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The emergence of environmental homeostasis in complex ecosystems

The emergence of environmental homeostasis in complex ecosystems
The emergence of environmental homeostasis in complex ecosystems
The Earth, with its core-driven magnetic field, convective mantle, mobile lid tectonics, oceans of liquid water, dynamic climate and abundant life is arguably the most complex system in the known universe. This system has exhibited stability in the sense of, bar a number of notable exceptions, surface temperature remaining within the bounds required for liquid water and so a significant biosphere. Explanations for this range from anthropic principles in which the Earth was essentially lucky, to homeostatic Gaia in which the abiotic and biotic components of the Earth system self-organise into homeostatic states that are robust to a wide range of external perturbations. Here we present results from a conceptual model that demonstrates the emergence of homeostasis as a consequence of the feedback loop operating between life and its environment. Formulating the model in terms of Gaussian processes allows the development of novel computational methods in order to provide solutions. We find that the stability of this system will typically increase then remain constant with an increase in biological diversity and that the number of attractors within the phase space exponentially increases with the number of environmental variables while the probability of the system being in an attractor that lies within prescribed boundaries decreases approximately linearly. We argue that the cybernetic concept of rein control provides insights into how this model system, and potentially any system that is comprised of biological to environmental feedback loops, self-organises into homeostatic states.
1553-734X
1-9
Dyke, James G.
e2cc1b09-ae44-4525-88ed-87ee08baad2c
Weaver, Iain S.
07d26f51-efdd-442b-8504-3c86b19e6106
Dyke, James G.
e2cc1b09-ae44-4525-88ed-87ee08baad2c
Weaver, Iain S.
07d26f51-efdd-442b-8504-3c86b19e6106

Dyke, James G. and Weaver, Iain S. (2013) The emergence of environmental homeostasis in complex ecosystems. PLoS Computational Biology, 9 (5), 1-9. (doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003050). (PMID:23696719)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Earth, with its core-driven magnetic field, convective mantle, mobile lid tectonics, oceans of liquid water, dynamic climate and abundant life is arguably the most complex system in the known universe. This system has exhibited stability in the sense of, bar a number of notable exceptions, surface temperature remaining within the bounds required for liquid water and so a significant biosphere. Explanations for this range from anthropic principles in which the Earth was essentially lucky, to homeostatic Gaia in which the abiotic and biotic components of the Earth system self-organise into homeostatic states that are robust to a wide range of external perturbations. Here we present results from a conceptual model that demonstrates the emergence of homeostasis as a consequence of the feedback loop operating between life and its environment. Formulating the model in terms of Gaussian processes allows the development of novel computational methods in order to provide solutions. We find that the stability of this system will typically increase then remain constant with an increase in biological diversity and that the number of attractors within the phase space exponentially increases with the number of environmental variables while the probability of the system being in an attractor that lies within prescribed boundaries decreases approximately linearly. We argue that the cybernetic concept of rein control provides insights into how this model system, and potentially any system that is comprised of biological to environmental feedback loops, self-organises into homeostatic states.

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Accepted/In Press date: 20 March 2013
Published date: 16 May 2013
Organisations: Electronics & Computer Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 354179
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/354179
ISSN: 1553-734X
PURE UUID: f1113915-cdc2-4325-95ac-eeae5a0a2d3f
ORCID for James G. Dyke: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6779-1682

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Date deposited: 03 Jul 2013 12:00
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 14:15

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Contributors

Author: James G. Dyke ORCID iD
Author: Iain S. Weaver

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