Ecological Review (Chapter 25)
Unlike any other single species, explosive human population growth has disrupted ecosystems across the entire planet. These disruptions have included changes in atmospheric composition, over-enrichment of ecosystems with nutrients, and large-scale land clearing which threatens to produce a massive extinction of species. Knowledge of the basic ecology of populations (groups of individuals of the same species), communities (all the populations occurring in a given area), and ecosystems (communities and the physical environments with which they interact), is necessary to understand the magnitude and significance of the ecological changes produced by the growing human population. Plant population ecology includes processes such as pollination, seed dispersal, germination, and seedling survival and establishment. Plant community classification and analysis is an important aspect of land use planning, natural resource management, and conservation of biodiversity. Knowledge of succession, energy flow, and nutrient cycling are critical to assessing and managing for ecosystem health and sustainability.
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