Editing Ecosystem (section)

=== 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>