ECOLOGICAL RELEASE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1001 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented |
A sharp decrease in competitivity in an environment where numerous individuals or species have been suddenly eliminated through some catastrophic event .
In such cases, the rare survivors have an exceptional chance to massively increase their stature and/or their numbers. This phenomenon can be observed in a forest clearance or on recently cooled lava flows.
It has been conjectured that the massive evolutive radiation of big dinosaurs was caused by such an event. It was also possibly the case of the sudden success of mammifers after the seemingly catastrophic demise of the dinosaurs.
It would be interesting to see if an analogous effect takes place after catastrophic social upheavels (as for example pandemics , destructive wars or great economic crashes).