Drawing on contemporary thinking in the fields of geobiology and Earth System Science, this book presents a different way to study ecosystems. Talking about Gaian theory, it shows how the idea of fundamental ecological processes can be developed at the systems level, specifically their involvement in control and feedback mechanisms.

The book presents a way to study ecosystems that is not yet available in current textbooks but is resonant with current thinking in the emerging fields of geobiology and Earth System Science. It asks and endeavours to answer the question, "what are the really fundamental characteristics of living systems that might allow them to sustain life?" The author goes on to show how the idea of fundamental ecological processes can be developed at the systems level, specifically their involvement in control and feedback mechanisms. This is not a popular science book about Gaian theory, instead it is written as a text and is directed at a predominantly scientific audience.

This is a broad and wide ranging yet scrupulously scientific book on ecology. It is just what is needed for the understanding of the fast unfolding disaster of global climate change. I unhesitatingly recommend it to all concerned biologists and climate scientists.