Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

What is an Ecosystem?

What is an Ecosystem?

The Soil Ecosystem

The Soil Ecosystem

Plants obtain inorganic minerals and water from the soil, which acts as a natural medium for land plants. The composition and quality of soil depend not only on the chemical constituents but also on the presence of living organisms. In general, soils contain three major components:

Ecological Niches

Ecological Niches

All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors—including food resources, climate, and terrain—that define the position of a given organism are collectively referred to as the organism’s ecological niche.

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.

Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development

As the human population continues to grow and use resources, we must be mindful of our planet’s natural limits. Sustainable development provides a pathway to maintain and improve human life now while also ensuring that future generations will have the resources that they need. The long-term success of sustainability efforts rests on understanding the interplay between human actions and ecological systems.

Bioremediation

Bioremediation

Bioremediation is the use of prokaryotes, fungi, or plants to remove pollutants from the environment. This process has been used to remove harmful toxins in groundwater as a byproduct of agricultural run-off and also to clean up oil spills.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

An inverse relationship between the cost of static posture and the cost of cycling?

American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council·2017

Same author

Conserving the world's finest grassland amidst ambitious national development.

Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·2014

Same author

Resource-ratio theory applied to large herbivores.

Ecology·2008

Same author

Biodiversity: involvement of local people is crucial.

Nature·2005

Same journal

Microsite creation increases native plant density and biomass in a semiarid grassland restoration.

Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America·2026

Same journal

Flower-rich and diverse road verges support pollinators, but traffic speed limits the ecological benefits across Europe.

Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America·2026

Same journal

Methods to estimate marine functional connectivity: A primer.

Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America·2026

Same journal

Invisible invaders: A new warning flag for molecularly detected alien species (MODAS) in databases and information systems.

Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America·2026

Same journal

Balancing conflict and coexistence: Interactions between invasive monk parakeets and native urban birds.

Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America·2026

Same journal

Using information theory to select spatial scales for species-habitat responses with camera traps.

Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Field Collection and Laboratory Maintenance of Canopy-Forming Giant Kelp to Facilitate Restoration

Field Collection and Laboratory Maintenance of Canopy-Forming Giant Kelp to Facilitate Restoration

Published on: June 7, 2024

Partitioning ecosystems for sustainability.

Martyn G Murray

Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America

|May 24, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Competition significantly impacts renewable natural resource (RNR) exploitation. Applying resource competition theory (RCT) offers four policies for sustainable management, addressing issues like overharvesting and resource collapse.

More Related Videos

Ecosystem Fabrication EcoFAB Protocols for The Construction of Laboratory Ecosystems Designed to Study Plant-microbe Interactions

Ecosystem Fabrication EcoFAB Protocols for The Construction of Laboratory Ecosystems Designed to Study Plant-microbe Interactions

Published on: April 10, 2018

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities

Published on: January 6, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Field Collection and Laboratory Maintenance of Canopy-Forming Giant Kelp to Facilitate Restoration

Field Collection and Laboratory Maintenance of Canopy-Forming Giant Kelp to Facilitate Restoration

Published on: June 7, 2024

Ecosystem Fabrication EcoFAB Protocols for The Construction of Laboratory Ecosystems Designed to Study Plant-microbe Interactions

Ecosystem Fabrication EcoFAB Protocols for The Construction of Laboratory Ecosystems Designed to Study Plant-microbe Interactions

Published on: April 10, 2018

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities

Coral Reef Arks: An In Situ Mesocosm and Toolkit for Assembling Reef Communities

Published on: January 6, 2023

Area of Science:

Ecology
Environmental Science
Resource Management

Background:

Increasing human demand and declining renewable natural resources (RNRs) intensify competition.
Existing analytical approaches to ecosystem management inadequately address competition's influence on resource exploitation.

Purpose of the Study:

To apply resource competition theory (RCT) to the exploitation of RNRs.
To derive policies for the sustainable and equitable use of RNRs.

Main Methods:

Application of resource competition theory (RCT) to RNR exploitation.
Development of a policy framework integrating RCT with sustainability science.

Main Results:

Four general policies derived: regulate extraction technology, increase resource use efficiency, partition ecosystems by harvesting niche, and enhance consumer-resource feedback.
RCT provides a framework to address issues like tragedy of the commons, overharvesting, and resource collapse.

Conclusions:

Resource competition theory offers a valuable framework for managing productive ecosystems and RNRs.
Integrating RCT into sustainability science can improve management strategies for multiple users and prevent resource depletion.