Cuadro Sinoptico

Ecosystems are systems formed by the interaction of a group of organisms with each other and their environment. Ecosystems include interdependent plants, animals, the physical environment, and the ecological processes (such as exchange of matter and energy) that connect them. Areas of different sizes can be considered ecosystems, depending upon who is drawing the lines of distinction. A jar of pond water, a rotting log, a grassland, or the entire earth can each be considered an ecosystem. In this activity, the term ecosystems will be used to represent the entire earth. The entire earth`s ecosystems is commonly referred to as the biosphere.

On earth, there are geographic areas in which the combination of climate, topography (lay of the land), and geology determine what types of plants and animals grow and live there. These areas are called ecoregions. A desert, with its characteristic dry climate, sandy soils, and unique wildlife is an example of an deciduous forest, oceans, arctic areas, fresh water streams, riparian zones, and wetlands. All of the ecoregions on earth interact to form one large ecosystems.

Human cultures have developed within different ecoregions and have been sustained by them. All of natural have depended on for survival and comforts have come from natural resources. Over time, attitudes and beliefs about the natural world and the use of natural resources have changed. In the not-too-distant past, the human impact on ecoregions was minimal. As human populations have increased, so have demands on various ecoregions. Some parts of the ecosystem are being heavily impacted and some species have become extinct.

As people developed a better understanding of ecological functions and their place in the ecosystems, they are incorporating these ideas into the practice of natural resource use and management. A recent philosophy adopted by many natural resource agencies for managing the earth’s resources is called ecosystem management.

Ecosystems’ management is the careful and skillful use of ecological, economic, social, and business principles in managing ecoregions as part of the larger ecosystem. This management goal is to produce, restore, or sustain ecosystem integrity of ecosystems, they mean retaining the ecosystems biodiversity (variety of living organism) and the structure and organization of the ecosystem. The need to conserve biodiversity is at heart of ecosystem management.

While protection of biodiversity is of great importance, ecosystem managers must also consider human needs. People want ecoregions to be maintained for various uses, experiences, products, and services. Recreation, spiritual renewal, economic growth, timber and minerals for homes and other products, and forage for wildlife and domestic range animals are example of human’s needs that may all come from a single ecoregion. The ecosystems manager must take the wide variety of human need into account, along with the

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