Ecologists and computer modelers are looking for the missing pieces they'll need to build the more realistic models we will need if we want to make wise decisions about the environment and our use of resources. The following two pages describe MBL Ecosystems Center work on ecological model building, acid rain, and the greenhouse effect. More detailed descriptions of these and other Ecosystems Center studies are available in the Center's annual report. An ecosystem is a unit of nature composed of organisms and their environment, linked through biological. Scientists at the MBL Ecosystems Center study a variety of ecosystems - estuaries, lakes, rivers, watersheds, forests, arctic tundra, and coastal ocean.
Ecologists are interested in the structure and function of ecosystems.
The MBL Ecosystems Center is dedicated to the study of natural systems and the use of ecological knowledge to solve environmental problems. The Ecosystems Center is staffed by a dozen resident scientists plus three dozen post doctoral students, research assistants, and visiting scientists. Ecosystems Center scientists are skilled in terrestrial and aquatic ecology, microbiology, chemistry, remote sensing, botany, zoology, physiology, mathematics, and computer modeling.