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Gaia as a complex adaptive system.

Timothy M Lenton1, Marcel van Oijen

  • 1Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh Research Station, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0QB, UK. tlent@ceh.ac.uk

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|June 25, 2002
PubMed
Summary
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The Gaia theory suggests Earth

Area of Science:

  • Earth System Science
  • Complexity Theory
  • Astrobiology

Background:

  • The Gaia theory posits that Earth's biosphere regulates planetary conditions.
  • Understanding planetary self-organization is crucial for astrobiology and Earth system science.
  • Complexity theory offers tools to analyze self-organizing systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To define the Gaia system and its environmental interactions.
  • To review the status of Gaia theory and apply complexity concepts.
  • To investigate if Gaia functions as a complex adaptive system (CAS).

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual review of Gaia theory and complexity theory.
  • Analysis of Gaia's self-organization and stability.
  • Modeling planetary self-regulation using cellular automata (CA) and Daisyworld simulations.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Exploration of evolutionary dynamics including variation, selection, and mutation.

    • Main Results:

    • Gaia is identified as a self-organizing system, not in a critical state, supporting life for 3.8 billion years.
    • The Daisyworld CA model demonstrates emergent self-regulation via life-environment feedback.
    • Local interactions can destabilize the system, but variation and selection promote stability.
    • The model exhibits self-organizing adaptive behavior in response to environmental forcing.

    Conclusions:

    • Complexity theory provides valuable insights into planetary-scale order and self-regulation.
    • Gaia exhibits self-organizing adaptive behavior, recovering from perturbations.
    • Artificial life (Alife) techniques can enhance feasibility testing of Gaia concepts.