关于生态系统概念的讨论

Discussion on the ecosystem concept

Tansley提出的生态系统概念为众多生态现象的解释提供了一个框架,但随着应用的深入,该概念中存在的一些模糊性和歧义性愈发显露出来,主要包括生态系统方法所假定的其在空间上的封闭性、均质性和物种可替代性,以及由此引发的关于物种自然选择作用的弱化、生态稳定性的尺度和物种扩散等问题。由于生态系统在空间上是开放的、异质的,自然选择是决定生态系统稳定性的一个重要过程,只强调功能而削弱物种角色的生态系统概念不足以成为解释生态现象的一般理论,一个完善的生态系统概念和理论必须能很好地解决生态系统的相对稳定性问题,因此,正确认识生态系统概念并加以完善和优化,有助于该理论的进一步发展。

Although the traditional term ecosystem has provided us an explanatory framework for ecological phenomena,with the deepening of its application,the ambiguities of this concept are becoming more and more apparent and leading to a vigorous backlash and question toward it.The backlash and question focuses on the spatial closure,spatial homogeneity and Latin binomial substitute ability,which the traditional ecosystem concept has assumed.It also involves the natural selection minimized or ignored,scaled concept of stability and dispersal range of species.According to the fact,the ecosystem is spatial open and internal heterogeneous.Natural selection is one of the important processes that determine system stability.The concept of ecosystem,which is defined strictly in terms of function but minimizes the role of Latin binomials,is not adequate to be a general theory of ecological phenomena.In other words,an adequate theory of ecosystem must be able to deal with stability,which represents a fundamental phenomenon to be explained.So,to realize critically the ecosystem concept and then to improve and optimize it certainly seems to be an important target of ecology in future.