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What is the Environment? cycle because all nutrients are returned to the soil by the decomposition of detritus (animal wastes and dead material) for recycling.

3.8.7 BIOACTIVITY

Bioactivity is the combination of energy flow, productivity, biomass and the resource cycles, measured by the speed of the resource cycles.

3.8.8 BALANCE

The Eco Tree eventually decays and is recycled through the system as new production. Therefore, Decomposition balances Production.

3.8.9 VIABILITY

In summary, Eco Island as a Natural Ecosystem is a system of component inter-acting cycles that defines the community of life on the island. A Natural Ecosystem that is productive in a balanced way is called a Viable Ecosystem.

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And even, although it takes time, oil spills. Even the recent ice ages did not result in a diminution of species.

The Biosphere of our earth is Eco Island on a global scale, made up of an almost infinite number of sub-systems: as a natural ecosystem, the Biosphere is a Viable Ecosystem.

3.9 REAL ECOLOGY: HUMAN SOCIETY

The Natural Ecosystem defines the natural environment; that is, the described environment without human society. But in reality, as we have already made clear, human society has to be added to the ecological equation.

Human society may be defined as the human species plus human technology. These influence the Biosphere so that its viability is undermined to such an extent that it is less able to withstand shocks.

Mankind's activities have affected the environment ever since we evolved as a tool-using animal, capable of reason, thought and speech. Most of the world's landscapes have been modified by mankind, but not to the extent that the Ecosystems have become non-viable. It is only in the last hundred years (a little longer in Western Europe) that the scale of human activity, the pressure of human numbers and the propensity to manufacture unnatural substances (that the Ecosystem cannot absorb without being poisoned) have made mankind a threat to the viability of the Biosphere. And only in the last thirty years have obvious manifestations of Ecosystem collapse become evident.

It is not just mankind's increasing population that threatens the viability of Ecosystems. It is our high consumption of the earth's resources and our desire to exploit these resources for the highest and quickest financial return, regardless of the economic cost (and damage to Ecosystems is a real economic cost that can be valued) that threatens the viability of the Biosphere. 46