The Organization of Space

The study of spatial organization of ecosystems allows an abridged description only when the pattern is clearly the outcome of relatively simple processes, and is less influenced by the persistence of the relicts of a long history. Planktonic ecosystems fulfill better than other such an ideal. The reflection of the results of asymmetrical interaction between species or between complementary groups of organisms on space leads to a pattern of topologically different phases. Sharpness of boundaries and activity across and along them, as well as spectra of diversity supplement the description. The horizontal extension of the elements of a pattern linked functionally in a direct way depends on the input of external energy. Also, the kind of achieved stability appears very much related to the pattern. In the humanized landscape the situation may depart of what is common in terrestrial ecosystems, and become more comparable to the plankton, in the sense that the pattern clearly appears as the result of a process that involves pumping much energy through the system, with important transportation in the horizontal plane.