"Ecosystem structure" refers to the organization and arrangement of living organisms (plants, animals, microorganisms) and their physical environment in a particular ecosystem. It includes the relationships, interactions, and patterns that exist among these elements, such as food chains, habitats, and population sizes.
Full definition
Today, it is possible to
restore ecosystem structure and functionality for the benefit of wildlife and to regain some of the original ecological services for human benefit.
«This overlap in their resources forces the bears to make a choice that could in the long run result in fewer bears and / or unexpected changes
in ecosystem structure,» Stanford said.
Novel species assemblages can also substantially
alter ecosystem structure and function and the distribution of ecosystem services.
Principle 5: Conservation
of ecosystem structure and functioning, in order to maintain ecosystem services, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach.
The repeated fires
modify ecosystem structure, penetrate ever deeper into forest margins, affect large areas of understory vegetation (which is not detected by remote sensing), and take an ever greater cumulative toil on soil quality and its ability to sequester carbon.
Relatively rapid degradation of ice - rich permafrost is adversely affecting human infrastructure, altering
Arctic ecosystem structure and function, changing the surface energy balance, and has the potential to dramatically impact Arctic hydrological process and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
Mosses are important members in many dryland ecosystems and the community changes observed here reveal how subtle modifications to climate can
affect ecosystem structure and function on unexpectedly short timescales.
Furthermore, I plan to construct models that will describe
how ecosystem structure may change in the face of multiple stressors, and compare these models against existing models of coral bleaching and disease to determine whether they offer novel insights or enhanced predictive ability of these events.
«Simply speaking, a balanced exploitation aims to maintain, to the extent possible,
natural ecosystem structure to support sustainable fisheries and conserve biodiversity,» Zhou says.
The laboratory component confirms that amphetamine is present in the Gwynns Falls watershed at concentrations that have the potential to affect
stream ecosystem structure and function.
Her international research programme focuses on the impacts of global climate change and ocean acidification on coastal marine biodiversity and the consequences
for ecosystem structure and functioning, and spans the UK, Europe, USA and NZ.
Such non-consumptive parasite effects could alter disease transmission, population dynamics, and
even ecosystem structure.
The ISEP project has built a model of a
STEM Ecosystem structure involving students and their families from the Buffalo Public Schools at middle and high school levels.
Deterioration of the kelp itself results in the loss of
physical ecosystem structure and subsequently, the loss of other species associated with this habitat.
Relatively rapid degradation of near - surface, ice - rich permafrost caused by atmospheric forcing is adversely affecting human infrastructure, altering
arctic ecosystem structure and function, changing the surface energy balance, and has the potential to dramatically impact arctic hydrological process and increase greenhouse gas emissions.
This would then lead to large, unpredictable changes in
ocean ecosystem structure and productivity, on top of other large unpredictable changes to be expected from ocean acidification, the other great oceanic consequence of high atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from fossil fuel burning.
Seeking to gain insights on feedback dynamics
between ecosystem structure and function, and the influence of disturbance on trajectories of ecosystem processes.
Modelling studies suggest that shifts in
ecosystem structure from climate variations may be as or more important than the alterations in bulk integrated properties reported here
Because megafauna have a disproportionate influence
on ecosystem structure and function, past and present body size downgrading is reshaping Earth's biosphere.
The ultimate keystone predator, humans alter their environments by eliminating species and
modifying ecosystem structure and function, thereby contributing to extinction, altering evolution itself.
Scientists are joining lawyers, policymakers and writers to urge conservationists not only to save species, but also to preserve a diverse array
of ecosystem structures and functions in the face of rising populations and changing climate.
Separately, water clarity affects the predation dynamics within aquatic ecosystems, particularly for highly visual predators, which may
impact ecosystem structure and fisheries.
Changes in terrestrial plant and animal species ranges are shifting the location and extent of biomes, and
altering ecosystem structure and functioning.
From the ocean, the fresh water flows into the Greenland fjords where is influence local circulation with impacts on the production and
ecosystem structure.
Rather than focusing on how to shield ecosystems from our impacts, we could be experimenting with ways to achieve comfort and security while also promoting biodiversity and
ecosystem structure and function.
The projected result: widespread climate - induced forest die - offs, shifts in
ecosystem structure and function, a concomitant loss of habitat for plants and animals, and the elimination of large carbon stores.
Seasonally snow - covered regions are especially susceptible to climate change as small changes in temperature or precipitation may result in large changes in
ecosystem structure and function.
«We conclude that extreme climatic events are key drivers of biodiversity patterns and that the frequency and intensity of such episodes have major implications for predictive models of species distribution and
ecosystem structure, which are largely based on gradual warming trends.»
Further, soil moisture is an important determinant of
ecosystem structure and therein a primary means by which climate regulates (and is partially regulated by) ecosystem distribution.
Consequently, accurate prediction of soil moisture is crucial for simulation of the hydrological cycle, of soil and vegetation biochemistry, including the cycling of carbon and nutrients, and of
ecosystem structure and distribution as well as climate.
The direct CO2 - fertilisation impact and warming effect of rising atmospheric CO2 have contrasting effects on their dominant functional types (trees and C3 grasses may benefit from rising CO2 but not from warming; C4 grasses may benefit from warming, but not from CO2 - fertilisation), with uncertain, non-linear and rapid changes in
ecosystem structure and carbon stocks likely.
These models have simple representations of the biological fluxes, which include the fundamental response to changes in internal nutrients, temperature and light availability, but for most models do not include the more complex responses to changes in
ecosystem structure.
Changes in
ecosystem structure can occur when specific organisms respond to surface warming, acidification, changes in nutrient ratios resulting from changes in external sources of nutrients (atmosphere or rivers) and changes in upper trophic levels (fisheries).
However, changes in pH in coastal ecosystems result from a multitude of drivers, including impacts from watershed processes, nutrient inputs, and changes in
ecosystem structure and metabolism.
The LMEs differ in
ecosystem structure, function and biodiversity, in commercial, recreational, and subsistence uses, and in resource management issues [246], as well as in climate, seasonal weather patterns, and sea ice conditions.
Pauley and other marine biologists have shown that drastically reduced populations in marine fishes caused by overfishing may never recover because overfishing has created irreversible changes in
ecosystem structure.