Systems ecology is an
interdisciplinary field of
ecology, a subset of
Earth system science, that takes a
holistic approach to the study of ecological systems, especially
ecosystems. Systems ecology can be seen as an application of
general systems theory to ecology. Central to the systems ecology approach is the idea that an ecosystem is a
complex system exhibiting
emergent properties. Systems ecology focuses on interactions and transactions within and between biological and ecological systems, and is especially concerned with the way the functioning of ecosystems can be influenced by human interventions. It uses and extends concepts from
thermodynamics and develops other macroscopic descriptions of complex systems.