Scientists study ecosystems for a variety of reasons:
They can look at the relationship between the biotic and abiotic environment in a variety of places (land, sea.)
They can use this information to learn more about natural changes and help to predict them.
They can look at how the
actions of humans can harm or protect ecosystems.
Rainforest - Costa Rica - J Josh Snodgrass
Antarctica is a very important place for scientists to study ecosystems. It is an extreme environment that is very cold. The speed of the ecosystem cycle depends on the climate. Where it is very cold, the cycle is much slower than hot and wet conditions, like a Tropical Rainforest. The slow changing systems of Antarctica have fewer species within them and more obvious environmental controls, like temperature.
As changes are slow, scientists can carefully investigate them. Antarctic systems are experiencing change. By looking into this, scientists can discover information that may help explain change in other parts of the world. For example, scientists have drilled down into the ice in Antarctica for ice cores and found that ice from the last 100 years shows an increasing amount of air pollution, which can be linked to the increasing industrialization of places like Europe and America. Human effect on ecosystems is very important and needs to be carefully considered.
Ecosystems
