Ecological Integrity
Ecological (or biological) integrity is a measure of how intact or complete an ecosystem is. Ecological integrity is a relatively new and somewhat controversial notion, however, which means that it cannot be defined exactly. Human activities cause many changes in environmental conditions, and these can benefit some species, communities, and ecological processes, while causing damages to others at the same time. The notion of ecological integrity is used to distinguish between ecological responses that represent improvements, and those that are degradations.
Challenges to Ecological Integrity
Ecological integrity is affected by changes in the intensity of environmental stressors. Environmental stressors can be defined as physical, chemical, and biological constraints on the productivity of species and the processes of ecosystem development. Many environmental stressors are associated with the activities of humans, but some are also natural factors. Environmental stressors can exert their influence on a local scale, or they may be regional or even global in their effects. Stressors represent environmental challenges to ecological integrity.
Environmental stressors are extremely complex, but they can be categorized in the following ways:
(1) Physical stressors are associated with brief but intense exposures to kinetic energy. Because of its acute, episodic nature, this represents a type of disturbance.
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