Gignoux, JacquesDavies, IanFlint, ShayneZucker, Jean-Daniel2015-12-101435-0629http://hdl.handle.net/1885/62600Since its inception, the ecosystem concept has been widely used in ecology and is increasingly finding application within other disciplines. In more recent times within ecology, however, it has been suggested the term is now obsolete. We argue that threeKeywords: boundary condition; complexity; computer simulation; conceptual framework; ecological modeling; ecosystem approach; ontogeny; software; theoretical study abstraction; complex system; ecosystem definition; hierarchy; landscape; ontology201110.1007/s10021-011-9466-22016-02-24