Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 15: Ecological Daisyworld with a: high complexity, b: intermediate complexity, c: low
complexity.
Other theoretical ecologists, intrigued by the growing acceptance of Gaian thinking in
science, and particularly in climatology, have begun to make their own models in which
life and environment interact. One of the most eminent was none other than the late Wil-
liam Hamilton, who was responsible for generating the theoretical insights later popular-
ised by his colleague Richard Dawkins under the rubric of the 'selfish gene'. Hamilton,
in collaboration with ecologist Peter Henderson, developed a model called 'Damworld',
set in a steep valley through which flows a tumultuous river with a narrow outlet in
which nutritious algae grow. A second species, a dam builder, roots itself in the sedi-
ments around the outlet and feeds on the algae. As the dam builders multiply, the dam
grows and so does the lake behind it, creating a great variety of new habitats for all sorts
of creatures that weave themselves into a complex emergent ecological community as
they are added one at a time. Some of these new species are dam busters that chew up
the dam to extract the nutritious organic binding material that holds it together. Others
eat the dam busters, and are eaten in turn by their own predators. Thus there is potential
for the dam to rise and fall repeatedly over time, and it often does, but the whole system
