Resources and Stability of The System
At any point in the system when organic material is added, it is used or stored, with a small proportion making its way further downstream. The existing energy is the limiting growth factor of the system, therefore the system is striving to be as efficient as possible. Free resources will enable new types of life in the community to establish, so that the excess resources are quickly exploited. This principle is not exclusively for river ecosystems but applies to most systems. Here, however, it plays a larger role, because resources are not spent in one place but are being constantly transported downstream. The temporal aspect of this continuity can be seen by its daily and seasonal changes. In the course of a day there are many changes in the structure of living communities, mainly due to increased resource pressure during the day (better rate of detection) and abiotic factors such as changes of temperature and light. The midreaches are the most affected by daily periodic changes, because here there is the greatest biodiversity, each with different ideal conditions. Because there is a uniform use of resources and high stability, disturbances and fluctuations are usually corrected relatively quickly. Inequalities in the use of resources will be quickly compensated for, creating a new equilibrium. Also, there is no ecological development of the system (succession) and changes in the system are a result of outside geological changes, such as a change in the level of water making its way into the system, change of organic inputs or earthquakes. Even after these changes, however, it returns to a steady and modified equilibrium. This ensures that the ecosystem stays as an optimal functioning river system.
Read more about this topic: River Continuum Concept
Famous quotes containing the words resources, stability and/or system:
“The great object of Education should be commensurate with the object of life. It should be a moral one; to teach self-trust: to inspire the youthful man with an interest in himself; with a curiosity touching his own nature; to acquaint him with the resources of his mind, and to teach him that there is all his strength, and to inflame him with a piety towards the Grand Mind in which he lives. Thus would education conspire with the Divine Providence.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“...I feel anxious for the fate of our monarchy, or democracy, or whatever is to take place. I soon get lost in a labyrinth of perplexities; but, whatever occurs, may justice and righteousness be the stability of our times, and order arise out of confusion. Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance.”
—Abigail Adams (1744–1818)
“In the end we beat them with Levi 501 jeans. Seventy-two years of Communist indoctrination and propaganda was drowned out by a three-ounce Sony Walkman. A huge totalitarian system ... has been brought to its knees because nobody wants to wear Bulgarian shoes.... Now they’re lunch, and we’re number one on the planet.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)