |s2cid=33559404}}</ref> Studies can be carried out at a variety of scales, ranging from whole-ecosystem studies to studying [[Microcosm: Model / experimental ecosystem|microcosms]] or [[mesocosm]]s (simplified representations of ecosystems).<ref name="Schindler-1998">{{cite journal|last=Schindler|first=David W.|year=1998|title=Replication versus Realism: The Need for Ecosystem-Scale Experiments|journal=Ecosystems|volume=1|issue=4|pages=323–334|doi=10.1007/s100219900026|jstor=3658915|s2cid=45418039}}</ref> American ecologist [[Stephen R. Carpenter]] has argued that microcosm experiments can be "irrelevant and diversionary" if they are not carried out in conjunction with field studies done at the ecosystem scale. In such cases, microcosm experiments may fail to accurately predict ecosystem-level dynamics.<ref name="Carpenter-1996">{{cite journal|last=Carpenter|first=Stephen R.|year=1996|title=Microcosm Experiments have Limited Relevance for Community and Ecosystem Ecology|journal=Ecology|volume=77|issue=3|pages=677–680|doi=10.2307/2265490|jstor=2265490|bibcode=1996Ecol...77..677C }}</ref>

=== Classifications ===
{{Further|Ecosystem classification|Biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification}}
[[Biome]]s are general classes or categories of ecosystems.<ref name="Chapin-2011a" />{{rp|14}} However, there is no clear distinction between biomes and ecosystems.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Differences Between the Grassland & the Tundra|url=https://sciencing.com/differences-between-grassland-tundra-5873852.html|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Sciencing|date=22 November 2019 |language=en|archive-date=2021-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716124201/https://sciencing.com/differences-between-grassland-tundra-5873852.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Biomes are always defined at a very general level. Ecosystems can be described at levels that range from very general (in which case the names are sometimes the same as those of biomes) to very specific, such as "wet coastal needle-leafed forests".

Biomes vary due to global variations in [[climate]]. Biomes are often defined by their structure: at a general level, for example, [[tropical forest]]s, [[Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands|temperate grasslands]], and arctic [[tundra]].<ref name="Chapin-2011a" />{{rp|14}} There can be any degree of subcategories among ecosystem types that comprise a biome, e.g., needle-leafed [[Taiga|boreal forests]] or wet tropical forests. Although ecosystems are most commonly categorized by their structure and geography, there are also other ways to categorize and classify ecosystems such as by their level of human impact (see [[anthropogenic biome]]), or by their integration with social processes or technological processes or their novelty (e.g. [[novel ecosystem]]). Each of these [[Taxonomy|taxonomies]] of ecosystems tends to emphasize different structural or functional properties.<ref name="IUCN-2020">{{cite book|title=The IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0: Descriptive profiles for biomes and ecosystem functional groups|publisher=IUCN|year=2020|isbn=978-2-8317-2077-7|editor1-last=Keith|editor1-first=D.A.|location=Gland, Switzerland|doi=10.2305/IUCN.CH.2020.13.en|s2cid=241360441|editor2-last=Ferrer-Paris|editor2-first=J.R.|editor3-last=Nicholson|editor3-first=E.|editor4-last=Kingsford|editor4-first=R.T.}}</ref> None of these is the "best" classification.

[[Ecological classification|Ecosystem classifications]] are specific kinds of ecological classifications that consider all four elements of the definition of [[ecosystems]]: a biotic component, an [[abiotic]] complex, the interactions between and within them, and the physical space they occupy.<ref name="IUCN-2020" /> Different approaches to ecological classifications have been developed in terrestrial, freshwater and marine disciplines, and a function-based typology has been proposed to leverage the strengths of these different approaches into a unified system.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keith |first1=David A. |last2=Ferrer-Paris |first2=José R. |last3=Nicholson |first3=Emily |last4=Bishop |first4=Melanie J. |last5=Polidoro |first5=Beth A. |last6=Ramirez-Llodra |first6=Eva |last7=Tozer |first7=Mark G. |last8=Nel |first8=Jeanne L. |last9=Mac Nally |first9=Ralph |last10=Gregr |first10=Edward J. |last11=Watermeyer |first11=Kate E. |last12=Essl |first12=Franz |last13=Faber-Langendoen |first13=Don |last14=Franklin |first14=Janet |last15=Lehmann |first15=Caroline E. R. |last16=Etter |first16=Andrés |last17=Roux |first17=Dirk J. |last18=Stark |first18=Jonathan S. |last19=Rowland |first19=Jessica A. |last20=Brummitt |first20=Neil A. |last21=Fernandez-Arcaya |first21=Ulla C. |last22=Suthers |first22=Iain M. |last23=Wiser |first23=Susan K. |last24=Donohue |first24=Ian |last25=Jackson |first25=Leland J. |last26=Pennington |first26=R. Toby |last27=Iliffe |first27=Thomas M. |last28=Gerovasileiou |first28=Vasilis |last29=Giller |first29=Paul |last30=Robson |first30=Belinda J. |last31=Pettorelli |first31=Nathalie |last32=Andrade |first32=Angela |last33=Lindgaard |first33=Arild |last34=Tahvanainen |first34=Teemu |last35=Terauds |first35=Aleks |last36=Chadwick |first36=Michael A. |last37=Murray |first37=Nicholas J. |last38=Moat |first38=Justin |last39=Pliscoff |first39=Patricio |last40=Zager |first40=Irene |last41=Kingsford |first41=Richard T. |title=A function-based typology for Earth's ecosystems |journal=Nature |date=12 October 2022 |volume=610 |issue=7932 |pages=513–518 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-05318-4|pmid=36224387 |pmc=9581774 |bibcode=2022Natur.610..513K }}</ref>