Ecological Concepts

This page provides a quick set of definitions for some key ecological concepts, each concept is further explained with short examples on subsequent web pages. This information has been excerpted from the “Wisconsin’s Biodiversity as a Management Issue” Report.

Scale is the relative amount or degree of something. In relation to ecosystems, scale has both spatial and temporal meanings.

• Spatial scale is the geographic size of a community or ecosystem.
• Temporal scale is the time required to complete a life history event or ecological process.

Ecological simplification means that the interrelationships between organisms and their environments are reduced in number and complexity.

• Composition is the makeup of an ecological unit in terms of the organisms or groups of organisms present in a unit area or geographical area contains.
• Structure is the pattern or physical organization of an area. It has both vertical and horizontal components.
• Function is the role played by the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems in driving the processes (e.g. carbon cycle, water cycle, nutrient cycle) that sustain the ecosystem.

Fragmentation is the breaking up of large and continuous ecosystems, communities, and habitats, into smaller areas surrounded by altered or disturbed land or aquatic substrate.

• Size Effects are the ecological impact of decreasing or increasing the size of land units.
• Isolation Effects are the impact of isolating habitat patches from similar habitat through fragmentation.
• Edge Effects are the ecological impact of interfacing two or more habitat types. Edge is inherent or natural in nature but can have negative impacts if its creation alters ecological processes. In general, edge effects increase in relation to the dissimilarity between adjoining habitats.

Environmental Pollution is the human-induced addition of many types of substances into air, land and water in quantities or at rates that harm organisms, habitat, communities, ecosystems, or human health.

• Adverse Impact to Surface and Ground Water Systems
• Adverse Impacts from Air-Carried Pollutants
• Adverse Impacts to Land-Based Systems