Major Ecosystem Processes
¥The two major processes of any ecosystem are:
¥ 1) chemical cycling
¥ 2) one-way flows of energy
¥An ecosystem maintains overall stability by three chief mechanisms:
¥ 1) controlling the rate of chemical or material cycling within the system
¥ 2) controlling the rate of energy flow through the system
¥ 3) maintaining a diversity of species and wood webs so that system stability is not affected seriously by the loss of some food web links and / or species.