Balance of nature

"Balance of Nature" redirects here. For the film, see The Balance of Nature.

The balance of nature, also known as ecological balance, is a theory that proposes that ecological systems are usually in a stable equilibrium or homeostasis, which is to say that a small change (the size of a particular population, for example) will be corrected by some negative feedback that will bring the parameter back to its original "point of balance" with the rest of the system. The balance is sometimes depicted as easily disturbed and delicate, while other times it is inversely portrayed as powerful enough to correct any imbalances by itself.[1] The concept has been described as "normative", as well as teleological, as it makes a claim about how nature should be: nature is balanced because "it is supposed to be balanced".[2] The theory has been employed to describe how populations depend on each other, for example in predator-prey systems, or relationships between herbivores and their food source.[3] It is also sometimes applied to the relationship between the Earth's ecosystem, the composition of the atmosphere, and weather.[4]

The balance of nature, as a theory, has been largely discredited by scientists working in ecology, as it has been found that constant disturbances leading to chaotic and dynamic changes are the norm in nature.[5] During the later half of the 20th century, it was superseded by catastrophe theory, chaos theory, and thermodynamics.[6] Nevertheless, the idea maintains popularity amongst the general public.[7][8]

  1. ^ Root, Tik (2019-07-26). "The 'balance of nature' is an enduring concept. But it's wrong". National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Van Valen, Leigh (1973). "Pattern and the Balance of Nature" (PDF). Evolutionary Theory. 1: 31–44.
  4. ^ Kureethadam, Joshtrom (2014). "Impacts of Climate Change". Creation in Crisis: Science, Ethics, Theology. New York: Orbis Books. ISBN 978-1-60833-520-6.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Wu, Jianguo; Loucks, Orie L. (1995). "From Balance of Nature to Hierarchical Patch Dynamics: A Paradigm Shift in Ecology". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 70 (4): 439–466. doi:10.1086/419172. ISSN 0033-5770. JSTOR 3035824. S2CID 44197757.
  7. ^ Zimmerman, Corinne (October 2007). "Ambiguous, circular and polysemous: students' definitions of the "balance of nature" metaphor". Public Understanding of Science. 16 (4): 393–406. doi:10.1177/0963662505063022. S2CID 31030799.
  8. ^ Kricher, John (2009). The Balance of Nature: Ecology's Enduring Myth. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691138985.