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Achieving Balance In Ecosystems: A Trapeze Act?
from:According to strict theory, balance in an ecosystem would be reached when the various populations in the system are neither increasing nor decreasing but holding steady because the various parts of the ecosystem keep each other in perfect balance.
In a coral reef ecosystem, for example, this might look as follows: (1) Coral reef absorbs nutrients directly from the water and from plankton swimming past the reef; (2) small parrotfish feed on the coral reef; and (3) larger fish, such as snappers and barracuda, feed on the smaller fish like the parrotfish. Here is where the theory breaks down, however, because if the coral reef is not growing and expanding its territory, it is considered unhealthy or dying. Similarly, as the reef itself expands, it is able to support more and more animals in categories (2) and (3) respectively—meaning that none of the populations is actually stable, but rather growing. In reality, then, balance in an ecosystem is a dynamic, changing thing which generally implies a gradual growth of the populations within the ecosystem.
But when we talk about balance in ecosystems, it not only refers to balance within the ecosystem, but also to balance between ecosystems. To wit: no ecosystem exists in a vacuum. Each ecosystem has other systems butting up against it, intersecting it, and often intermeshing with it. To continue the example from above, a coral reef is located in water, putting it in close proximity to a marine ecosystem (or more than one), where there may be even larger fish, sharks, and other animals. In this situation, balance between ecosystems means that the sharks don't eat all the parrotfish, nor do the fish living on the coral reef suddenly migrate out to the marine ecosystem.
On the other hand, Andrewatha and Birch proposed the idea in their 1954 "The Distribution and bundance of animals" that balance in ecosystems is actually impossible. Because they observed that territorial behavior, rather than a check in food supply, limited population numbers, they viewed the flux in population size as part of normal behavior patterns rather than part of an ecosystem response. Although this view is probably extreme, it illustrates the truth that a static population is not possible in the real world.
Seen from a global perspective, balance in the world ecosystem depends upon balance between ecosystems in the world. Such is the subject of many current headlines about climate change, overfishing, and the like. Yet it is important to keep perspective that neither has the world's ecosystem remained stagnant over time; populations have increased, decreased, and even gone extinct, entirely independent of human involvement. The question becomes, then: To what extent human involvement has changed the balance in ecosystems beyond what it would have been without any human interference? The answer, right now, is anybody's guess.
Ecosystem Grassland Specific links
Ecosystem Grassland News
Overgrazed grasslands tied to locust outbreaks - Health24.com
Overgrazed grasslands tied to locust outbreaks Health24.com In this study undertaken at the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station in China, researchers examined Oedaleus asiaticus, one of the two swarming locusts of Asia. A closely related species, Oedaleus senegalensis, is a major pest in Africa. |
NCAR prepares for controlled burn of grasslands surrounding Boulder lab - Daily Camera
NCAR prepares for controlled burn of grasslands surrounding Boulder lab Daily Camera NCAR first contemplated doing a controlled burn on the mesa in 2005 after the National Science Foundation, which owns the land that the lab sits on, commissioned an ecosystem management plan. "They want to be good stewards of the land, ... |
A program with some teeth - Cranbrook Daily Townsman
A program with some teeth Cranbrook Daily Townsman Murphy said that firefighting techniques over the generations have basically removed naturally occurring forest fires from the ecosystem. "As a result, trees have taken over in the natural grassland areas of the trench," he said. |
Overgrazed fields could promote locust swarms: study - AFP
 AFP | Overgrazed fields could promote locust swarms: study AFP Theorizing that the insects were trying to find better food sources, they doused land plots at the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station in China with nitrogen, thinking the locusts would prefer higher protein plants. Nitrogen Fertiliser 'Could Prevent Locust Swarms' |
Pictures: Animals That Blocked Keystone XL Pipeline Path - National Geographic
 National Geographic | Pictures: Animals That Blocked Keystone XL Pipeline Path National Geographic ... on the eastern edge of the unique 19600-square-mile (51000-square-kilometer) ecosystem called the Sandhills. This native grassland and windswept sand, which covers one-quarter of Nebraska, forced a rethinking of the North American energy future. |