Human ecosystems are human-dominated
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s of the
anthropocene
The Anthropocene ( ) is a proposed geological epoch dating from the commencement of significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change.
, neither the International Commissi ...
era that are viewed as
complex cybernetic systems by
conceptual model
A conceptual model is a representation of a system. It consists of concepts used to help people knowledge, know, understanding, understand, or simulation, simulate a subject the model represents. In contrast, physical models are physical object su ...
s that are increasingly used by ecological
anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
s and other scholars to examine the
ecological
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
aspects of human communities in a way that integrates multiple factors as economics, sociopolitical organization, psychological factors, and physical factors related to the environment.
A human ecosystem has three central organizing concepts: human environed unit (an individual or group of individuals), environment, interactions and transactions between and within the components. The
total environment includes three conceptually distinct, but interrelated environments: the natural, human constructed, and human behavioral. These environments furnish the resources and conditions necessary for life and constitute a life-support system.
Further reading
* Basso, Keith 1996 “Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language among the Western Apache.” Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
* Douglas, Mary 1999 “Implicit Meanings: Selected Essays in Anthropology.” London and New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
* Nadasdy, Paul 2003 “Hunters and Bureaucrats: Power, Knowledge, and Aboriginal-State Relations in the Southwest Yukon.” Vancouver and Toronto: UBC Press.
References
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See also
*
Media ecosystem
*
Urban ecosystem
In ecology, urban ecosystems are considered a ecosystem functional group within the intensive land-use biome. They are structurally complex ecosystems with highly heterogeneous and dynamic spatial structure that is created and maintained by huma ...
*
Total human ecosystem Total human ecosystem (THE) is an Ecocentrism, eco-centric concept initially proposed by ecology professors Zeev Naveh and Arthur S. Lieberman in 1994.Naveh, Z. & A.S. Lieberman, 1994. Landscape Ecology: Theory and Application (2nd ed). Springer-Ver ...
Anthropology
Ecosystems
Environmental sociology
Social systems concepts
Systems biology