1. Origin of ecosystems.
2. A type of planetary engineering that can be a major stage of terraformation.

The primary stage of ecosystem creation is usually restricted to the initial seeding of microbial life.

3. A neologism created by Robert Haynes of York University in Toronto, Canada, "the making of an abode for life" and refers to the human creation of a self-sustaining ecosystem, or biosphere, on a lifeless planet.

In the context of space exploration, Haynes described ecopoiesis as the "fabrication of a sustainable ecosystem on a currently lifeless, sterile planet".