Twentieth Century Paradigm: Ecological Evidence Showing Interconnectedness

 

GAIA THEORY

Note: All posts are interconnected, so you are requested to read the previous posts before reading this post. 

In the previous section, the interaction of individual species with their environment was highlighted. The Gaia theory introduces a further ‘paradigm shift’ taking Earth as a single self-regulated organism, composed of all life tightly coupled with the air, the oceans, and the surface rocks, rather than focusing on various parts. This new paradigm shift was proposed by James Lovelock in the 70’s, as Gaia Hypothesis which became one of the most hotly-debated topics within scientific community.

This revolutionary hypothesis strongly points towards the dynamic interconnectedness and self-regulating nature of our planet Earth. It propounds that the Earth functions as an interconnected living organism which maintains conditions necessary for its survival. Lovelock defines Gaia as,

“. . . a complex entity involving the Earth’s biosphere, atmosphere, oceans and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet.”

Thus, Lovelock proposes that the planet earth apparently exhibits the strange property of keeping itself always fit and comfortable place for living things to inhabit. Our biosphere is the 3-dimensional geographic region where living organisms exist. Self-regulation is the property of the whole evolving system of life, air, ocean and rocks. This has been called the Gaia Theory.

 In the Gaian perception, our species along with its technology is simply inevitable part of the larger Natural scene. The three principal characteristics of Gaia as described below are considered important;

1.  Gaia’s most significant characteristic is the tendency to maintain constant conditions for all terrestrial life, provided, the state of homoeostatis[1] (of Gaia) is not interfered by human beings.

2.    Gaia has vital organs at its heart, as well as those that are expendable or redundant primarily at the periphery. What we are doing to our world will significantly depend on where we are doing it.

3.    Gaian responses to changes for the worse must follow cybernetic laws where the time constant and the gain in the chain are important factors.

Commenting on the prevailing worldview, Lovelock mentioned that we human beings are too obsessed with the belief that all that matters is the ‘good’ of human kind while foolishly forgetting how much we depend upon all the other living things on this planet. We need to love and respect the Earth with the same intensity that we give to our families and our tribe for our own happy survival. Thus, according to Gaia hypothesis we are parts of a greater whole. Our destiny is not dependent merely for what we do for ourselves but also what we do for Gaia as a whole. If we endanger her, she will dispense with us in the interest of higher value -life itself.

 Some Evidences Showing Self-Regulation

Following are scientific pieces of evidences given by Lovelock in his book titled as ‘Gaia Theory’ which indicate the self-regulated characteristics of Nature;

 Regulation of Earth’s Temperature

The systems of planet Earth can be thought of analogous to the workings of any individual organism, say, a human body, that regulates body temperature, blood salinity etc. So for instance, even though the luminosity of the sun – the Earth’s heat source – has increased by about 30 percent since life began almost four billion years ago, the living system has reacted as a whole to maintain temperatures at levels suitable for life.

Regulation of Salinity in the Oceans

There are evidences, directly and indirectly, which show that the salinity level of sea - water has varied very little in hundreds of millions of years from what is required to sustain life of sea creatures. It is incredible to understand that, despite broad flux differences as well as evaporation rates, the salinity of sea water is quite tightly self-regulated around 3.4 percent, making it conducive to aquatic animals.

 Constancy of water at Sea Level

Lovelock claims that there are evidences which show that the total volume of water, which is approximately 1.2 thousand million cubic kilometers, remains unchanged while the continents formed and deformed, sea level rose and fell, the polar ice melted and refroze.

Thus, Gaia theory clearly points towards the fact that there is interconnectedness and self-regulation or a dynamic order in Nature even without the intervention of human beings.

 

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[1] The tendency is towards a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, especially maintained by physiological processes.

Twentieth Century Paradigm: Ecological Evidence Showing Interconnectedness

 

Note: All posts are interconnected, so you are requested to read the previous posts before reading this post. 

Trophic Cascade 

The interconnectedness in various species can also be understood through an ecological phenomenon known as ‘Trophic Cascade’ coined by Rober Paine in 1980. It is caused by adding or removing top predators and causing reciprocal changes in predator and prey relative populations through a food chain, often leading to drastic changes in the structure of the ecosystem and nutrient cycling. For example, the absence of mountain lions in Zion National Park resulted in a decline in cottonwood trees due to an unchecked population of herbivores. Consequently, these changes in plant communities resulted in an increased stream erosion and a decline in the number of terrestrial and aquatic species including wild flowers, butterflies, reptiles and amphibians. While the addition of lions affected the overall variety of various species. It is found that the number of native fishes were also higher in the presence of Lions than in those without Lions. As another example, the elimination and gradual reintroduction of wolves in areas such as the Rocky Mountains has disclosed to researchers that in areas where wolves are absent, uncontrolled populations decrease the abundance of native plant species and their overgrazing leads to widespread destruction of forests and riparian habitats. While the reintroduction of wolves restores these ecosystems and further decreases the number of coyotes, thus improving pronghorn antelopes and other small mammals. The ethologist Rober Fantz demonstrates through experiments how species are born with the innate knowledge of the environment and maintain a harmonious relationship with it.

Normally, Darwin’s work is believed to have encouraged the attitude of ‘survival of the fittest’ thereby the powerful assuming the right to suppress and exploit the weaker ones. However, let us look at the following statement given in the last paragraph of Darwin’s ‘The Origin of Species’ which very much corroborates diversity and interdependence existing in Nature;

 “It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us.”

Systems Ecology

Systems ecology focuses on the properties of ecosystems from a system approach. For example, to see a forest through trees. Jorgensen defines six properties of ecosystems from a system perspective: (i) Ecosystems Are Open Systems – all ecosystems are open to exchange matter, energy, and information with the environment. (ii) Ecosystems Have a Hierarchical Organization- There is a hierarchy in ecosystems (molecules, cells, organs, species, populations, ecosystems, landscapes, regions, and the ecosphere) with various advantages such as any loss due to malfunctioning at any level may be repaired by other components of networks on the lower level. Thus higher networking means less vulnerability; each level has enough inherent ability to integrate the functions of the lower level and to coordinate with the functions of the upper level etc. (iii) Ecosystems Have a High Diversity- the ecosystems exist with high diversity that ensures a wide spectrum of services in networks. (iv) Ecosystems Have a High Buffer Capacity. (v) The Components of Ecosystems Form Ecological Networks- the components of ecosystems are enough capable to form networks. Recycling and reusing of matter and energy are made possible because of the networks. (vi) Ecosystems have a very high content of information- an individual has enough information to coordinate with its networks.

Deep Ecology

In 1973, the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss coined the phrase ‘Deep Ecology’ which is considered as an ecological and environmental philosophy promoting the inherent value of all living beings in the natural system regardless of their utility to human beings. It also gives guidelines for modern human societies to live with ecological balance. Deep Ecology proponents believe that Nature is not a resource that can be exploited freely to any extent by human beings. It is not difficult to observe that material goods do not guarantee fulfillment beyond a very moderate level and the biosphere is also threatened by over-consumption. Then, it seems imperative to define a new non-consumptive health paradigm. The ethics of deep ecology considers that the survival of any individual species -biotic or non-biotic- depends on the well-being of the ‘whole’ and offers eight principles to encapsulate this view. These are;

1. The well-being and flourishing of human and non-human life on Earth have intrinsic value in themselves. These values are independent of the perceived usefulness of the non-human world for human purposes.

2. Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.

3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs.

4. The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantially smaller population. The flourishing of non-human life also requires a smaller human population.

5. Present human interference with the non-human world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.

6. Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.

7. The ideological change will be mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent value) rather than adhering to the so-called ‘higher standard’ of living.

8. Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to implement the necessary changes.

Summing up all the above guidelines, it may be concluded that there is rich biodiversity and complex dynamic interconnectedness in Nature having inherent value regardless of their utility to human beings. Human policies and activities must be in coherence with these diversities.

Further Exploration

The understanding of interconnectedness in Nature provides an important basis for viewing sustainability as an integrated process. This perspective is further explored through SDGs-UV (Sustainable Development Goals in the Light of the Unifying Vision).