Ecoknowledge

Ecoknowledge

Some thoughts on ecology, evolution and economics

Archive for January 2013

Predicting cannibalism

Ecosystems are messy places.  The number of possible relationships between species grows exponentially with every species that enters the system.  A fairly typical foodweb (see image below) of 70 species has 4900 possible predator-prey interactions.  Despite that, food webs are suprisingly predictable. For one thing, most foodwebs have only 10-30% of the possible feeding relationships.  This… (read more)

Wearing out the fabric

The fourth of five fundamental theories in ecology that I outlined in my last post states that landscapes – and the services they offer us -will wear out if too much natural habitat is removed.  The actual percentage of the landscape that qualifies as “too much” is up for debate. The original “percolation theory” simulations… (read more)