Ecosystem ecology: Theories, methods, lenses

In this first of two lectures on ecosystem ecology, Dr. Whendee Silver presents an overview of the focus and some key currencies in the field. She defines ecosystem ecology as the study of both the organisms and the abiotic environment, and interactions between them, in an area defined by the strength of the connections between components of the system. She notes that ecosystem ecology focuses on stocks, pools, and flows of the basic components of life, energy and nutrients. She uses the example of the carbon cycle as one physical process that is conceptualized and measured within ecosystem ecology, and one that has contemporary relevance in the context of understanding the impacts of global climate change. She notes that the conceptualization of cycles and impacts in ecosystem ecology focuses at the human time scale, rather than the geologic time scale, in part because of measurement and data issues.