Ecosystem
The term ecosystem was first used in 1935 in a publication by British ecologist Arthur Tansley. Tansley devised the concept to draw attention to the importance of transfers of materials between organisms and their environment. He later refined the term, describing it as "The whole system, ... including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the environment". Tansley regarded ecosystems not simply as natural units, but as "mental isolates". Tansley later defined the spatial extent of ecosystems using the term ecotope.
Tundi Spring Agardy
In 2001, shortly after founding Sound Seas, Agardy began brainstorming with colleagues from the World Resources Institute about how to recognize the value of natural ecosystems for humanity. This led to her involvement with the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), which in 2005 published the first global evaluation of the status of ecosystems in relation to human well-being. Agardy headed the coastal portion of this comprehensive assessment, and was co-author of the summary document “Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Biodiversity Synthesis".