Key Learning: Interrelationships and interdependencies of organisms affect the development of stable ecosystems.

The fundamental unit of study in environmental science is the ecosystem. In this unit we will look at how ecosystems are put together (ecosystem structure) and how they work (ecosystem function), in order to understand in later units how societies can affect them.

What do all ecosystems have in common? How do we study ecosystems? Can we make comparisons between ecosystems?

Tropical rainforest ecosystems will set these important ideas into context as case studies illustrating these important ideas in a real life context. Tropical rainforests are well recognized for their high biodiversity so we will also examine the issue of biodiversity loss in this unit.