# Systems ecology
## MicroSim spec
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Energy inflow` · 0–100 · solar/energy input to the [[Ecosystem|ecosystem]]
- `Transfer efficiency` · 0–1 · fraction passed up each trophic level
- `Respiration loss` · 0–1 · fraction lost as heat per compartment
### What animates
[[Energy]] tokens flow up a stack of trophic compartments, thinning at each level.
### Learning objective
Show how energy flows and is lost through trophic levels of an ecosystem.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
<!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Systems_ecology.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) -->
`Abiotic_component` · `Abiotic_stress` · `Abundance_(ecology)` · `Agroecology` · [[Alexander_Bogdanov]] · `Allee_effect` · [[Allenna_Leonard]] · `Allometry` · `Alternative_stable_state` · [[Anatol_Rapoport]] · `Animal` · `Animal_coloration` · [[Anthony_Wilden]] · `Anthrozoology` · `Anti-predator_adaptation` · `Antibiosis` · `Antireductionism` · `Apex_predator` · `Applied_ecology` · `Archaea` · `Arctic_ecology` · `Ascendency` · `Assembly_rules` · `Atmospheric_science` · `Autecology` · `Autotroph` · `Bacteriophage` · `Bacterivore` · `Balance_of_nature` · [[Barbara_J._Grosz]] · `Bateman's_principle` · `Bedrock` · `Behavioral_ecology` · `Behavioral_geography` · `Bioaccumulation` · `Biodiversity` · `Biogeochemical_cycle` · `Biogeochemistry` · `Biogeography` · `Bioindicator` · `Biological_data_visualization` · `Biological_interaction` · `Biological_organisation` · [[Biological_system]] · `Biology` · `Bioluminescence` · `Biomagnification` · `Biomass_(ecology)` · `Biome` · `Biosemiotics` · `Biotic_stress` · [[Béla_H._Bánáthy]] · [[C._West_Churchman]] · `Camouflage` · `Carnivore` · [[Carrying_capacity]] · `Cascade_effect_(ecology)` · [[Charles_A._S._Hall]] · `Chemical_ecology` · [[Chemistry]] · `Chemosynthesis` · `Chemotroph` · [[Claude_Shannon]] · `Climax_community` · `Cline_(biology)` · `Cold_seep` · `Commensalism` · `Community_(ecology)` · `Community_studies` · `Competition_(biology)` · `Competitive_exclusion_principle` · [[Complex_system]] · [[Complexity]] · `Consumer-resource_model` · `Consumer_(food_chain)` · `Consumer–resource_interactions` · [[Control_theory]] · `Copiotroph` · [[Coupled_human–environment_system]] · `Cross-boundary_subsidy` · [[Cybernetics]] · `Decomposer` · `Decomposition` · `Deimatic_behaviour` · `Demography` · `Density_dependence` · `Depensation` · `Desert_ecology` · `Detritivore` · `Detritus` · `Disease_ecology` · `Disturbance_(ecology)` · `Dominance_(ecology)` · [[Donella_Meadows]] · [[Doubling_time]] · `Earth_science` · [[Earth_system_science]] · [[Earth_systems_engineering_and_management]] · `Ecological_anthropology` · `Ecological_debt` · `Ecological_design` · `Ecological_economics` · `Ecological_effects_of_biodiversity` · `Ecological_efficiency` · [[Ecological_engineering]] · `Ecological_extinction` · `Ecological_facilitation` · [[Ecological_footprint]] · `Ecological_forecasting` · `Ecological_indicator` · `Ecological_literacy` · `Ecological_network` · `Ecological_niche` · `Ecological_pyramid` · `Ecological_resilience` · `Ecological_stability` · `Ecological_stoichiometry` · `Ecological_succession` · `Ecological_threshold` · `Ecological_trap` · `Ecological_yield` · [[Ecology]] · `Ecology_of_the_San_Francisco_Estuary` · `Economic_system` · `Economics` · `Ecopath` · `Ecophysiology` · `Ecopsychology` · `Ecosemiotics` · `Ecosophy` · [[Ecosystem]] · `Ecosystem_diversity` · `Ecosystem_ecology` · `Ecosystem_engineer` · [[Ecosystem_model]] · `Ecotone` · `Ecotoxicology` · `Ecotype` · `Edge_effects` · [[Edsger_W._Dijkstra]] · [[Edward_Norton_Lorenz]] · `Effective_population_size` · [[Emergence]] · `Emergy` · `Endemism` · `Endolith` · `Energy_conservation` · `Energy_economics` · `Energy_flow_(ecology)` · `Energy_policy` · `Energy_quality` · `Energy_systems_language` · `Environmental_anthropology` · `Environmental_chemistry` · `Environmental_communication` · `Environmental_crime` · `Environmental_design` · `Environmental_economics` · `Environmental_education` · [[Environmental_engineering]] · `Environmental_epidemiology` · `Environmental_ethics` · `Environmental_health` · `Environmental_history` · `Environmental_humanities` · `Environmental_justice` · `Environmental_law` · `Environmental_planning` · `Environmental_policy` · `Environmental_politics` · `Environmental_psychology` · `Environmental_racism` · `Environmental_remediation` · `Environmental_science` · `Environmental_social_science` · `Environmental_sociology` · `Environmental_soil_science` · `Environmental_statistics` · `Environmental_studies` · `Environmental_technology` · `Environmental_toxicology` · [[Eric_Trist]] · `Ethnobiology` · `Ethnobotany` · `Ethnoecology` · `Ethnozoology` · `Evolutionary_ecology` · `Extinction_debt` · `F-ratio_(oceanography)` · `Feed_conversion_ratio` · `Feeding_frenzy` · `Field_research` · `Fire_ecology` · `Fisheries_management` · `Flagship_species` · `Food_chain` · `Food_web` · `Foraging` · `Forest_ecology` · `Forestry` · `Foster's_rule` · `Foundation_species` · [[Francisco_Varela]] · `Fred_Emery_(psychologist)` · `Functional_ecology` · `Generalist_and_specialist_species` · `Genetic_ecology` · `Geodesy` · [[George_Dantzig]] · [[George_Klir]] · `Glossary_of_ecology` · `Glossary_of_environmental_science` · `Green_chemistry` · `Green_criminology` · `Green_world_hypothesis` · [[Gregory_Bateson]] · `Guild_(ecology)` · `Habitat` · `Habitat_fragmentation` · [[Heinz_von_Foerster]] · `Herbivore` · `Herbivore_adaptations_to_plant_defense` · `Heterotroph` · `Heterotrophic_nutrition` · `History_of_ecology` · [[Holism]] · `Holism_in_science` · `Holon_(philosophy)` · [[Howard_T._Odum]] · `Human_ecology` · `Human_geography` · `Human_impact_on_the_environment` · [[Humberto_Maturana]] · `Hydrology` · `Hydrothermal_vent` · `Ideal_free_distribution` · [[Ilya_Prigogine]] · `Indigenous_peoples` · [[Industrial_ecology]] · [[Information_system]] · `Insect_ecology` · `Insectivore` · `Insular_biogeography` · `Integrated_geography` · [[Interdisciplinarity]] · `Intermediate_disturbance_hypothesis` · `Interspecific_competition` · `Intertidal_ecology` · `Intraguild_predation` · `Intraspecific_competition` · `Introduced_species` · `Invasive_species` · [[James_Grier_Miller]] · [[James_J._Kay]] · [[Jay_Wright_Forrester]] · [[Jennifer_Wilby]] · [[John_Seddon]] · [[Kathleen_Carley]] · [[Katia_Sycara]] · `Kelp_forest` · `Kenneth_E._Boulding` · [[Kevin_Warwick]] · `Keystone_species` · `Kinetotroph` · `Kleiber's_law` · `Lake_ecosystem` · `Land-use_planning` · `Land_change_modeling` · `Landscape_architecture` · `Landscape_ecology` · `Landscape_epidemiology` · `Landscape_limnology` · `Latitudinal_gradients_in_species_diversity` · `Liebig's_law_of_the_minimum` · `Life` · [[Limiting_factor]] · `Limiting_similarity` · `Limnology` · `List_of_environmental_degrees` · `List_of_environmental_journals` · `List_of_environmental_research_institutes` · `List_of_environmental_social_science_journals` · `List_of_feeding_behaviours` · [[List_of_systems_sciences_organizations]] · `List_of_systems_scientists` · `List_of_years_in_the_environment` · `Lithoautotroph` · `Lithotroph` · [[Living_systems]] · `Logistic_function` · `Lotka–Volterra_equations` · [[Ludwig_von_Bertalanffy]] · [[Lydia_Kavraki]] · `Macroecology` · `Malthusian_growth_model` · [[Manfred_Clynes]] · [[Manuela_M._Veloso]] · [[Margaret_Boden]] · [[Margaret_Mead]] · `Marginal_value_theorem` · `Marine_food_web` · `Marine_habitat` · `Marine_microorganisms` · [[Mary_Cartwright]] · `Maximum_power_principle` · `Maximum_sustainable_yield` · `Mesopredator` · `Mesopredator_release_hypothesis` · `Mesotrophic_soil` · `Metabolic_theory_of_ecology` · `Metapopulation` · `Methodology` · `Microbial_cooperation` · `Microbial_ecology` · `Microbial_food_web` · `Microbial_intelligence` · `Microbial_loop` · `Microbial_mat` · `Microbial_metabolism` · `Microecology` · `Microecosystem` · `Microorganism` · [[Mihajlo_D._Mesarovic]] · `Mike_Jackson_(systems_scientist)` · `Mimicry` · `Minimum_viable_population` · `Mixotroph` · `Molecular_ecology` · `MuSIASEM` · [[Multi-agent_system]] · [[Murray_Bowen]] · `Mutualism_(biology)` · `Myco-heterotrophy` · `Mycoloop` · `Mycotroph` · `Native_species` · `Natural_environment` · `Natural_history` · `Natural_resource_management` · [[Negative_feedback]] · [[Nervous_system]] · `New_Hampshire` · `Niche_apportionment_models` · `Niche_construction` · [[Niklas_Luhmann]] · `Non-trophic_networks` · [[Norbert_Wiener]] · `North_Pacific_Gyre` · `Nutrient_cycle` · `Occupancy–abundance_relationship` · `Occupational_safety_and_health` · `Oceanography` · `Oligotroph` · `Omnivore` · `Ontogenetic_niche_shift` · `Optimal_foraging_theory` · `Ordination_(statistics)` · `Organotroph` · `Outline_of_ecology` · `Overexploitation` · `Overpopulation` · `Paleoecology` · `Paradox_of_the_plankton` · `Parasitism` · `Patch_dynamics` · `Permaculture` · [[Peter_Senge]] · `Phage_ecology` · `Photoheterotroph` · `Photosynthesis` · `Photosynthetic_efficiency` · `Phototroph` · [[Physics]] · `Planktivore` · `Plant` · `Plant_defense_against_herbivory` · `Plant_ecology` · `Polar_ecology` · `Political_ecology` · `Political_representation_of_nature` · `Population_cycle` · [[Population_dynamics]] · `Population_ecology` · [[Population_model]] · `Population_size` · `Population_viability_analysis` · [[Positive_feedback]] · `Predation` · `Prey_switching` · `Primary_nutritional_groups` · `Primary_production` · [[Principia_Cybernetica]] · `Priority_effect` · `Productivity_(ecology)` · `Public_health` · `Public_transport` · [[Qian_Xuesen]] · `Quantitative_ecology` · `R/K_selection_theory` · [[Radhika_Nagpal]] · `Radioecology` · `Random_generalized_Lotka–Volterra_model` · `Rapoport's_rule` · [[Recommender_system]] · `Recruitment_(biology)` · `Recycling` · `Regime_shift` · `Regional_planning` · `Regional_science` · `Relative_abundance_distribution` · `Relative_species_abundance` · `Renewable_energy` · `Resistance_(ecology)` · `Resource_(biology)` · `Resource_selection_function` · `Riparian_forest` · `River_ecosystem` · `Road_ecology` · `Rural_sociology` · `Russell_L._Ackoff` · `Ruzena_Bajcsy` · [[Science]] · `Science_studies` · `Scientific_law` · `Semiaquatic` · `Sewage_treatment` · `Sexecology` · `Shoaling_and_schooling` · `Small_population_size` · `Social_ecology_(academic_field)` · `Social_system` · [[Sociotechnical_system]] · `Soil` · `Soil_ecology` · `Soil_food_web` · `Source–sink_dynamics` · [[Spatial_ecology]] · `Spatial_planning` · `Spatial_scale` · `Species_distribution` · `Species_distribution_modelling` · `Species_diversity` · `Species_homogeneity` · `Species_richness` · `Species–area_relationship` · [[Stafford_Beer]] · [[Stephanie_Forrest]] · `Storage_effect` · `Sustainability` · `Sustainability_science` · `Sustainability_studies` · `Sustainable_architecture` · `Symbiosis` · [[System]] · [[System_dynamics]] · `Systemics` · `Systems_analysis` · `Systems_art` · [[Systems_biology]] · [[Systems_engineering]] · [[Systems_neuroscience]] · [[Systems_pharmacology]] · `Systems_philosophy` · `Systems_psychology` · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]] · `Systems_theory_in_anthropology` · [[Systems_theory_in_archaeology]] · [[Systems_theory_in_political_science]] · [[Systems_thinking]] · [[Talcott_Parsons]] · `Taxon` · `Taxonomy_(biology)` · `Technogaianism` · `Terrestrial_animal` · [[Theoretical_ecology]] · `Thermal_ecology` · [[Thermodynamics]] · `Thermoeconomics` · `Thorson's_rule` · `Tide_pool` · `Tritrophic_interactions_in_plant_defense` · `Trophic_cascade` · `Trophic_level` · `Trophic_mutualism` · `Trophic_state_index` · `Tropical_ecology` · [[Twelve_leverage_points]] · `Umbrella_species` · `Unified_neutral_theory_of_biodiversity` · `Urban_ecology` · `Urban_geography` · [[Urban_metabolism]] · `Urban_planning` · `Urban_studies` · `Victor_Aladjev` · `Waste_management` · `Water_purification` · `Western_culture` · `World-systems_theory` · `Xerosere`
## From the Real GENERATIVE library (beauty pass)
*Systems ecology — image hotlinked from Wikimedia Commons (via the Real G.E.N.E.R.A.T.I.V.E. course library, Energy room). [Details & license](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genomics_GTL_Program_Payoffs.jpg).*
> Systems ecology is an interdisciplinary field of ecology, a subset of Earth system science, that takes a holistic approach to the study of ecological systems, especially ecosystems.[1][2][3] Systems ecology can be seen as an application of general systems theory to ecology. Central to the systems ecology approach is the idea that an ecosystem is a complex system exhibiting emergent properties. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_ecology))
<!-- BEAUTY-PASS-MEDIA:END -->
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Engineering · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_ecology)
## Concept summary
Systems ecology is an interdisciplinary field of ecology, a subset of [[Earth_system_science|Earth system science]], that takes a holistic approach to the study of ecological systems, especially ecosystems. Systems ecology can be seen as an application of general systems theory to ecology.
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to Systems Engineering)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Systems ecology
const ARTICLE = "Systems_ecology";
let p1, p2, p3;
function setup() {
createCanvas(720, 520);
pixelDensity(2);
// stock-flow sim — create the three sliders described above:
// Energy inflow (0–100), Transfer efficiency (0–1), Respiration loss (0–1).
// TODO: build labelled sliders in the control region (below the drawing region).
}
function draw() {
background(248);
// TODO: read p1/p2/p3; render the stock-flow in the drawing region and respond live.
// TODO: HUD — title + en.wikitube.io/wiki/Systems_ecology + control hints + live readouts.
}
```
---
Back to Systems Engineering
---
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:START -->
## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (8):** 🟡 system (54) · 🟢 emergence (6) · 🟢 energy (5) · 🟢 flow (5) · 🟡 science (4) · 🟡 thermodynamics (3) · 🟢 feedback (2) · 🟢 temperature heat (1)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:END -->
<!-- BEAUTY-PASS-MEDIA:START -->
## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_ecology) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Systems_ecology)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Control_theory]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Operations_research]] · [[Reliability_engineering]] · [[System_dynamics]] · [[Systems_engineering]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
---
*Sources: 3 legacy notes. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*