Integrating human and natural systems from a global systems perspective

John W. Day, William H. Conner, Katherine C. Ewel, Rachael Hunter, G. Paul Kemp, Robert Lane, Jay Martin, William Mitsch, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy and John Rybczyk

Ecological Modelling, 2025, vol. 510, issue C

Abstract: During his long career, Howard Odum focused on both conceptual and theoretical issues such as maximum power and the development of energy circuit language as well as ecosystem-level studies of natural systems and human interactions with these systems. He and colleagues carried out large macrocosm studies on a variety of ecosystems. We review here studies initiated by Howard Odum as well as whole system studies carried out by a number of post docs, his students and their students. We focus on studies involving John Day, Katherine Ewel, and William Mitsch. Ewel and Mitsch worked on fertilized cypress systems in Florida. While at Ohio State University, Mitsch initiated a wetland research park on the university campus. He and Day carried out a series of holistic studies of the Mississippi basin to address water quality issues caused by agricultural runoff and developed a basin-wide plan for wetland reclamation to reduce nutrient inputs to streams and rivers. More recently, studies have been carried out on the long-range and large-scale effects of hydrology and macrophyte planting on phosphorus removal by wetlands adjacent to Lake Erie. Major ecosystem-scale studies in coastal Louisiana have investigated the value of coastal wetland and aquatic systems in improving water quality and restoring lost landscapes. These studies in the Midwest and Mississippi delta form the basis of determining design standards for creating and restoring wetlands in the Mississippi Basin to reduce Gulf of Mexico hypoxia and regain many lost ecosystem functions over a large part of North America. Studies have also been conducted of the use of mangroves to treat effluent from shrimp ponds. These studies were intended to increase our understanding of water quality improvement and ecosystem budgets, demonstrating the importance of pulsing, self-design, and emergy analysis.

Keywords: Howard Odum; Systems ecology; General systems; Nutrient treatment; Mississippi River Basin; Cypress swamps; Water quality; Mangroves; Pulsing; Self-design; Emergy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:510:y:2025:i:c:s0304380025003370

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2025.111351

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