Biodiversity and Constrained Information Dynamics in Ecosystems: A Framework for Living Systems

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Systems Biology
• Information Theory

Background:

• Ecosystem biodiversity is linked to energy-to-information conversion across living systems.
• Distinguishes between ex post adaptation (natural selection) and ex ante adaptability.

Purpose of the Study:

• Quantify synthetic ecosystem stability and biodiversity correlations.
• Propose a mechanism for biodiversity enhancement via inter-ecosystem interactions.
• Investigate ecosystem information carriers and state space dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Coalescence experiments with synthetic ecosystems.
• Quantification of ecosystem stability and biodiversity indices.
• Analysis of inter-ecosystem interaction effects.

Main Results:

• Identified correlations between biodiversity indices and ecosystem stability.
• Proposed a mechanism for increasing biodiversity through moderate interactions.
• Inferred species composition/genomic information as the ecosystem information carrier.
• Observed ecosystem changes constrained to a low-dimensional state space with predictable trajectories.
• Daily fluctuations were found to predict broader ecosystem changes.

Conclusions:

• Ecosystems possess a universal information dynamics framework.
• Biodiversity enhancement is achievable through controlled interactions.
• Understanding state space dynamics improves prediction of ecosystem behavior.