Ecological systems theory is explicated as a current form of successive systems models used in social work. Behavior principles assumptive in this model are identified: of exchange balance, inner consistency, and dialectial change. Several misconceptions of ecological systems theory and a cultist aspect of its current popularity are addressed. Advantages, including the emergence of practice pri...

Throughout much of ecology’s history, most ecologists have believed that ecological systems tend towards an equilibrium – a notion popularized as ‘the balance of nature’ – and that deviations from that equilibrium are caused by external perturbations. By assuming that systemswere close to equilibrium, ecologists coulddescribe them with linear models that were mathematically tractable. However, ...

Biological production of the volatile compound dimethylsulfide in the ocean is the main natural source of tropospheric sulfur on a global scale, with important consequences for the radiative balance of the Earth. In the late 1980s, a Gaian feedback link between marine phytoplankton and climate through the release of atmospheric sulfur was hypothesized. However, the idea of microalgae producing ...

The field of marine reserve science has matured greatly over the last decade, moving beyond studies of single reserves and beyond perspectives from single disciplines. This Special Feature exemplifies recent advances in marine reserve research, showing insights gained from synthetic studies of reserve networks, long-term changes within reserves, integration of social and ecological science rese...

With the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, regional development is becoming increasingly disordered. Thus, how to balance economic development and ecological protection is a key question. To comprehensively evaluate land development suitability, an evaluation index system for construction land and farmland suitability was established in this study based on natural and social-e...

In the winter-spring of 2001, South Florida experienced one of the worst droughts in its recorded history. Out of a myriad of ecological concerns identified during this time, the potential for catastrophic peat fire and negative impacts to wading bird reproduction emerged as critical issues. Water managers attempted to strike a balance between the environment and protection of water supplies fo...

Mass balance models of chemical fate and transport can be applied in ecological risk assessments for quantitative estimation of concentrations in air, water, soil, and sediment. These concentrations can, in turn, be used to estimate organism exposures and ultimately internal tissue concentrations that can be compared to mode-of-action-based critical body residues that induce toxic effects. From...

Over the past several decades, a rapidly expanding field of research known as biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has begun to quantify how the world's biological diversity can, as an independent variable, control ecological processes that are both essential for, and fundamental to, the functioning of ecosystems. Research in this area has often been justified on grounds that (1) loss of biol...

The long-term ecological response to recurrent deforestation associated with shifting cultivation remains poorly investigated, especially in the dry tropics. We present a study of phosphorus (P) dynamics in the southern Yucatán, highlighting the possibility of abrupt shifts in biogeochemical cycling resulting from positive feedbacks between vegetation and its limiting resources. After three cul...