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Monday, May 26, 2008 - 2:00 PM
82
Self-organization of biophysical complexity in riverscapes
Jack A. Stanford and Mark S. Lorang. Flathead Lake Biological Station, The University of Montana, 32125 Bio Station Lane, Polson, MT 59860-6815
Unifying first principles in ecology (e.g., evolution, trophic dynamics, succession) demonstrate a strong tendency for self-organization in ecosystems, owing to firm underpinning by physical laws, such as thermodynamics. We consider the physical laws that govern water and sediment flux and retention in river networks, in the context of self-organization of dynamic sediment structures that create n-dimensional habitat templates. Our result is “ordered” biophysical complexity, as opposed to chaotic behavior, strongly inferred, if not demonstrated, by coherence of the spectral signatures of geomorphic domains and various metrics of biodiversity and bioproductivity in river catchments among widely varying geographic settings. That dynamic, interactive habitat templates determine the nature of biodiversity applies generally in ecology when terrestrial and aquatic components are integrated in a large river catchment context.
Web Page: ecosystems, theory, biocomplexity