TEACHING ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY THROUGH STUDYING SEWAGE-TREATMENT

The dynamics of ecosystem functioning can be difficult for students to appreciate when systems ore complex and difficult to quantify, in ter ms oi: How of energy and cycling of matter. Most 'textbook' examples o f real ecosystems ore based on data collected over many years of study A sewage treatment plant offers a working 'model' of on ecosystem but one which is still relatively complex, yet quantifiable. It is also a system which mimics a number of the transformations of energy and mat ter, which go in real ecosystems. It allows students to clearly unders tand the relationships between inputs and outputs, whilst being introd uced to the design principles of environmental engineering required to design such an artificial ecosystem.