Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Internal
heterogeneity
Production
Inorganic
Organic
Decomposition
Weathering
Secondary
production
Ecosystem boundary
External
heterogeneity
FIGURE 10.14
The general ecosystem heterogeneity framework introduced in Chapter 1, with the addition of
interactions representing both internal and external sources of heterogeneity to reflect patterns and processes
emphasized in this chapter. Bowties represent controls, and arrows represent flows.
at any scale that ecologists may choose to address (
Allen 1998
). Similarly, ecosystem ecol-
ogy is about the interaction between biota and physical material and energy in specific
locations, regardless of scale. Locking either of these two crucial concepts to a particular
scale of analyses reduces their usefulness for explaining and understanding the structure,
function, and change in ecological systems.
G. Evelyn Hutchinson (1965) conceived of a compelling idea, “the ecological theater
and the evolutionary play,” as the title for his pioneering topic introducing the then-new
field of evolutionary ecology. Hutchinson bears the distinction of being one of the few pio-
neering ecologists to have been a leader in both evolutionary and ecosystem approaches.
His colleague, Raymond
Lindeman (1942)
, was the first person to actually apply
Tansley's
(1935)
definition of ecosystem to a field research problem. As ecosystem ecology increas-
ingly recognizes the significance and potential of spatial and temporal heterogeneity,
perhaps a translation of Hutchinson's idea to this realm would be helpful. Spatial and
temporal heterogeneity encourage ecosystem ecologists to investigate the ecological theater
and the biogeochemical play. The ecological theater is preeminently heterogeneous.
Of course, the postmodern, participatory interpretation of theater permits us to recognize
that the play can feed back on the stage sets and on the physical arrangement of the audi-
ence relative to the actors. In other words, the feedbacks between the action of the play and
the structure of the theater are a part of the new ecosystem ecology of heterogeneity.
The four benefits of the ecosystem approach identified by Pace (see Chapter 9)—mass
balance, boundedness, inclusiveness, and flexibility—easily accommodate the insights of
heterogeneity. Spatial and temporal heterogeneity are the context within which ecosystem
