Question

If the universal demands of the Principle of Least Action & Entropy Maximization abruptly ended tomorrow, present a cogent argument of how you would expect this to affect biodiversity and ecological processes in the future?

USE ONLY THOSE PRINCEPLES (competition, succession, autocatalysis and disturbance)

Answer 1

Competition:

Competition within and between species is an important in ecology, especially community ecology. Competition is an interaction between organisms or species. Both species are harmed due to competition. . Limited supply of resource like food, water, and territory used by both can be a factor of their extinction. Competition among members of the same species is known as intraspecific competition. Competition between individuals of different species is known as interspecific competition. Competition is not always straightforward, and can occur in both a direct and indirect fashion.

According to the competitive exclusion principle, species less suited to compete for resources either adapt or die. This lead to ecological imbalance. Competitive exclusion is rarely found in natural ecosystems. According to evolutionary theory, this competition within and between species for resources is important in natural selection. Competition may play less of a role than expansion among larger clades; this is termed the 'Room to Roam' hypothesis.

it is know that intraspecific competition can regulate changes in population size over time. This occurs because individuals become crowded as a population grows. Since individuals within a population require the same resources, crowding causes scarcity of resources. Some individuals do not acquire enough resources and die or do not reproduce results in reduction of population size and slows population growth.

Succession:

Ecological succession is a gradual process by which ecosystems change and develop over time.

There are two main types of succession:

• Primary,
• Secondary.

Primary succession is the series of community changes that occur on an entirely new habitat which has never been colonized before.

Ex: a newly quarried rock face or sand dunes.

Secondary succession is the series of community changes which take place on a previously colonized, but disturbed or damaged habitat.

Ex: after felling trees in a woodland, land clearance or a fire.

The species living in a particular place gradually change over time as the physical and chemical environment changes within that area.

Succession takes place through the processes of living, growing and reproducing. Organisms interact with it and affect the environment within an area, gradually changing it.

Each species is adapted to survive and compete best against other species under specific environmental conditions. If these conditions change, then the existing species will be outcompeted by a different set of species which are better adapted to the new conditions.

For example, change in the plant species present in an area is one of the driving forces behind changes in animal species. This is because each plant species will have associated animal species which feed on it. The presence of these herbivore species will then dictate which particular carnivores are present. Many thousands of different species might be involved in the community changes taking place over the course of a succession.

Autocatalysis:

An autocatalytic set is a chemical process associated with biological systems, is a group of entities (e.g. molecules and the chemical reactions between them), each of which can be produced catalytically i.e., triggered by other entities within the set, such that the entire set is able to sustain and reproduce itself from a basic food source. In simply terms, the set as a whole is self-sustaining and collectively autocatalytic.

In ecology systems, autocatalysis is regarded as a generalized form of mutualism. There is an association between organisms of two different species which benefits each member. In ecological systems focus is more on processes and than in objects. Hence, an autocatalytic configuration of two or more ecological processes is one in which the processes can be arrayed in a closed cycle, wherein each process in the cycle facilitates the next. Without loss of generality, one may focus on a serial, circular conjunction of three processes A, B, and C. Any increase in the rate of process A is likely to induce a corresponding increase in process B, which in turn elicits an increase in process C, and back to A.

A species must not only preserve itself, but also engage in autocatalytic feedback cycles (e.g. reward loops, function circles, autopoiesis, etc.) that contribute to the overall function of the local environment. The phenomenon of autocatalysis is considered a process of internal and external selection.

Disturbance:

In biology, a disturbance is a temporary change in environmental conditions that causes change in an ecosystem. They act quickly and with great effect and alter the physical structure of biotic and abiotic elements. Disturbance can also occur over a long period of time and can impact the biodiversity within an ecosystem.

Some of the ecological disturbances may include fires, flooding, windstorms, insect outbreaks and trampling. Earthquakes, various types of volcanic eruptions, tsunami, firestorms, impact events, climate change.

The devastating effects of human impact on the environment such as cutting, forest clearing and the introduction of invasive species can be considered major disturbances. Disturbance forces show immediate effects on ecosystems and can alter the natural community. Because of these impacts on populations, disturbance determines the future shifts in dominance, various species successively becoming dominant as their life history characteristics, and associated life-forms, are exhibited over time.