BIOMASS THROUGH TIME AS A TEST

Abstract:

The Medea hypothesis supports the view that life decreases the prospects for more life. Therefore it can be shown that biomass will eventually decrease through time and in fact is doing so now, as we will see in this chapter. Here we will look at two different ways of judging planetary biotic “success”—through diversity and biomass through time. We will begin with biodiversity. Has the change in species through time followed patterns pbkp_redicted by the Medea hypothesis, or some other pathway? DOES THE HISTORY OF BIODIVERSITY SUPPORT ONE HYPOTHESIS OVER THE OTHER? Animal and Higher Plant Diversity The history of biodiversity—the assembly and measurement of diversity and biomass through time—was first considered in the work of John Phillips, who is cbkp_redited with subdividing the geological time scale through the introduction of the concepts of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. Phillips, who published his monumental work in 1860, recognized that major mass extinctions in the past could be used to subdivide geological time, since the aftermath of each such event resulted in the appearance of a new fauna as recognized in the fossil record. But Phillips did far more than recognize the importance of past mass extinctions and define new geological

Año de publicación:

2009

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Fuente:

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