Hi Ted,
I agree with you, but I'm not at all sure that I have a lot of company. To
me, the ecosystem is everything--at least including the earth and its
atmosphere. I don't know whether or not it is "unlikely," but I'll accept
rather than dwell on such "esoterica." (For all I know, it might be a
universal imperative, but that is a discussion that few dare to embark upon,
and most certainly not to a conclusion. Like so many discussions here, it
would most likely fizzle into a poof of vanities.)
For convenience, I refer to subsets of the ecosystem as "ecosystems." A
vernal pool, for example, can be unique enough to be an excellent microcosm
that the study of such a handy-sized and "simplified" representative of the
whole to help us understand how the whole ecosystem might function.
Different vernal pools might be studied and compared such that the effects
of small variations in habitat conditions might reveal what is involved in
the interactions and activities of its constituent organisms and "abiotic"
variations. This is why I believe that knowing the ranges of requirements
and tolerances of individual organisms and populations is important and our
ignorance of these things is a tragic omission.
WT
PS: What is needed are specifics and details rather than endless strings of
generalities.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ted Mosquin" <[email protected]>
To: "Wayne Tyson" <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2012 5:25 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Ecosystem Function Re: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing
functional diversity
Hi Wayne,
The way to understand "ecosystem function" is to first clarify the
question. Put in a different way the question is: "What do ecosystems
actually do? As organisms are required to answer this question you also
need to ask: What do organisms do individually and collectively? As noted
in my earlier note on this thread the answers are easier for organisms
(make food, release oxygen, recycle stuff, etc.), but the answers get more
complex for ecosystems (see Table 3 again). And, what have organisms and
ecosystems done over the millennium of evolution to have caused the
Earth's Ecosphere to become the unlikely marvel that it is?
Matt Chew's comments (below), provide another example of muddying of the
waters about the meaning of this useful term. Talking about "centrisms" is
philosophy, not science/ecology.
Ted
On 10/3/2012 10:47 PM, Wayne Tyson wrote:
Ecolog:
I still want to know what "ecosystem function" is. Just a simple
definition, no more, no less.
WT
----- Original Message ----- From: "Matt Chew" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 11:54 PM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing functional diversity
This has been an interesting conversation. Ecological functions entail
putative benefits to some population or individual. It doesn't have to be
a human population, so it doesn't have to be anthropocentric, but that is
the second most common centrism. Biocentrism and ecocentrism are
generally
proxies for the most common one: idiocentrism. Biocentrism and
ecocentrism
involve benefits to things that benefit the author of the argument. If
this seems dubious, how many times have you seen discussions of
"functions"
without benefits, such as "the function of mass extinction" or "the
function of acid precipitation"? That suggests ecosystem function and
ecosystem service are fundamentally identical concepts. Processes are
more
benefits-equivocal than functions. A designed system (e.g., a farm)
includes processes more and less beneficial from various points of
reference, but has a designed function benefiting the farmer. An
accumulated system (e.g., an ecosystem) likewise includes processes but
lacks a designer or a function—if your metaphysics will allow.
Matthew K Chew
Assistant Research Professor
Arizona State University School of Life Sciences
ASU Center for Biology & Society
PO Box 873301
Tempe, AZ 85287-3301 USA
Tel 480.965.8422
Fax 480.965.8330
[email protected] or [email protected]
https://cbs.asu.edu/people/chew-0<http://cbs.asu.edu/people/profiles/chew.php>
http://asu.academia.edu/MattChew
On 10/3/2012 10:47 PM, Wayne Tyson wrote:
Ecolog:
I still want to know what "ecosystem function" is. Just a simple
definition, no more, no less.
WT
----- Original Message ----- From: "Matt Chew" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 11:54 PM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing functional diversity
This has been an interesting conversation. Ecological functions entail
putative benefits to some population or individual. It doesn't have to
be
a human population, so it doesn't have to be anthropocentric, but that is
the second most common centrism. Biocentrism and ecocentrism are
generally
proxies for the most common one: idiocentrism. Biocentrism and
ecocentrism
involve benefits to things that benefit the author of the argument. If
this seems dubious, how many times have you seen discussions of
"functions"
without benefits, such as "the function of mass extinction" or "the
function of acid precipitation"? That suggests ecosystem function and
ecosystem service are fundamentally identical concepts. Processes are
more
benefits-equivocal than functions. A designed system (e.g., a farm)
includes processes more and less beneficial from various points of
reference, but has a designed function benefiting the farmer. An
accumulated system (e.g., an ecosystem) likewise includes processes but
lacks a designer or a function—if your metaphysics will allow.
Matthew K Chew
Assistant Research Professor
Arizona State University School of Life Sciences
ASU Center for Biology & Society
PO Box 873301
Tempe, AZ 85287-3301 USA
Tel 480.965.8422
Fax 480.965.8330
[email protected] or [email protected]
https://cbs.asu.edu/people/chew-0<http://cbs.asu.edu/people/profiles/chew.php>
http://asu.academia.edu/MattChew
-----
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