Major ecological processes of interest to study the relationships between function and structure: 1. Organisms structuring activities influence physical properties and nutrient cycling; 2. Nitrogen cycling in intensively used systems; 3. Land-water interfaces as sinks/sources for organic matter and nutrients; 4. Gas exchange as modulated by ecosystem structures; 5. Silt and organic matter accretion; 6. Nutrient cycling in relation to major physical drivers; 7. Environmental stressors regulating structure and functions     Levels of observation and approaching scales for function-structure relationship studies:   A-Site (Population-environmental factor relationships) B-Area (Community-Environmental factors relationships) C-Ecosystem (Functions-community structure relationships regulated by environmental factors) D-Landscape (Interactions between ecosystems and human regulated function-structure relationships) E-Global (Global stressors and environmental factors regulating function-structure relationships)