|
|
Article: Agricultural Ecosystems
- Article from:
- Plant Sciences
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Agricultural Ecosystems
An agricultural ecosystem, which is also known as an agroecosystem, is a place where agricultural production
—
a farm, for example
—
is understood as an
ecosystem
. When something like a farm field is examined from an ecosystem viewpoint, food production can be understood as part of a whole, including the complex kinds of materials entering the system, or inputs, and the materials leaving the system, or outputs. At the same time, the ways that all of the parts of the system are interconnected and interact are of great importance.
Humans alter and manipulate ecosystems for the purpose of establishing agricultural production, and in the process, can make ...