Natural Systems

Name:  Natural System

Based on:  System (Abstract)

Each system will have its own purpose. Many of the systems identified will have their purpose within the context of an Ecosystem.

• Provide a natural physical environment for life to flourish (land, water, mountains, etc.)
• Evolve the biological organisms living on Earth

The stakeholders for a Natural System are formed in a Human Activity System where the members have an interest in the system-of-interest. There may be associated Human activity systems that form a cross-disciplined team to explore more of the aspects of a particular system. In addition to the humans (organisms), the following additional systems are also stakeholders:

• all organisms living in an ecosystem (whole planet or specific ecosystem)

• Any abiotic systems in the ecosystem (whole planet or specific ecosystem)

Each natural system will have their own unique boundaries and environment. Many of these are established by the ecosystem for the system-of-interest:

• Boundaries are established with the other types of systems
• Finite capacity and finite ability to maintain system integrity
• Interaction with other parts of the solar system (meteors, solar flares, etc).

Natural Systems consist of the following types of systems:

The following diagram highlights the types of Living Systems which are types of Natural Systems.

The natural systems provide a basis for the identification of ecosystems that include the following:

• Land (mountains, under sea, etc)
• Organisms (humans, animals, plants, trees, bacteria, etc)
• Water (including the water cycle).
• Atmosphere (air, protection, etc).

Note: A social system consists of organisms. This accounts for the social systems for ants, Bees and other living systems. When the social system contains one or more people, the social system is called a Human Activity System (HAS)..

Configuration / Scenario:

Describes any configuration / scenario attributes for a specific system-of-interest. This may not be appropriate for all system descriptions (e.g. patterns or abstract systems).