Ecological Integrity

Definition

Ecological integrity refers to the ability of an ecosystem to maintain its structure, composition, and functioning over time, despite environmental changes or disturbances. It emphasizes the importance of biodiversity, natural processes, and interactions among species, highlighting how these elements contribute to the resilience and health of ecosystems. Protecting ecological integrity is vital for assessing environmental conditions and guiding restoration efforts.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Ecological integrity is often assessed through indicators such as species richness, community composition, and the presence of native species.
2. Invertebrates are commonly used as bioindicators due to their sensitivity to environmental changes, making them valuable for assessing ecological integrity.
3. Maintaining ecological integrity helps ensure that ecosystems can continue to provide essential services to humans and other organisms.
4. Restoration ecology focuses on returning degraded ecosystems to a state of ecological integrity by promoting biodiversity and natural processes.
5. Threats to ecological integrity include habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, and invasive species, which can disrupt ecosystem functioning.

Review Questions

• How does ecological integrity relate to the use of invertebrates as bioindicators in assessing environmental health?
  • Invertebrates are key indicators of ecological integrity because they respond sensitively to changes in environmental conditions. Their presence or absence can signal the overall health of an ecosystem, allowing scientists to gauge biodiversity levels and ecosystem function. By monitoring invertebrate populations, researchers can assess the impact of pollutants or habitat loss on ecosystem health, which directly ties into evaluating ecological integrity.
• Discuss the role of ecological integrity in restoration ecology and why it is essential for successful restoration efforts.
  • Ecological integrity is critical in restoration ecology as it sets the standard for what a healthy ecosystem should look like. Successful restoration efforts aim to enhance biodiversity and restore natural processes, ultimately achieving a state where the ecosystem can sustain itself over time. By focusing on restoring ecological integrity, practitioners can create resilient ecosystems that can better withstand future disturbances and provide valuable ecosystem services.
• Evaluate how threats like climate change and pollution challenge the concept of ecological integrity and impact restoration practices.
  • Climate change and pollution pose significant challenges to maintaining ecological integrity by altering habitats and disrupting species interactions. These threats can lead to shifts in community composition, loss of native species, and the introduction of invasive species, all of which undermine ecosystem resilience. Restoration practices must account for these ongoing threats by incorporating adaptive management strategies that consider future environmental changes while striving to restore and maintain ecological integrity.

Related terms

Biodiversity:

The variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem, including species diversity, genetic diversity, and ecosystem diversity.

Resilience: The capacity of an ecosystem to recover from disturbances and maintain its essential functions and processes.

Ecosystem Services: The benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, such as clean water, air purification, pollination, and carbon storage.