Ecosystems and Systems Thinking - Details

Until recently forest ecosystems were believed to be stable, closed systems. They were thought to exist in a steady-state condition -- the climax or old growth forest -- that was their permanent condition unless perturbed by unnatural events. Scientists now recognize that forests are extremely complex and dynamic -- that they constantly change in structure and species composition as a consequence of plant growth, disturbances, species migrations, climatic changes, and other processes.