TAILIEUCHUNG - Kangas - Ecological Engineering - Principles and Practice - Chapter 9

9 Conclusions These ecosystems, as we may call them, are of the most various kinds and sizes. A central theme of this book has been the development of the concept that new ecosystems can be designed, constructed, and operated for the benefit of humanity through ecological engineering. | Q Concl usions These ecosystems as we may call them are of the most various kinds and sizes. A. G. Tansley 1935 THE EMERGENCE OF NEW ECOSYSTEMS A central theme of this book has been the development of the concept that new ecosystems can be designed constructed and operated for the benefit of humanity through ecological engineering. The concept of new ecosystems was introduced in Chapter 1 and was elaborated in subsequent chapters that focused on particular case studies. New ecosystems originate through human management along with the self-organizational properties of living systems. The mix of engineered design with nature s self-design makes these ecosystems unique. The study of new ecosystems is often marked with surprises because they are not yet fully understood Loucks 1985 O Neill and Waide 1981 . Like genetically engineered organisms these ecosystems have never existed previously. Those who design construct and operate the new ecosystems are therefore exploring new possibilities of ecological structure and function. In this sense ecological engineering is really a form of theoretical ecology. This book is an introduction to the new ecosystems that are emerging all around us through self-organization in different contexts. Humans have been creating new ecosystems for thousands of years but it is only in the last 30 years or so that these ecosystems have been recognized as objects for study by ecologists. Some of these ecosystems have been intentionally created while others have developed for various unintended reasons. Agriculture is probably the best example of a system that has been intentionally created. The origin of agriculture on the order of 10 000 years ago consisted of domesticating certain wild plants and animals and creating production systems from these species in modified natural ecosystems. Thus plants were raised on cropland and grazing animals were raised on pastures or rangeland. Early agriculture differed little from natural ecosystems but .

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