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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.
Grassland Ecosystem Specific links
Grassland Ecosystem News
The Greening of West Africa - CO2 Science Magazine
The Greening of West Africa CO2 Science Magazine ... that "the continent is also characterized by a fast growing human population (up to 3% per year; FAO, 2007), which is imposing an increased pressure upon ecosystems ranging from tropical evergreen forest to deciduous forest, savanna and grassland. |
Theme park will gobble up this ecosystem - Daily News & Analysis
Theme park will gobble up this ecosystem Daily News & Analysis The grassland, a sea of tranquility, is a fragile ecosystem that supports a range of unique flora and fauna that environmentalists and birders do not want to lose at any cost. A group of concerned citizens have taken up the matter, but all they have ... |
SA wins gold at Chelsea Flower Show - Times LIVE
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AUTHOR VISITS SC HERITAGE PRESERVES AS HE WRITES BOOK ON SOUTHEASTERN GRASSLANDS - FireEngineering.com
AUTHOR VISITS SC HERITAGE PRESERVES AS HE WRITES BOOK ON SOUTHEASTERN GRASSLANDS FireEngineering.com "It appears that these large grazers, in combination with frequent fires, kept trees out of these extensive grasslands," Stowe said, Only vestiges of these ecosystems remain, but the DNR and others, including counterparts in North Carolina, ... |
Botanists launch bid to rescue the world's threatened habitats - Telegraph.co.uk
 Telegraph.co.uk | Botanists launch bid to rescue the world's threatened habitats Telegraph.co.uk Dr Pavlik said: "We are looking at ecosystems that are very diverse, from tropical rainforests to temperate deserts and grasslands. "One of the main causes of degradation is fragmentation where agriculture has impinged on an area of forest and it has ... |