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114-912: Ecovillagers are united by shared ecological , social-economic and cultural-spiritual values. Concretely, ecovillagers seek alternatives to ecologically destructive electrical, water, transportation, and waste-treatment systems, as well as the larger social systems that mirror and support them. Many see the breakdown of traditional forms of community, wasteful consumerist lifestyles, the destruction of natural habitat, urban sprawl , factory farming , and over-reliance on fossil fuels as trends that must be changed to avert ecological disaster and create richer and more fulfilling ways of life. Ecovillages offer small-scale communities with minimal ecological impact or regenerative impacts as an alternative. However, such communities often cooperate with peer villages in networks of their own ( see Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) for an example). This model of collective action

228-465: A community supported agriculture or 'box' scheme which provides organic produce for the local area, some of it grown using permaculture techniques. This horticulture '"provides more than 70% of the community's fresh food requirements" and Phoenix Community Stores , based at the Park, is one of the largest retailers of organic produce in northern Scotland. Another reason for the low ecological impact of

342-452: A 63% to 71% decrease in carbon emissions due to living in an ecovillage with sustainable practices and mitigation efforts to environmental impact. Ecovillages, while united by their commitment to sustainability and communal living, often differ in their approaches to governance. Every ecovillage strives to reflect the diverse needs and values of their communities. Ultimately, the choice of governance model within ecovillages aims to demonstrates

456-730: A balance between fostering community cohesion, promoting sustainability, and accommodating the varied needs and values of their members. Establishing governance is a common method used by ecovillages to align individual actions with community objectives. Most ecovillages maintain a distinct set of policies to govern aspects of what keeps their society functioning. Policies within ecovillages are meant to evolve with new situations prompting revisions to existing guidelines. Ecovillages commonly incorporate elements of consensus decision-making into their governance processes. This approach aims to mitigate hierarchies, power imbalances, and inflexibility within their governments. The governmental framework designed in

570-528: A chord that resonated far and wide. The word 'ecovillage'... thus became part of the language of the Cultural Creatives ." After that conference, many intentional communities, including Findhorn, began calling themselves "ecovillages", giving birth to a new movement. The Global Ecovillage Network , formed by a group of about 25 people from various countries who had attended the Findhorn conference, crystallized

684-505: A comprehensive building code that all new buildings are required to meet. It goes far beyond current UK building standards and includes features such as very efficient insulation (typically using products made from recycled paper), non-toxic organic paints, wood preservatives and boarding manufactured without the use of toxic glues or resins, and roofing with natural clay tiles. There are a wide variety of other options used including low-energy light bulbs, 'breathing wall' construction allowing

798-470: A concern for environmental stewardship and a commitment to sustainable practices. Ecovillages frequently employ reusable power sources, such as solar and wind energy, and utilize natural materials, including mud, wood, and straw, in their construction. Such technologies as bioclimatic agriculture are employed in this regard. A study on an ecovillage in Ithaca, New York found that the average ecological footprint of

912-690: A controlled exchange of air & water vapour, conservation features, and locally sourced materials. Shared facilities such as laundry, kitchens, lounges etc. are encouraged, thus avoiding unnecessary duplication. Most new buildings incorporate design features that invite passive solar radiation to reduce building heating needs, such as south-facing windows, conservatories and minimal wall openings on north walls. Sustainably harvested wood provides space heating for many homes both old and new, and an Ecovillage company supplies solar panels for domestic hot water heating to residential and commercial customers. The Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company awarded

1026-553: A diverse array of researchers and ecovillage communities spanning the globe to develop the Ecovillage Impact Assessment. Their innovative tool serves as a means for communities, groups, and individuals to accurately report, chart, evaluate, and present their efforts toward fostering participatory cultural, social, ecological, and economic regeneration. Over the course of three years, from February 2021 to April 2024, data from 140 surveys conducted within 75 ecovillages formed

1140-460: A dramatic effect on community structure. Hunting of sea otters, for example, is thought to have led indirectly to the extinction of the Steller's sea cow ( Hydrodamalis gigas ). While the keystone species concept has been used extensively as a conservation tool, it has been criticized for being poorly defined from an operational stance. It is difficult to experimentally determine what species may hold

1254-428: A dramatic impact on the ecology of individual species or whole ecosystems. For instance, the replacement of an ant species by another (invasive) ant species has been shown to affect how elephants reduce tree cover and thus the predation of lions on zebras . A trophic level (from Greek troph , τροφή, trophē, meaning "food" or "feeding") is "a group of organisms acquiring a considerable majority of its energy from

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1368-412: A flattened body relative to the main populations that live in open savanna. The population that lives in an isolated rock outcrop hides in crevasses where its flattened body offers a selective advantage. Habitat shifts also occur in the developmental life history of amphibians, and in insects that transition from aquatic to terrestrial habitats. Biotope and habitat are sometimes used interchangeably, but

1482-519: A germinal study called "Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities" for Gaia Trust, in which the ecological and communitarian themes were brought together. The first Eco-Village in North America began its first stages in 1990. Earthaven Eco-Village in Black Mountain, NC was the first community called an Eco-Village and was designed using permaculture (holistic) principles. The first residents moved onto

1596-475: A grant in the mid-2000s for the installation of ground source heating for the proposed new Moray Arts Centre based at Findhorn. Simply Build Green — Talbott (1993) — is based on research undertaken at Findhorn Ecovillage. In 1995 Jonathon Porritt opened Europe's first Living Machine (also known as Eco-Restorers in The UK) at The Park campus. This is an ecologically engineered waste water treatment system which

1710-612: A higher one." Small scale patterns do not necessarily explain large scale phenomena, otherwise captured in the expression (coined by Aristotle) 'the sum is greater than the parts'. "Complexity in ecology is of at least six distinct types: spatial, temporal, structural, process, behavioral, and geometric." From these principles, ecologists have identified emergent and self-organizing phenomena that operate at different environmental scales of influence, ranging from molecular to planetary, and these require different explanations at each integrative level . Ecological complexity relates to

1824-444: A keystone role in each ecosystem. Furthermore, food web theory suggests that keystone species may not be common, so it is unclear how generally the keystone species model can be applied. Complexity is understood as a large computational effort needed to piece together numerous interacting parts exceeding the iterative memory capacity of the human mind. Global patterns of biological diversity are complex. This biocomplexity stems from

1938-408: A keystone species can result in a community collapse just as the removal of the keystone in an arch can result in the arch's loss of stability. Sea otters ( Enhydra lutris ) are commonly cited as an example of a keystone species because they limit the density of sea urchins that feed on kelp . If sea otters are removed from the system, the urchins graze until the kelp beds disappear, and this has

2052-737: A legacy niche that was constructed before their time. Biomes are larger units of organization that categorize regions of the Earth's ecosystems, mainly according to the structure and composition of vegetation. There are different methods to define the continental boundaries of biomes dominated by different functional types of vegetative communities that are limited in distribution by climate, precipitation, weather, and other environmental variables. Biomes include tropical rainforest , temperate broadleaf and mixed forest , temperate deciduous forest , taiga , tundra , hot desert , and polar desert . Other researchers have recently categorized other biomes, such as

2166-542: A limiting factor. Conflicts can arise regarding community rules, resource allocation, or individual responsibilities, it can be difficult to maintain cohesion which can be expected in any community type. An explorative study results concluded that the perceived quality of life of residents in eco-developments rated higher perceived quality of life than residents of developments in conventional settings while still noting various challenges they experienced. Another noteworthy challenge can be limited access to resources, like land that

2280-439: A linear successional route, changes might occur quickly or slowly over thousands of years before specific forest successional stages are brought about by biological processes. An ecosystem's area can vary greatly, from tiny to vast. A single tree is of little consequence to the classification of a forest ecosystem, but is critically relevant to organisms living in and on it. Several generations of an aphid population can exist over

2394-439: A macroscopic view of the system. While the notion of trophic levels provides insight into energy flow and top-down control within food webs, it is troubled by the prevalence of omnivory in real ecosystems. This has led some ecologists to "reiterate that the notion that species clearly aggregate into discrete, homogeneous trophic levels is fiction." Nonetheless, recent studies have shown that real trophic levels do exist, but "above

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2508-734: A means of reducing reliance on fossil fuels. The objective of ecovillages is to cultivate robust social connections and a sense of belonging among residents through the promotion of collaboration, consensus-based decision-making, and shared responsibilities. This approach fosters a supportive environment that enhances both individual and collective resilience. Ecovillages represent an international phenomenon that encompasses cultural diversity, frequently integrating traditional wisdom alongside innovative practices. Many ecovillages espouse multiculturalism, indigenous knowledge, and participation as means of enhancing intergenerational learning. In essence, these communities endeavor to achieve sustainable living through

2622-516: A mix of herbivores and predators). Omnivores do not fit neatly into a functional category because they eat both plant and animal tissues. It has been suggested that omnivores have a greater functional influence as predators because compared to herbivores, they are relatively inefficient at grazing. Trophic levels are part of the holistic or complex systems view of ecosystems. Each trophic level contains unrelated species that are grouped together because they share common ecological functions, giving

2736-403: A multitude of diverse efforts, offering valuable insight into the creation of a sustainable relationship between humanity and the natural world. In essence, these communities aim for sustainable living through a multitude of various efforts and offer valuable insight for creating a sustainable relationship between humanity and the natural world. The formation of ecovillages is frequently driven by

2850-420: A new appreciation for the influence that organisms have on the ecosystem and evolutionary process. The term "niche construction" is more often used in reference to the under-appreciated feedback mechanisms of natural selection imparting forces on the abiotic niche. An example of natural selection through ecosystem engineering occurs in the nests of social insects , including ants, bees, wasps, and termites. There

2964-435: A population-level phenomenon, as with the migration routes followed by plants as they occupied northern post-glacial environments. Plant ecologists use pollen records that accumulate and stratify in wetlands to reconstruct the timing of plant migration and dispersal relative to historic and contemporary climates. These migration routes involved an expansion of the range as plant populations expanded from one area to another. There

3078-410: A principle-based approach to sustainability, such as permaculture design. In 2019, a study assessed the impact of community sustainability through a life cycle assessment conducted on three ecovillages. The results of this study revealed a substantial reduction in carbon emissions among residents of these ecovillages when compared to the average United States citizen. This study reported that residents had

3192-401: A region), and sites are classed either as sources or sinks. A site is a generic term that refers to places where ecologists sample populations, such as ponds or defined sampling areas in a forest. Source patches are productive sites that generate a seasonal supply of juveniles that migrate to other patch locations. Sink patches are unproductive sites that only receive migrants; the population at

3306-667: A resident in the ecovillage was 70% less than the ecological footprint of most Americans. Ecovillage residents seek a sustainable lifestyle (for example, of voluntary simplicity ) for inhabitants with a minimum of trade outside the local area, or ecoregion . Many seek independence from existing infrastructures, although others, particularly in more urban settings, pursue more integration with existing infrastructure. Rural ecovillages are usually based on organic farming , permaculture and other approaches which promote ecosystem function and biodiversity . Ecovillages, whether urban or rural, tend to integrate community and ecological values within

3420-517: A seasonal influx of new immigrants. A dynamic metapopulation structure evolves from year to year, where some patches are sinks in dry years and are sources when conditions are more favorable. Ecologists use a mixture of computer models and field studies to explain metapopulation structure. Community ecology examines how interactions among species and their environment affect the abundance, distribution and diversity of species within communities. Johnson & Stinchcomb (2007) Community ecology

3534-456: A species describes the environment over which a species is known to occur and the type of community that is formed as a result. More specifically, "habitats can be defined as regions in environmental space that are composed of multiple dimensions, each representing a biotic or abiotic environmental variable; that is, any component or characteristic of the environment related directly (e.g. forage biomass and quality) or indirectly (e.g. elevation) to

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3648-402: A specific habitat, such as a cave or a pond, and principles gleaned from small-scale studies are extrapolated to larger systems. Feeding relations require extensive investigations, e.g. into the gut contents of organisms, which can be difficult to decipher, or stable isotopes can be used to trace the flow of nutrient diets and energy through a food web. Despite these limitations, food webs remain

3762-446: A valuable tool in understanding community ecosystems. Food webs illustrate important principles of ecology : some species have many weak feeding links (e.g., omnivores ) while some are more specialized with fewer stronger feeding links (e.g., primary predators ). Such linkages explain how ecological communities remain stable over time and eventually can illustrate a "complete" web of life. The disruption of food webs may have

3876-488: A whole functional system, such as an ecosystem , cannot be predicted or understood by a simple summation of the parts. "New properties emerge because the components interact, not because the basic nature of the components is changed." Findhorn Ecovillage Findhorn Ecovillage is an experimental architectural community project based at The Park, in Moray , Scotland, near the village of Findhorn . The project's main aim

3990-399: A wide array of interacting levels of organization spanning micro-level (e.g., cells ) to a planetary scale (e.g., biosphere ) phenomena . Ecosystems, for example, contain abiotic resources and interacting life forms (i.e., individual organisms that aggregate into populations which aggregate into distinct ecological communities). Because ecosystems are dynamic and do not necessarily follow

4104-429: Is Living Villages and The Wintles where eco-houses are arranged so that social connectivity is maximized and residents have shared food growing areas, woodlands, and animal husbandry for greater sustainability. The most recent worldwide update emerges from the 2022 Annual Report of GEN International, detailing the mapping of 1,043 ecovillage communities on GEN's interactive ecovillage map. GEN collaborated closely with

4218-485: Is a central concept in the ecology of organisms and is sub-divided into the fundamental and the realized niche. The fundamental niche is the set of environmental conditions under which a species is able to persist. The realized niche is the set of environmental plus ecological conditions under which a species persists. The Hutchinsonian niche is defined more technically as a " Euclidean hyperspace whose dimensions are defined as environmental variables and whose size

4332-504: Is a function of the number of values that the environmental values may assume for which an organism has positive fitness ." Biogeographical patterns and range distributions are explained or predicted through knowledge of a species' traits and niche requirements. Species have functional traits that are uniquely adapted to the ecological niche. A trait is a measurable property, phenotype , or characteristic of an organism that may influence its survival. Genes play an important role in

4446-414: Is a larger taxonomy of movement, such as commuting, foraging, territorial behavior, stasis, and ranging. Dispersal is usually distinguished from migration because it involves the one-way permanent movement of individuals from their birth population into another population. In metapopulation terminology, migrating individuals are classed as emigrants (when they leave a region) or immigrants (when they enter

4560-728: Is adequate for agriculture, available water or renewable energy potential which can limit the viability of ecovillage initiatives. Kellogg, W. Keating, W. (2011), "Cleveland's Ecovillage: green and affordable housing through a network alliance", Housing Policy Debate, 21 (1), pp. 69–91 Cunningham, Paul A. and Wearing, Stephen L.(2013).The Politics of Consensus: An Exploration of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Ireland.[electronic version]. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies. 5(2) pp. 1–28 Ecology Ecology (from Ancient Greek οἶκος ( oîkos )  'house' and -λογία ( -logía )  'study of')

4674-461: Is an emergent homeostasis or homeorhesis in the structure of the nest that regulates, maintains and defends the physiology of the entire colony. Termite mounds, for example, maintain a constant internal temperature through the design of air-conditioning chimneys. The structure of the nests themselves is subject to the forces of natural selection. Moreover, a nest can survive over successive generations, so that progeny inherit both genetic material and

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4788-404: Is another statistical approach that is often used in conservation research . Metapopulation models simplify the landscape into patches of varying levels of quality, and metapopulations are linked by the migratory behaviours of organisms. Animal migration is set apart from other kinds of movement because it involves the seasonal departure and return of individuals from a habitat. Migration is also

4902-531: Is designed to treat sewage from a population of up to 350 people and in common with a number of other such systems also provides a research and educational facility to promote the technology. It was constructed with assistance from the European Union . The invention of Canadian scientist John Todd , they use tanks containing diverse communities of bacteria, algae, micro-organisms, numerous species of plants and trees, snails, fish and other living creatures to treat

5016-438: Is greater than respiration) by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis . Heterotrophs are organisms that must feed on others for nourishment and energy (respiration exceeds production). Heterotrophs can be further sub-divided into different functional groups, including primary consumers (strict herbivores), secondary consumers ( carnivorous predators that feed exclusively on herbivores), and tertiary consumers (predators that feed on

5130-570: Is not enough; it is vital to restore and regenerate the fabric of life and across all four dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental, economic and cultural. Ecovillages have developed in recent years as technology has improved, so they have more sophisticated structures as noted by Baydoun, M. 2013. Generally, the ecovillage concept is not tied to specific sectarian (religious, political, corporate) organizations or belief systems not directly related to environmentalism, such as monasteries, cults, or communes. The modern-day desire for community

5244-522: Is similar to that of Ten Thousand Villages , which supports the fair trade of goods worldwide. The concept of the ecovillage has undergone significant development over time, as evidenced by the remarkable growth and evolution of these communities over the past few decades. The various facets of the ecovillage include case studies of community models, discussions on sustainability alignment for diverse needs, examinations of their environmental impact, explorations of governance structures, and considerations of

5358-574: Is the Park Grass Experiment , which was initiated in 1856. Another example is the Hubbard Brook study , which has been in operation since 1960. Holism remains a critical part of the theoretical foundation in contemporary ecological studies. Holism addresses the biological organization of life that self-organizes into layers of emergent whole systems that function according to non-reducible properties. This means that higher-order patterns of

5472-460: Is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment . Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population , community , ecosystem , and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely related sciences of biogeography , evolutionary biology , genetics , ethology , and natural history . Ecology is a branch of biology , and is the study of abundance , biomass , and distribution of organisms in

5586-413: Is the biosphere: the total sum of ecosystems on the planet. Ecological relationships regulate the flux of energy, nutrients, and climate all the way up to the planetary scale. For example, the dynamic history of the planetary atmosphere's CO 2 and O 2 composition has been affected by the biogenic flux of gases coming from respiration and photosynthesis, with levels fluctuating over time in relation to

5700-522: Is the study of the interactions among a collection of species that inhabit the same geographic area. Community ecologists study the determinants of patterns and processes for two or more interacting species. Research in community ecology might measure species diversity in grasslands in relation to soil fertility. It might also include the analysis of predator-prey dynamics, competition among similar plant species, or mutualistic interactions between crabs and corals. These ecosystems, as we may call them, are of

5814-577: Is to demonstrate a sustainable development in environmental, social, and economic terms. Work began in the early 1980s under the auspices of the Findhorn Foundation but now includes a wide diversity of organisations and activities. Numerous different ecological techniques are in use, and the project has won a variety of awards, including the UN-Habitat Best Practice Designation in 1998. An independent study concludes that

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5928-552: Is used for managing wildlife stocks and setting harvest quotas. In cases where basic models are insufficient, ecologists may adopt different kinds of statistical methods, such as the Akaike information criterion , or use models that can become mathematically complex as "several competing hypotheses are simultaneously confronted with the data." The concept of metapopulations was defined in 1969 as "a population of populations which go extinct locally and recolonize". Metapopulation ecology

6042-447: The Findhorn Foundation marked the beginning of serious attempts by the intentional community , which had existed at Findhorn since 1962 to demonstrate a human settlement that could be considered sustainable in environmental, social, and economic terms. The term ' ecovillage ' later came to be used to describe such experiments and in 1995 the first international conference of ecovillages, Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities for

6156-459: The Highlands of Scotland as a whole. On 12 April 2021 a major fire destroyed the eco-village's community centre and main sanctuary; Police Scotland arrested a 49-year-old man. On 6 July 2021 Joseph Clark, the community centre manager, admitted setting the fire after being made redundant. Ecovillages usually rely on a wide variety of approaches to minimise their ecological footprint. Some of

6270-518: The Stockholm Environment Institute confirmed that ecovillages can tread significantly more lightly on the Earth than more conventional communities. The study found that residents of The Park and the nearby campus of Cluny Hill College have, on average, a footprint of 2.71 hectares per capita, a little over half the UK national average of 5.4 hectares. (By comparison the comparable figure for

6384-405: The abundance or biomass at each level. When the relative abundance or biomass of each species is sorted into its respective trophic level, they naturally sort into a 'pyramid of numbers'. Species are broadly categorized as autotrophs (or primary producers ), heterotrophs (or consumers ), and Detritivores (or decomposers ). Autotrophs are organisms that produce their own food (production

6498-436: The logistic equation by Pierre Verhulst : where N(t) is the number of individuals measured as biomass density as a function of time, t , r is the maximum per-capita rate of change commonly known as the intrinsic rate of growth, and α {\displaystyle \alpha } is the crowding coefficient, which represents the reduction in population growth rate per individual added. The formula states that

6612-576: The 21st Century , was held in Findhorn. At first almost all of the activities this involved, such as eco-house construction, a 75 kW Vestas wind turbine and an ecological waste water treatment system, were undertaken by the Findhorn Foundation itself, or its trading company New Findhorn Directions Ltd. However, from 1990 onwards a growing number of independent charities, businesses, small sister communities, independent practitioners and community bodies have grown up and significantly extended

6726-545: The Earth and atmospheric conditions within a narrow self-regulating range of tolerance. Population ecology studies the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the wider environment. A population consists of individuals of the same species that live, interact, and migrate through the same niche and habitat. A primary law of population ecology is the Malthusian growth model which states, "a population will grow (or decline) exponentially as long as

6840-502: The Ecovillage Tamera, Portugal promotes inclusivity that actively works to combat hierarchical structures. The Tamera community attributes their success to their Women's Council who confront patriarchal norms and empower women within the governance system. Members of ecovillage communities will select their peers to serve as government members based off established trust within the community, this serves as an active strategy to mitigate

6954-594: The United States is 9.5gha, whilst Uzbekistan is rated at the average 'global earthshare' of 1.9gha). Of particular significance are the results relating to food, 'home and energy' use, and 'consumables and personal possessions' which have 35%, 27% and 44% of the national average respectively. Findhorn residents have an eco-footprint some 13% lower than those at the London eco-housing development, BedZED . Various critiques exist in print, although these tend to concentrate on

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7068-436: The United States is not in its technology; it is in its lifestyle and concept of living." Ramsey's article includes a sketch for a "self-sufficient pedestrian solar village" by one of his students that looks very similar to eco-villages today. The movement became more focused and organized in the cohousing and related alternative-community movements of the mid-1980s. Then, in 1991, Robert Gilman and Diane Gilman co-authored

7182-406: The basis of the comprehensive results. Through this assessment ecovillages are empowered to understand their impact and influence their community has had. Ecovillages are defined by their commitment sustainability through a multitude of design, lifestyle, and community objectives. They prioritize environmental stewardship through various methods, including the utilization of renewable energy sources,

7296-503: The challenges faced on their path towards a successful ecovillage. Multiple sources define ecovillages as a subtype of intentional communities focusing on sustainability. More pronounced definitions are listed here: In Joubert's view, ecovillages are seen as an ongoing process, rather than a particular outcome. They often start off with a focus on one of the four dimensions of sustainability, e.g. ecology, but evolve into holistic models for restoration. In this view, aiming for sustainability

7410-744: The context of the environment. It encompasses life processes, interactions, and adaptations ; movement of materials and energy through living communities; successional development of ecosystems; cooperation, competition, and predation within and between species ; and patterns of biodiversity and its effect on ecosystem processes. Ecology has practical applications in conservation biology , wetland management, natural resource management ( agroecology , agriculture , forestry , agroforestry , fisheries , mining , tourism ), urban planning ( urban ecology ), community health , economics , basic and applied science , and human social interaction ( human ecology ). The word ecology ( German : Ökologie )

7524-441: The decision-making process. Each ecovillage exhibits a unique approach to how they will develop their governance. Ecovillages acknowledge that there is a delicate balance in maintaining a functioning community that appreciates and considers the perspectives of its members. Through active involvement in the governance processes, ecovillages demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity, adaptability, and collective empowerment, demonstrating

7638-714: The diversity of life from genes to ecosystems and spans every level of biological organization. The term has several interpretations, and there are many ways to index, measure, characterize, and represent its complex organization. Biodiversity includes species diversity , ecosystem diversity , and genetic diversity and scientists are interested in the way that this diversity affects the complex ecological processes operating at and among these respective levels. Biodiversity plays an important role in ecosystem services which by definition maintain and improve human quality of life. Conservation priorities and management techniques require different approaches and considerations to address

7752-514: The dynamic resilience of ecosystems that transition to multiple shifting steady-states directed by random fluctuations of history. Long-term ecological studies provide important track records to better understand the complexity and resilience of ecosystems over longer temporal and broader spatial scales. These studies are managed by the International Long Term Ecological Network (LTER). The longest experiment in existence

7866-477: The eclectic spirituality of the Findhorn Foundation rather than the environmental aspects of the Ecovillage. There is a statement of core values for the Ecovillage and its associated community called ‘Common Ground’ but other than affirming a commitment to "active spiritual practice" (which is diversely understood and interpreted ) it concentrates largely on preferred interpersonal behaviours rather than prescribing

7980-452: The ecology and evolution of plants and animals. Ecological theory has also been used to explain self-emergent regulatory phenomena at the planetary scale: for example, the Gaia hypothesis is an example of holism applied in ecological theory. The Gaia hypothesis states that there is an emergent feedback loop generated by the metabolism of living organisms that maintains the core temperature of

8094-444: The emergence of hierarchies. Through involvement of community members in reviewing and revising existing rules, ecovillages ensure flexibility and adaptability to evolving needs. Active participation in policy formulation fosters a sense of ownership among members regarding community expectations and boundaries. Ecovillage community members express their contentment knowing they had the opportunity to voice their concerns and contribute to

8208-434: The energy is transferred through a chain of organisms by consumption. The simplified linear feeding pathways that move from a basal trophic species to a top consumer is called the food chain . Food chains in an ecological community create a complex food web. Food webs are a type of concept map that is used to illustrate and study pathways of energy and material flows. Empirical measurements are generally restricted to

8322-460: The environment experienced by all individuals in the population remains constant." Simplified population models usually starts with four variables: death, birth, immigration , and emigration . An example of an introductory population model describes a closed population, such as on an island, where immigration and emigration does not take place. Hypotheses are evaluated with reference to a null hypothesis which states that random processes create

8436-451: The equilibrium, r / α {\displaystyle r/\alpha } as K , which is known as the "carrying capacity." Population ecology builds upon these introductory models to further understand demographic processes in real study populations. Commonly used types of data include life history , fecundity , and survivorship, and these are analyzed using mathematical techniques such as matrix algebra . The information

8550-627: The event by linking hundreds of small projects from around the world, that had similar goals but had formerly operated without knowledge of each other. Gaia Trust of Denmark agreed to fund the network for its first five years. Since the 1995 conference, a number of the early members of the Global Ecovillage Network have tried other approaches to ecovillage building in an attempt to build settlements that would be attractive to mainstream culture in order to make sustainable development more generally accepted. One of these with some degree of success

8664-589: The flux of energy and matter through an environment. Ecosystems have biophysical feedback mechanisms that moderate processes acting on living ( biotic ) and abiotic components of the planet. Ecosystems sustain life-supporting functions and provide ecosystem services like biomass production (food, fuel, fiber, and medicine), the regulation of climate , global biogeochemical cycles , water filtration , soil formation , erosion control, flood protection, and many other natural features of scientific, historical, economic, or intrinsic value. The scope of ecology contains

8778-400: The former applies to a community's environment, whereas the latter applies to a species' environment. Definitions of the niche date back to 1917, but G. Evelyn Hutchinson made conceptual advances in 1957 by introducing a widely adopted definition: "the set of biotic and abiotic conditions in which a species is able to persist and maintain stable population sizes." The ecological niche

8892-544: The former relates only to the physical modifications of the habitat whereas the latter also considers the evolutionary implications of physical changes to the environment and the feedback this causes on the process of natural selection. Ecosystem engineers are defined as: "organisms that directly or indirectly modulate the availability of resources to other species, by causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials. In so doing they modify, maintain and create habitats." The ecosystem engineering concept has stimulated

9006-518: The full ecological scope of biodiversity. Natural capital that supports populations is critical for maintaining ecosystem services and species migration (e.g., riverine fish runs and avian insect control) has been implicated as one mechanism by which those service losses are experienced. An understanding of biodiversity has practical applications for species and ecosystem-level conservation planners as they make management recommendations to consulting firms, governments, and industry. The habitat of

9120-618: The generation is used on-site with any surplus exported to the National Grid . In 2002, a local currency for the village, called the Eko, started operation. Launched by Ekopia, the community’s development trust , it is accepted by almost all Ecovillage organizations. The Hygeia Foundation supported the launch. There are roughly £20,000 of notes in circulation and issuing them has enabled Ekopia to make low interest loans and donations to support various initiatives including an ecological guest facility,

9234-408: The herbivore trophic level, food webs are better characterized as a tangled web of omnivores." A keystone species is a species that is connected to a disproportionately large number of other species in the food-web . Keystone species have lower levels of biomass in the trophic pyramid relative to the importance of their role. The many connections that a keystone species holds means that it maintains

9348-406: The human and oceanic microbiomes . To a microbe , the human body is a habitat and a landscape. Microbiomes were discovered largely through advances in molecular genetics , which have revealed a hidden richness of microbial diversity on the planet. The oceanic microbiome plays a significant role in the ecological biogeochemistry of the planet's oceans. The largest scale of ecological organization

9462-404: The interplay among ecological processes that operate and influence patterns at different scales that grade into each other, such as transitional areas or ecotones spanning landscapes. Complexity stems from the interplay among levels of biological organization as energy, and matter is integrated into larger units that superimpose onto the smaller parts. "What were wholes on one level become parts on

9576-412: The interplay of development and environmental expression of traits. Resident species evolve traits that are fitted to the selection pressures of their local environment. This tends to afford them a competitive advantage and discourages similarly adapted species from having an overlapping geographic range. The competitive exclusion principle states that two species cannot coexist indefinitely by living off

9690-402: The latter focuses on materials and energy fluxes. System behaviors must first be arrayed into different levels of the organization. Behaviors corresponding to higher levels occur at slow rates. Conversely, lower organizational levels exhibit rapid rates. For example, individual tree leaves respond rapidly to momentary changes in light intensity, CO 2 concentration, and the like. The growth of

9804-424: The lifespan of a single leaf. Each of those aphids, in turn, supports diverse bacterial communities. The nature of connections in ecological communities cannot be explained by knowing the details of each species in isolation, because the emergent pattern is neither revealed nor predicted until the ecosystem is studied as an integrated whole. Some ecological principles, however, do exhibit collective properties where

9918-432: The lower adjacent level (according to ecological pyramids ) nearer the abiotic source." Links in food webs primarily connect feeding relations or trophism among species. Biodiversity within ecosystems can be organized into trophic pyramids, in which the vertical dimension represents feeding relations that become further removed from the base of the food chain up toward top predators, and the horizontal dimension represents

10032-593: The minimization of waste through recycling and composting, and the practice of organic agriculture and permaculture. In many cases, these communities strive for self-sufficiency in food production, with the aim of reducing the ecological footprint associated with food transportation. Ecovillage communities place a strong emphasis on the conservation of resources through the application of green building techniques, including passive solar design, natural insulation, and rainwater harvesting. Additionally, they promote alternative modes of transportation, such as cycling and walking, as

10146-439: The most important used at Findhorn are listed here although it is important to bear in mind that in any given situation the single largest factor is likely to be the attitudes of the residents rather than the technologies themselves. The national scale is far better researched than the micro scale, and at this level it is easy to observe that countries with similar levels of wealth may have quite different footprints. The site has

10260-558: The most various kinds and sizes. They form one category of the multitudinous physical systems of the universe, which range from the universe as a whole down to the atom. Tansley (1935) Ecosystems may be habitats within biomes that form an integrated whole and a dynamically responsive system having both physical and biological complexes. Ecosystem ecology is the science of determining the fluxes of materials (e.g. carbon, phosphorus) between different pools (e.g., tree biomass, soil organic material). Ecosystem ecologists attempt to determine

10374-456: The nature of the unique physical environments that shapes the biodiversity within each. A more recent addition to ecosystem ecology are technoecosystems , which are affected by or primarily the result of human activity. A food web is the archetypal ecological network . Plants capture solar energy and use it to synthesize simple sugars during photosynthesis . As plants grow, they accumulate nutrients and are eaten by grazing herbivores , and

10488-573: The niche is called the ecotope , which is defined as the full range of environmental and biological variables affecting an entire species. Organisms are subject to environmental pressures, but they also modify their habitats. The regulatory feedback between organisms and their environment can affect conditions from local (e.g., a beaver pond ) to global scales, over time and even after death, such as decaying logs or silica skeleton deposits from marine organisms. The process and concept of ecosystem engineering are related to niche construction , but

10602-531: The number of nitrogen fixers , can lead to disproportionate, perhaps irreversible, changes in the system properties." Biodiversity refers to the variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the communities and ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever-changing and adapting. Noss & Carpenter (1994) Biodiversity (an abbreviation of "biological diversity") describes

10716-399: The observed data. In these island models, the rate of population change is described by: where N is the total number of individuals in the population, b and d are the per capita rates of birth and death respectively, and r is the per capita rate of population change. Using these modeling techniques, Malthus' population principle of growth was later transformed into a model known as

10830-406: The organization and structure of entire communities. The loss of a keystone species results in a range of dramatic cascading effects (termed trophic cascades ) that alters trophic dynamics, other food web connections, and can cause the extinction of other species. The term keystone species was coined by Robert Paine in 1969 and is a reference to the keystone architectural feature as the removal of

10944-498: The principles of collaborative decision-making and community-driven change. While ecovillages aim to embody admirable dimensions of sustainability and community, they are not without their challenges. One significant challenge is the initial investment required to establish or transition to an ecovillage lifestyle. The costs of acquiring land, implementing sustainable infrastructure, and maintaining communal facilities can be prohibitive for some individuals or groups making available funds

11058-468: The published work of George Perkins Marsh ("Man and Nature"). Within an ecosystem, organisms are linked to the physical and biological components of their environment to which they are adapted. Ecosystems are complex adaptive systems where the interaction of life processes form self-organizing patterns across different scales of time and space. Ecosystems are broadly categorized as terrestrial , freshwater , atmospheric, or marine . Differences stem from

11172-502: The rate of change in population size ( d N ( t ) / d t {\displaystyle \mathrm {d} N(t)/\mathrm {d} t} ) will grow to approach equilibrium, where ( d N ( t ) / d t = 0 {\displaystyle \mathrm {d} N(t)/\mathrm {d} t=0} ), when the rates of increase and crowding are balanced, r / α {\displaystyle r/\alpha } . A common, analogous model fixes

11286-419: The residents have the lowest ecological footprint of any community measured so far in the industrialised world and is also half of the UK average. Although the project has attracted some controversy, the growing profile of environmental issues such as climate change has led to a degree of mainstream acceptance of its ecological ethos. The October 1982 Conference ‘Building a Planetary Village’ hosted by

11400-424: The same limiting resource ; one will always out-compete the other. When similarly adapted species overlap geographically, closer inspection reveals subtle ecological differences in their habitat or dietary requirements. Some models and empirical studies, however, suggest that disturbances can stabilize the co-evolution and shared niche occupancy of similar species inhabiting species-rich communities. The habitat plus

11514-463: The settlement is the presence of four Vestas wind turbines which can generate up to 750 kW. These make the Park settlement net exporters of electricity produced from renewable resources. The first V17 generator was installed in 1989 and three additional V29s were installed in March 2006. The original site was a caravan park and as a result the Ecovillage has its own private electricity grid. Most of

11628-399: The site will disappear unless rescued by an adjacent source patch or environmental conditions become more favorable. Metapopulation models examine patch dynamics over time to answer potential questions about spatial and demographic ecology. The ecology of metapopulations is a dynamic process of extinction and colonization. Small patches of lower quality (i.e., sinks) are maintained or rescued by

11742-514: The size and diversity of ecological projects, some of which are listed below. As of 2005 the Ecovillage has around 450 members centred around The Park (the main campus on the southern edge of Findhorn), but also based at numerous locations in the nearby town of Forres and elsewhere in Moray . The project supports approximately 300 jobs in the Findhorn/Forres area and provides a total aggregate economic impact in excess of £5 million per annum in

11856-524: The study of ecology into a conceptually manageable framework, the biological world is organized into a nested hierarchy , ranging in scale from genes , to cells , to tissues , to organs , to organisms , to species , to populations , to guilds , to communities , to ecosystems , to biomes , and up to the level of the biosphere . This framework forms a panarchy and exhibits non-linear behaviors; this means that "effect and cause are disproportionate, so that small changes to critical variables, such as

11970-432: The sum of the components explain the properties of the whole, such as birth rates of a population being equal to the sum of individual births over a designated time frame. The main subdisciplines of ecology, population (or community ) ecology and ecosystem ecology , exhibit a difference not only in scale but also in two contrasting paradigms in the field. The former focuses on organisms' distribution and abundance, while

12084-670: The tree responds more slowly and integrates these short-term changes. O'Neill et al. (1986) The scale of ecological dynamics can operate like a closed system, such as aphids migrating on a single tree, while at the same time remaining open about broader scale influences, such as atmosphere or climate. Hence, ecologists classify ecosystems hierarchically by analyzing data collected from finer scale units, such as vegetation associations , climate, and soil types , and integrate this information to identify emergent patterns of uniform organization and processes that operate on local to regional, landscape , and chronological scales. To structure

12198-415: The underlying causes of these fluxes. Research in ecosystem ecology might measure primary production (g C/m^2) in a wetland in relation to decomposition and consumption rates (g C/m^2/y). This requires an understanding of the community connections between plants (i.e., primary producers) and the decomposers (e.g., fungi and bacteria). The underlying concept of an ecosystem can be traced back to 1864 in

12312-439: The use of a location by the animal." For example, a habitat might be an aquatic or terrestrial environment that can be further categorized as a montane or alpine ecosystem. Habitat shifts provide important evidence of competition in nature where one population changes relative to the habitats that most other individuals of the species occupy. For example, one population of a species of tropical lizard ( Tropidurus hispidus ) has

12426-470: The vacant land in 1993. As of 2019 Earthaven Eco-Village has over 70 families living off the grid on 368 acres of land. The ecovillage movement began to coalesce at the annual autumn conference of Findhorn , in Scotland, in 1995. The conference was called: "Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities", and conference organizers turned away hundreds of applicants. According to Ross Jackson , "somehow they had struck

12540-418: The water. At the end of the series of tanks, the resulting water is pure enough to be returned to the local water table. Plans to use the water for irrigation have been considered but not implemented to date. One of the most significant factors in the Ecovillage's low eco-footprint (see below) is its attitude to food production and consumption. Various smallholdings associated with the Ecovillage contribute to

12654-596: The wind park (above) and the local Youth Project. The current issue, launched in November 2017, is at par with sterling i.e. 1 Eko = £1, and notes are in one, five, ten and twenty denominations. In October 2006 preliminary results of the ecological footprint study for the Findhorn Ecovillage undertaken by The Sustainable Development Research Centre of the UHI Millennium Institute in collaboration with

12768-592: Was brought into focus by recurrent energy crises. The term "eco-village" was introduced by Georgia Tech Professor George Ramsey in a 1978 address, "Passive Energy Applications for the Built Environment", to the First World Energy Conference of the Association of Energy Engineers, to describe small-scale, car-free, close-in developments, including suburban infill, arguing that "the great energy waste in

12882-589: Was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst Haeckel . The science of ecology as we know it today began with a group of American botanists in the 1890s. Evolutionary concepts relating to adaptation and natural selection are cornerstones of modern ecological theory . Ecosystems are dynamically interacting systems of organisms, the communities they make up, and the non-living ( abiotic ) components of their environment. Ecosystem processes, such as primary production , nutrient cycling , and niche construction , regulate

12996-578: Was notably characterized by the communal "back to the land" movement of the 1960s and 1970s through communities such as the earliest example that still survives, the Miccosukee Land Co-op co-founded in May 1973 by James Clement van Pelt in Tallahassee, Florida. In the same decades, the imperative for alternatives to radically inefficient energy-use patterns, in particular automobile-enabled suburban sprawl ,

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