Recent progress in systems ecology
Introduction
During the last quarter of the 20th century, several scientists contributed to the development of systems ecology with a number of important publications. Today, systems ecology is considered an important ecological sub-discipline as the application of ecological models, use of ecological engineering, selection of ecological indicators, and quantifications of ecosystem services inevitably require a good knowledge of how ecosystems are working as systems – or in other words – their basic ways of functioning (e.g., Bondavalli and Bodini, 2014, Farnsworth et al., 2012, Sciubba, 2013).
Systems ecology builds on the four columns of (1) hierarchy, (2) thermodynamics, (3) networks, and (4) biogeochemistry (Jørgensen, 2012). These approaches, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and perspectives, have often been developed in parallel and further progress arises with their continued integration. Each of the four foundational columns is described briefly below and later within and across column advances are presented.
- (1)
Hierarchy theory—the understanding of the hierarchical structure of ecosystems in all its forms, physically embedded as vertical hierarchies, but also control hierarchies thereby forming a boundary to the cybernetics processes of the systems (Nielsen, 2016).
- (2)
Thermodynamics—the understanding of the use, need, and transfer of energy by ecosystems, understood as a breakdown of an imposed gradient by irreversible, dissipative process (Aoki, 2012) that may serve as indicators of functional state or be subjected to optimization by adaptive and selective processes (Nielsen and Jørgensen, 2013).
- (3)
Network theory—the understanding of the functions and ecological advantages of ecological networks which allow for identification and quantification of interdependence through complex, indirect pathways (Borrett et al., 2014, Patten, 2016).
- (4)
Biogeochemistry—the understanding of the biogeochemical processes in ecosystems which focuses on the circulation of matter usually concentrating on the cycling of particular elements of quantitative important elements as C, N, O, P, and S (see Morowitz, 1968).
During the last five years, additional important contributions to systems ecology have been published in the journal Ecological Modelling, which shows that systems ecology is under continuous development.
The next section gives a short overview of these recent results achieved during the last five years. The results are, in this context, considered a further development of the systems ecology published in A New Ecology: Systems Perspective (Jørgensen et al., 2007) and partly in Integration of Ecosystem Theories: A Pattern (Jørgensen, 2002). This is followed by a section that tries to understand and presume in which direction systems ecology will develop in the coming decade. The last section concludes on the most important results of this paper. The presentation has been concentrated around three of the above columns as the advances in the biogeochemical area has been mainly practical rather than theoretical.
Section snippets
Recent results in systems ecology
A short review of papers published the last five years in Ecological Modelling with new results in systems ecology is given below and organized in an attempt to relate the findings to the theory presented in A New Ecology: Systems Perspective. The references are indicated together with the most important results presented in the publications.
Hypothetical development of systems ecology
It is always difficult to make predictions, especially about the future; and therefore, it is not possible to indicate without uncertainty in which direction, systems ecology will develop the coming 5–10 years, but we can at least look at the recent development in the field and extrapolate it to the coming years. A major integration of three of the columns that are the basis for systems ecology has taken place as we have narrated above and we foresee this process to continue. So, a continuation
Conclusions
A major integration of network and thermodynamic theories of ecosystems has taken place during the last few years. The integration has enhanced the present ecosystem theory and has at the same time supported the two theories. A better understanding of hierarchy theory, the advantages that the hierarchical organization offers the ecosystems and the importance of biodiversity on all levels are important results achieved during the last few years. As these results have opened up the use of network
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