摘要:This paper summarizes part of the available information on the structure and functioning of the Patagonian steppe. This information is presented hierarchically, from the regional level, based oil remote sensing studies, to detailed analyses about the recruitment of seedlings in different microsites of the steppe. We stress the importance of a proper definition of the scale of different problems in Ecology. We propose the use of the present work in undergraduate courses of Ecology, to discuss, based on a real regional system, a series of concepts, such as resource assessment, levels of perception, remote sensing, gradient analysis, competintion, environment-vegetation relationships and energy flow