Editing Ecology (section)

=== Ecosystem ecology ===
{{main|Ecosystem ecology}}
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| quote = These ecosystems, as we may call them, are of the most various kinds and sizes. They form one category of the multitudinous physical systems of the universe, which range from the universe as a whole down to the atom.
| source = Tansley (1935)<ref name="Tansley35"/>{{Rp|299}}
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[[File:Ecoecolfigure1.jpg|thumb|right|A [[riparian forest]] in the [[White Mountains (New Hampshire)|White Mountains, New Hampshire]] (US) is an example of [[ecosystem ecology]]]]

Ecosystems may be habitats within biomes that form an integrated whole and a dynamically responsive system having both physical and biological complexes. Ecosystem ecology is the science of determining the fluxes of materials (e.g. carbon, phosphorus) between different pools (e.g., tree biomass, soil organic material). Ecosystem ecologists attempt to determine the underlying causes of these fluxes. Research in ecosystem ecology might measure [[primary production]] (g C/m^2) in a [[wetland]] in relation to decomposition and consumption rates (g C/m^2/y). This requires an understanding of the community connections between plants (i.e., primary producers) and the decomposers (e.g., [[fungi]] and bacteria).<ref name="Brinson81">{{cite journal|last1 = Brinson| first1 = M. M.|last2=Lugo|first2=A. E.|last3=Brown|first3=S|title = Primary Productivity, Decomposition and Consumer Activity in Freshwater Wetlands|journal = Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics|volume = 12|pages=123–161|year = 1981| issue = 1|doi = 10.1146/annurev.es.12.110181.001011| bibcode = 1981AnRES..12..123B}}</ref>

The underlying concept of an ecosystem can be traced back to 1864 in the published work of [[George Perkins Marsh]] ("Man and Nature").<ref name="Marsh64"/><ref name="O'Neil01"/> Within an ecosystem, organisms are linked to the physical and biological components of their environment to which they are adapted.<ref name="Tansley35"/> Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems where the interaction of life processes form self-organizing patterns across different scales of time and space.<ref name="Levin98"/> Ecosystems are broadly categorized as [[Terrestrial ecosystem|terrestrial]], [[Freshwater ecosystem|freshwater]], atmospheric, or [[Marine ecosystem|marine]]. Differences stem from the nature of the unique physical environments that shapes the biodiversity within each. A more recent addition to ecosystem ecology are [[technoecosystems]], which are affected by or primarily the result of human activity.<ref name="Odum05" />