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Ecological balance is a term used to describe the equilibrium between living organisms such as human being, plants, and animals as well as their environment. Understanding ecosystems is a good place to start with understanding regenerative design.
The resources on this page provide a brief background overview of the structure and fucntion of ecosystems - which will be applied in this next topic to how this knowledge can be applied to regenerative design and creating healthy outcomes.
An ecosystem consists of a community of organisms together with their physical environment. An ecosystem includes all of the biotic factors or living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, and atmosphere). The non-living aspects of an ecosystem are called abiotic factors.
At a basic functional level, ecosystem generally contains primary producers (plants) capable of harvesting energy from the sun through the process called photosynthesis. This energy then flows through the food chain. Next come consumers. Consumers could be primary consumers (herbivores) or secondary consumers (carnivores). These consumers feed on the captured energy.
Only producers can make their own food. They also provide food for the consumers and decomposers. The producers are the source of the energy that drives the entire ecosystem. Organisms that get their energy by feeding on other organisms are called consumers.
Decomposers work at the bottom of the food chain. Dead tissues and waste products are produced at all levels. Scavengers, detritivores and decomposers not only feed on this energy but also break organic matter back into its organic constituents. It is the microbes that finish the job of decomposition and produce organic building blocks that can the be re-absorbed by plants through the soil.
All organisms have adaptations that help them survive and thrive. Some adaptations are structural. Structural adaptations are physical features of an organism like the bill on a bird or the fur on a bear. Other adaptations are behavioural. Behavioural adaptations are the things organisms do to survive. For example, bird calls and migration are behavioural adaptations. Adaptations are the result of evolution. Evolution is a change in a species over long periods of time. Adaptations usually occur because a gene mutates or changes by accident! Some mutations can help an animal or plant survive better than others in the species without the mutation.
A niche is a term that is used in ecological biology to define an organism's role in an ecosystem. Not only does a niche include the environment a given organism lives in, it also includes the organism's "job" in that environment. A niche may also encompass what the organism eats, how it interacts with other living things or biotic factors, and also how it interacts with the non-living, or abiotic, parts of the environment as well.
The survival of any individual organism in an ecosystem depends on how matter and energy flow through the system and through the body of the organism. Organisms survive through a combination of matter recycling and the one-way flow of energy through the system. Energy first enters Earth from the sun, where it is converted to many different types of energy before eventually being radiated out to space as heat. The energy that enters a particular ecosystem.
The resources on this page provide a brief background overview of the structure and fucntion of ecosystems - which will be applied in this next topic to how this knowledge can be applied to regenerative design and creating healthy outcomes.
An ecosystem consists of a community of organisms together with their physical environment. An ecosystem includes all of the biotic factors or living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, and atmosphere). The non-living aspects of an ecosystem are called abiotic factors.
At a basic functional level, ecosystem generally contains primary producers (plants) capable of harvesting energy from the sun through the process called photosynthesis. This energy then flows through the food chain. Next come consumers. Consumers could be primary consumers (herbivores) or secondary consumers (carnivores). These consumers feed on the captured energy.
Only producers can make their own food. They also provide food for the consumers and decomposers. The producers are the source of the energy that drives the entire ecosystem. Organisms that get their energy by feeding on other organisms are called consumers.
Decomposers work at the bottom of the food chain. Dead tissues and waste products are produced at all levels. Scavengers, detritivores and decomposers not only feed on this energy but also break organic matter back into its organic constituents. It is the microbes that finish the job of decomposition and produce organic building blocks that can the be re-absorbed by plants through the soil.
All organisms have adaptations that help them survive and thrive. Some adaptations are structural. Structural adaptations are physical features of an organism like the bill on a bird or the fur on a bear. Other adaptations are behavioural. Behavioural adaptations are the things organisms do to survive. For example, bird calls and migration are behavioural adaptations. Adaptations are the result of evolution. Evolution is a change in a species over long periods of time. Adaptations usually occur because a gene mutates or changes by accident! Some mutations can help an animal or plant survive better than others in the species without the mutation.
A niche is a term that is used in ecological biology to define an organism's role in an ecosystem. Not only does a niche include the environment a given organism lives in, it also includes the organism's "job" in that environment. A niche may also encompass what the organism eats, how it interacts with other living things or biotic factors, and also how it interacts with the non-living, or abiotic, parts of the environment as well.
The survival of any individual organism in an ecosystem depends on how matter and energy flow through the system and through the body of the organism. Organisms survive through a combination of matter recycling and the one-way flow of energy through the system. Energy first enters Earth from the sun, where it is converted to many different types of energy before eventually being radiated out to space as heat. The energy that enters a particular ecosystem.
On this page we explore some of the function that emerges from the patterns expressed within natural ecosystems. These patterns are those of surface area (zonation), height (stratification) and time (succession) and the complexity of interactions within species that results in matter being recycled and energy more efficient used - so that those ecosystems evolve into complex and stable states that utilise available matter and energy resources more effectively.
Ecosystem Patterns
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Energy Flow
The energy that flow through ecosystems originates from the Sun in most of the world's ecosystems.
This energy is transformed into biological molecules by plants, algae and bacteria by the biological process called photosynthesis. Once converted to fats, sugars, and proteins by plants it is then available as food to sustain a complex food web of life within the world's ecosystems.
Energy flows through an ecosystem in only one direction. Energy is passed from organisms at one trophic level or energy level to organisms in the next trophic level. Producers are always the first trophic level, herbivores the second, the carnivores that eat herbivores the third, and so on.
Most of the energy at a trophic level – about 90% – is used at that trophic level. Organisms need it for growth, locomotion, heating themselves, and reproduction. So animals at the second trophic level have only about 10% as much energy available to them as do organisms at the first trophic level. Animals at the third level have only 10% as much available to them as those at the second level.
The set of organisms that pass energy from one trophic level to the next is described as the food chain (Figure below). In this simple depiction, all organisms eat at only one trophic level. There are generally only four to five levels within a food chain due to there being not enough energy from the producers to support further levels of consumers.
To maximise the use of energy within a food web, nature has maximised the diversity and complexity of ecosystems, which has resulted in each species having to find specialised niches to survive in the face of this competition.
This energy is transformed into biological molecules by plants, algae and bacteria by the biological process called photosynthesis. Once converted to fats, sugars, and proteins by plants it is then available as food to sustain a complex food web of life within the world's ecosystems.
Energy flows through an ecosystem in only one direction. Energy is passed from organisms at one trophic level or energy level to organisms in the next trophic level. Producers are always the first trophic level, herbivores the second, the carnivores that eat herbivores the third, and so on.
Most of the energy at a trophic level – about 90% – is used at that trophic level. Organisms need it for growth, locomotion, heating themselves, and reproduction. So animals at the second trophic level have only about 10% as much energy available to them as do organisms at the first trophic level. Animals at the third level have only 10% as much available to them as those at the second level.
The set of organisms that pass energy from one trophic level to the next is described as the food chain (Figure below). In this simple depiction, all organisms eat at only one trophic level. There are generally only four to five levels within a food chain due to there being not enough energy from the producers to support further levels of consumers.
To maximise the use of energy within a food web, nature has maximised the diversity and complexity of ecosystems, which has resulted in each species having to find specialised niches to survive in the face of this competition.
Recycling Matter
Matter is recycled continuously within biological systems which act to moderate the availability of these substances in a way that supports the continued presence of life. In this way biological systems are able to terra-form their planets and bring it to a state of stability that supports further life.
We are part of this matrix of life and like the rest of it we need to align our functions to those that support and preserve life. The work of the permaculture designer is to create abundant systems that flow with the processes of life and work in with the recycling of materials to support.
Carbon Cycle
Water Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle.
We are part of this matrix of life and like the rest of it we need to align our functions to those that support and preserve life. The work of the permaculture designer is to create abundant systems that flow with the processes of life and work in with the recycling of materials to support.
Carbon Cycle
- The carbon cycle describes the movement of carbon between the different spheres of Earth. Carbon is present in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas, within the soil as organic matter, and within living things in the biological molecules that compose their bodies. The movement of carbon between these spheres ensures the fertility and abundance of biological systems. At the base of terrestrial systems is a thriving soil ecology and the addition of fresh sources of carbon to this system acts as a crucial part of maintaining and building its fertility.
- The addition of sources of carbon back to soil must therefore be of primary importance in developing a sustainable agricultural system.
Water Cycle
- The water cycle is a process that allows water to be available in continuously fresh forms to be drawn into biological systems and support the function of life.
- Living systems have evolved in the context of aquatic systems and water provides an environment for all life processes.
- The water cycle describes the movement of water between the different spheres of the Earth. This is illustrated in the diagram below.
Nitrogen Cycle.
- Nitrogen is an important component of DNA and proteins and therefore an important nutrient for the growth of biological organisms. The atmosphere is rich in Nitrogen, with 70% of air composed of it, but its availability in soil is a major limiting factor to support plant growth.
- Atmospheric Nitrogen is converted to water soluble nitrates by soil bacteria that exchange these nitrates with plants for sugars. Because the nitrates are water soluble plants are able to draw them through their root system and combine them with other molecules to make proteins and DNA.
- Once Nitrogen is captures by plants it then becomes available for the rest of the food web within an ecosystems as consumers eat them.
- Excess nitrates can also cause environmental problems when excessive fertilizers or numbers of animals are present within agricultural systems.
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