Welcome to the Healthy Ecosystems course. This course has been put together to explore the function of healthy ecosystems and how we can replicate that form and function within the design of systems we create.
Within this topic we explore the structure and function of ecosystems. This covers how species adapt to better exploit a niche and how interactions between species result in complex food webs and tropic cascades, that demonstrate the inter-connectivity of the relationships between species that share an ecosystem.
It is these complex relationships that through careful observation - we can replicate within the systems we design. Being guided by these observations we can then start to think more strategically about the placement of elements within a landscape where their strengths (adaptations) are best utilised within the complexity of relationships they encounter and are well-aligned to the constraints and opportunities of their environment.
Please first familiarise yourself with the content in the eBook below as a general overview of the topic.
Within this topic we explore the structure and function of ecosystems. This covers how species adapt to better exploit a niche and how interactions between species result in complex food webs and tropic cascades, that demonstrate the inter-connectivity of the relationships between species that share an ecosystem.
It is these complex relationships that through careful observation - we can replicate within the systems we design. Being guided by these observations we can then start to think more strategically about the placement of elements within a landscape where their strengths (adaptations) are best utilised within the complexity of relationships they encounter and are well-aligned to the constraints and opportunities of their environment.
Please first familiarise yourself with the content in the eBook below as a general overview of the topic.
|
|
Come back at the end of this page to explore the following additional topics
Abiotic and Biotic Factors
Below is outlined some general aspects for understanding the type and composition of ecosystems. This covers how we can identify and categorise different types of ecosystem and also how we can identify the different abiotic and biotic aspects of a particular ecosystem.
|
|
Adaptation and Niches
As an ecosystems matures and the the number of species increases - there becomes more pressure for those species to specialise to exploit a particular niche in their environment more efficiently and thus avoid direct competition with other species. This results in a transition over time from generalist pioneer species that inhabit an ecosystem at an early succession stage to more specialist species that have evolved adaptations to exploit their niches more effectively.
|
|
|
Trophic Cascades
Trophic cascades describe the impact a species has throughout its ecosystem. These are most evident when a species is either removed or introduced to an area, resulting in a noticeable changes in the abundance or behaviour of other species within that ecosystem. A trophic cascade refers to how this impact is felt on multiple levels within a food web from producers to tertiary consumers due to the changes within one effected species being passed on to other species through changes in their feeding interactions.
The two stories below illustrate this phenomena and the wide impacting consequences changes in biological communities can have.
The two stories below illustrate this phenomena and the wide impacting consequences changes in biological communities can have.
|
|
|