An ecosystem is a complex set of relationships — the interactions of organisms that live in an interdependent environment. In an ecosystem, the web of connections between individuals and structures forms a self-organizing framework to support life.

Over the past decade or so the Jewish world has witnessed the emergence of a new landscape of innovative startups. These enterprises have created new entry points to Jewish life, and new ways of building Jewish community. This diverse and vibrant collective of new Jewish initiatives is an organic communal infrastructure for the Jewish community in the twenty-first century.

The Innovation Ecosystem: Emergence of a New Jewish Landscape is a snapshot of a habitat with over 400,000 participants and over $500 million in investment over the past decade. This new report by Jumpstart, The Natan Fund, and The Samuel Bronfman Foundation provides data, analysis, implications and recommendations about the emerging communal infrastructure of Jewish life for innovators and supporters of Jewish innovation.

The characteristics of ecosystems include diversity, adaptiveness, interconnectedness, resilience, regenerative capacity and symbiosis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Principles