How to Analyze Ecosystems

An ecosystem is a complex set of relationships between plants, animals, people, and organisms in a particular environment, such as a desert, an ocean, forests, and cities. Ecosystems vary greatly in size and are highly sensitive to human activities, especially construction, industry and resource consumption. The health of an ecosystem depends on its balance of natural resources and species, and their ability to feed, reproduce and grow. To analyze an ecosystem requires looking at the elements that compose it, and how they interact with and support one another.

Instructions

• 1

  Desert habitats are self-contained ecosystems.

  Determine the ecosystem size and environment. The concept of an ecosystem provides a framework for assessing interdependent relationships, and its size, for analytical purposes, depends on how many orders of magnitude you're interested in examining. For instance, a desert habitat is a relatively self-contained ecosystem with an established balance of species and resources. An urban area, on the other hand, is a much more complex system, whose interactions are sensitive to outside influences, such as trade, immigration and disease transmission.

• 2

  Explore the ecosystem components. Determine what species of life reside in the ecosystem, and pay attention to how they interact with each other. Consider the food chain and how species engage as predator and play. Also, examine the distribution of habitats within the ecosystem, and look at what resources are used for constructing nests, homes or shelters.

• 3

  Consider ecosystem cycles. The activities within an ecosystem change depending on cycles of seasons and reproduction. Changing seasons affect food availability, and thus influence how species interact with one another and share resources.

• 4

  Assess the health of the ecosystem. Identify whether the balance of species and resources has changed over time. For example, determine whether any species have become endangered or extinct, or conversely, if certain populations have increased dramatically. Consider atypical climatic conditions, such as drought or elevated temperatures, and examine their affect on natural resources.

• 5

  Industrial pollution can threaten the balance in an ecosystem.

  Identify threats to balance. Within an ecosystem, each change produces a ripple effect within the greater environment. Therefore, ecosystems are vulnerable to internal and external hazards. Threats to balance within an ecosystem include the introduction of new diseases, altered weather patterns, pollution, resource over-consumption, and significant shifts in the population size of species.

• 6

  Bring it all together. To understand how the different components in an ecosystem function, select one element in the ecosystem, such as a tree. Identify the different species that use this tree for habitation, reproduction or food, and how their balance of use changes based on seasonal cycles. Consider the different roles these species play in the tree's processes of fertility and reproduction. Devise a hypothetical scenario in which one of these species became extinct, and explore the consequences of extinction on the other species and the maintenance of the tree's fertility and health.