Ecosystems have become particularly important
politically, since the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - ratified by 192 countries - defines "the protection of ecosystems, natural habitats and the maintenance of viable populations of species in natural surroundings"
as a commitment of ratifying countries. This has created the political necessity to spatially identify ecosystems and somehow distinguish among them. The CBD defines an "ecosystem" as a "dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit".
With the need of
protecting ecosystems, the political need arose to describe and identify them efficiently. Vreugdenhil et al. argued that this could be achieved most effectively by using a physiognomic-ecological classification system, as ecosystems are easily recognizable in the field as well as on satellite images. They argued that the structure and seasonality of the associated
vegetation, or
flora, complemented with ecological data (such as elevation, humidity, and drainage), are each determining modifiers that separate partially distinct sets of species. This is true not only for plant species, but also for species of animals, fungi and bacteria. The degree of ecosystem distinction is subject to the physiognomic modifiers that can be identified on an image and/or in the field. Where necessary, specific
fauna elements can be added, such as seasonal concentrations of animals and the distribution of
coral reefs.
Several physiognomic-ecological classification systems are available:
- Physiognomic-Ecological Classification of Plant Formations of the Earth: a system based on the 1974 work of Mueller-Dombois and Heinz Ellenberg, and developed by UNESCO. This classificatie "describes the above-ground or underwater vegetation structures and cover as observed in the field, described as plant life forms. This classification is fundamentally a species-independent physiognomic, hierarchical vegetation classification system which also takes into account ecological factors such as climate, elevation, human influences such as grazing, hydric regimes and survival strategies such as seasonality. The system was expanded with a basic classification for open water formations".
- Land Cover Classification System (LCCS), developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
- Forest-Range Environmental Study Ecosystems (FRES) developed by the United States Forest Service for use in the United States.
Several aquatic classification systems are available, and an effort is being made by the
United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the
Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) to design a complete ecosystem classification system that will cover both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
From a
philosophy of science perspective, ecosystems are not discrete units of nature that simply can be identified using the most "correct" type of classification approach. In agreement with the definition by Tansley ("mental isolates"), any attempt to delineate or classify ecosystems should be explicit about the
observer/
analyst input in the classification including its
normative rationale.
