Closed ecological system

Closed ecological systems (CES) are ecosystems that do not rely on matter exchange with any part outside the system.

Biosphere 2

The term is most often used to describe small manmade ecosystems. Such systems are scientifically interesting and can potentially serve as a life support system during space flights, in space stations or space habitats.[1]

In a closed ecological system, any waste products produced by one species must be used by at least one other species. If the purpose is to maintain a life form, such as a mouse or a human, waste products such as carbon dioxide, feces and urine must eventually be converted into oxygen, food, and water.

A closed ecological system must contain at least one autotrophic organism. While both chemotrophic and phototrophic organisms are plausible, almost all closed ecological systems to date are based on a phototroph such as green algae.

Examples

A closed ecological system for an entire planet is called an ecosphere.[2][3]

Man-made closed ecological systems which were created to sustain human life include Biosphere 2, MELiSSA, and the BIOS-1, BIOS-2, and BIOS-3 projects.[4]

Bottle gardens and aquarium ecospheres are partially or fully enclosed glass containers that are self-sustaining closed ecosystems that can be made or purchased. They can include tiny shrimp, algae, gravel, decorative shells, and gorgonia.[5]

In fiction

The 1993 novel This Other Eden by Ben Elton featured the development of "claustrospheres" which were closed ecological systems contained within a dome in which people could take refuge in the event of environmental collapse.

The critically panned 1996 comedy film Bio-Dome involved the protagonists becoming trapped in a closed ecological system being run as an experiment.

gollark: You can get an extra, not very useful sense.
gollark: The last one is probably "doctor of science".
gollark: You could probably tag cars automatically if you had tons of manually tagged ones for training.
gollark: If I had to do a particularly long form like this I'd write some accursed JS to pick all the answers randomly.
gollark: 9.

See also

References
  1. I. I. Gitelson; G. M. Lisovsky & R. D. MacElroy (2003). Manmade Closed Ecological Systems. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-415-29998-5.
  2. "A Lexicon of the Spheres" (PDF). Oregon State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-18. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  3. "ESO 2 Science 11: The Ecosphere and the Ecosystems". Science Helpdesk.
  4. Salisbury FB; Gitelson JI; Lisovsky GM (Oct 1997). "Bios-3: Siberian experiments in bioregenerative life support". BioScience. 47 (9): 575–85. doi:10.2307/1313164. JSTOR 1313164. PMID 11540303.
  5. "What is an EcoSphere? (Shrimp and Gorgonia coral)".


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