Editing Ecosystem (section)

=== Ecosystem ecology ===
{{Main|Ecosystem ecology}}
{{See also|Ecosystem model}}

[[File:East Scotia Ridge - Plos Biol 04.tif|thumb|right|A [[hydrothermal vent]] is an ecosystem on the ocean floor. (The scale bar is 1 m.)]]
[[Ecosystem ecology]] is the "study of the interactions between organisms and their environment as an integrated system".<ref name="Chapin-2011m" />{{rp|458}} The size of ecosystems can range up to ten [[order of magnitude|orders of magnitude]], from the surface layers of rocks to the surface of the planet.<ref name="Chapin-2011a" />{{rp|6}}

The [[Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study]] started in 1963 to study the [[White Mountains (New Hampshire)|White Mountains in New Hampshire]]. It was the first successful attempt to study an entire [[Watershed management|watershed]] as an ecosystem. The study used stream [[chemistry]] as a means of monitoring ecosystem properties, and developed a detailed [[biogeochemistry|biogeochemical model]] of the ecosystem.<ref name="Lindenmayer-2010">{{cite book|last=Lindenmayer|first=David B.|title=Effective Ecological Monitoring|author2=Gene E. Likens|publisher=CSIRO Publishing|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84971-145-6|location=Collingwood, Australia|pages=87–145|chapter=The Problematic, the Effective and the Ugly – Some Case Studies}}</ref> [[Long Term Ecological Research Network|Long-term research]] at the site led to the discovery of [[acid rain]] in North America in 1972. Researchers documented the depletion of soil [[cations]] (especially calcium) over the next several decades.<ref name="Likens-2004">{{cite journal|last=Likens|first=Gene E.|year=2004|title=Some perspectives on long-term biogeochemical research from the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study|url=http://www.ci.uri.edu/CIIP/SummerPracticum/Docs2007/Likens_LongTermResearch_Ecology2004.pdf|journal=Ecology|volume=85|issue=9|pages=2355–2362|doi=10.1890/03-0243|jstor=3450233|bibcode=2004Ecol...85.2355L |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501031912/http://www.ci.uri.edu/CIIP/SummerPracticum/Docs2007/Likens_LongTermResearch_Ecology2004.pdf|archive-date=2013-05-01}}</ref>

Ecosystems can be studied through a variety of approaches—theoretical studies, studies monitoring specific ecosystems over long periods of time, those that look at differences between ecosystems to elucidate how they work and direct manipulative experimentation.<ref name="Carpenter-1998">{{cite journal|last=Carpenter|first=Stephen R.|author2=Jonathan J. Cole|author3=Timothy E. Essington|author4=James R. Hodgson|author5=Jeffrey N. Houser|author6=James F. Kitchell|author7=Michael L. Pace|year=1998|title=Evaluating Alternative Explanations in Ecosystem Experiments|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226770761|journal=Ecosystems|volume=1|issue=4|pages=335–344|doi=10.1007/s100219900025|bibcode=1998Ecosy...1..335C |s2cid=33559404}}</ref> Studies can be carried out at a variety of scales, ranging from whole-ecosystem studies to studying [[Microcosm: Model / experimental ecosystem|microcosms]] or [[mesocosm]]s (simplified representations of ecosystems).<ref name="Schindler-1998">{{cite journal|last=Schindler|first=David W.|year=1998|title=Replication versus Realism: The Need for Ecosystem-Scale Experiments|journal=Ecosystems|volume=1|issue=4|pages=323–334|doi=10.1007/s100219900026|jstor=3658915|s2cid=45418039}}</ref> American ecologist [[Stephen R. Carpenter]] has argued that microcosm experiments can be "irrelevant and diversionary" if they are not carried out in conjunction with field studies done at the ecosystem scale. In such cases, microcosm experiments may fail to accurately predict ecosystem-level dynamics.<ref name="Carpenter-1996">{{cite journal|last=Carpenter|first=Stephen R.|year=1996|title=Microcosm Experiments have Limited Relevance for Community and Ecosystem Ecology|journal=Ecology|volume=77|issue=3|pages=677–680|doi=10.2307/2265490|jstor=2265490|bibcode=1996Ecol...77..677C }}</ref>