Ecosystem Science: Studying Everything at Once, From Reefs to a Single Microbe

An ecosystem cannot be understood one piece at a time, because every piece affects the others. Ecosystem science takes on that complexity directly. It studies the relationships among living organisms, physical features, biochemical processes, natural events and human activities within an ecological community.

An ecosystem: living and nonliving things interacting within one area. Credit: NOAA.

What an ecosystem is

An ecosystem is an ecological community made up of biological, physical and chemical parts, considered as a single unit. In any given area, the living and the nonliving interact, and because everything is connected, ecosystems can be very complex.

A delicate balance

To thrive, an ecosystem has to keep a delicate balance among all its members. Human interference and extreme natural events can tip that balance and threaten the ecosystem's health.

From a whole reef to one microbe

Scientists at NOAA's National Ocean Service study ecosystems at every scale — some monitor entire ecosystems, others study the chemistry of a single microbe. Their findings are combined into assessments that:

• describe how healthy an ecosystem is now
• predict what state it will be in later
• evaluate management strategies that could improve its health

Where the work is focused

The National Ocean Service concentrates on ecosystems that laws and executive orders have marked as important: coral reefs, estuaries, national marine sanctuaries, national estuarine research reserves and other ocean ecosystems. Scientists observe and study these areas to learn how human actions affect them, then develop strategies to keep them safe and healthy.

Sources

Based on "What is ecosystem science?" from NOAA's National Ocean Service, a work of the United States government in the public domain.