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B
A
Ecosphere
Superkingdom
Kingdom
Biosphere
Subkingdom
Macroland
or Seascapes
Phylum
Biomes
Subphylum
Class
Land or
Seascapes
Subclass
Regional complex
of biocoenoses
Order
Suborder
Family
Elementary
Ecosystems
Biocoenoses
Subfamily
Genus
Hierarchy of
life-supporting systems
Population/species
A 2
A 1
Hierarchy of biological systems
FIGURE 2.2
Relationships between taxonomic and organizational hierarchies of the living
systems (A) and their integration within the hierarchy of life-supporting systems or ecological
systems (B) A
diversity of living organisms and hierarchical order of the taxa established
based on the similarity between ordered entities. A
=
1
=
hierarchical organization of living
2
organisms in large and complex biological systems. B
hierarchy of spatio-temporal orga-
nization of the upper layer of lithosphere, hydrosphere, troposphere, and biosphere. (After
Vadineanu, A.,
=
Sustainable Development: Theory and Practice
, Bucharest University Press,
Bucharest, 1998. With permission.)
most recent thinking that considers the environment as a “hierarchical spatio-temporal
organization.”
(Figure 2.2 and Figure 2.3) . Ecological systems, as organized units
and components of the hierarchy, are described as self-organizing and self-maintaining
systems, or as “life-supporting systems.” They have been described as nonlinear
dynamic and adaptive systems with evolving production and carrying capacity. These
nonlinear systems go through successive phases of adaptive cycles: growth (R); accu-
mulation or maturization (K); release or “creative destruction” (
6,25-27
); and restructuring
and reorganization (
α
).
28,29
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