BIOL-2356EL Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bird Migration, Eutrophication, Food Security
17 Sep 2018
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Document Summary
Ecosystem: the biotic community and abiotic environment functioning as a system. A term introduced by ecologist sir arthur george tansley in 1935 to include: Including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call an environment" ~he meant it to be the basic unit of ecology. Borders of an ecosystem are not easy to define. Actually, the systems we isolate mentally are not only included as parts of larger ones, but they also overlap, interlock and interact with each other. The isolation is partly artificial, but is the only way in which we can proceed. Not just one ecosystem: can combine many ecosystems together depending what you are studying. Ex: organic carbon content in a lake depends on the surrounding peatlands. Influences what is going on in the lake. Green plants, algae and some bacteria get their energy from sunlight.
