ECOSYSTEM

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("ecosystem" is a kind of...):

scheme; system (a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole)

Credits

Context examples:

Bacteria in certain communities have genes tailored by evolution for cycling the nutrients that are naturally available in their ecosystems.

(From tropical to boreal ecosystems, temperature drives functioning, National Science Foundation)

This previously unknown effect of nitrate, a common pollutant, shows how complex ecosystem interactions could result in reducing the carbon-holding ability of salt marshes said Michael Sieracki, program director for Biological Oceanography.

(Salt marshes' capacity to store carbon may be threatened by nitrogen pollution, National Science Foundation)

"Not much is known about what happens in transitional savanna ecosystems that are located between more arid and wetter climate zones."

(Land cover change in Botswana savannas: Don't blame the elephants, National Science Foundation)

Once deposited there, their iron content could be enough to boost the productivity of marine phytoplankton, feeding new blooms of these microscopic algae and altering ocean ecosystems.

(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)

According to Ricardo Mello, who spearheads WWF-Brasil's Amazon Program, a mere 20% of the forest's ecosystem is known.

(Report unveils 381 new plant and animal species in Amazon, Agência Brasil)

It is a promising technique for management on a local basis but needs to be combined with habitat restoration and other conservation measures; rebuilding fish communities with the help of playbacks might accelerate ecosystem recovery but is not enough alone.

(Loudspeakers used to attract fish back to dying coral reefs, SciDev.Net)

The researchers suggest that the slow, incomplete recovery of species on abandoned farmland in Minnesota is likely happening in ecosystems around the world where land has been cleared for agriculture, logging or other human activities.

(Plant biodiversity struggles to return in wake of agricultural abandonment, National Science Foundation)

That changes in the availability of a preferred food item such as krill can differentially impact otherwise similar species emphasizes our need to better understand the role of behavioral flexibility in Antarctic and other ecosystems.

(Whaling and climate change lead to 100 years of feast or famine for Antarctic penguins, National Science Foundation)

Sharks, tuna, marlin and other large fish species were at particular risk, scientists said, with many vital ecosystems in danger of collapse.

(Oceans running out of oxygen at unprecedented rate, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)