New discoveries have highlighted unappreciated linkages between the environment, human health and prosperity. Simply put, the Earth's forests, grasslands, deserts, rivers, lakes, coral reefs and oceans are our life-support system. They provide us essential goods and services. Only recently have we recognized that living organisms interacting with their physical environment provide services needed for human survival and quality of life. Examples include purification of water and air, provision of fertile soil, control of pests and pathogens, and modulation of extreme weather events, like floods.
Ecosystems also provide places for recreation and learning.
Alaska native elders judge students' science projects. Photo by Paula Elmes, Alaska Native Knowledge Network. Although our environmental knowledge is expanding, we do not yet have the understanding needed to address the environmental challenges today facing our nation and world. Previous modes of scientific inquiry have proved inadequate, often being narrowly focused and fragmented, to achieve a predictive understanding of whole ecosystems. In 1999, NSF director Rita Colwell took the lead and began the Biocomplexity Initiative, which supports teams of researchers from different disciplines to take a holistic approach to understanding the earth's complex environmental systems, both natural and human-derived.