ISLAND SYNDROME
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1786 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
The diminished resistance to environmental disturbances in small systems.
Small systems offer very limited variety , because specific traits (genetic, or cultural, for instance) appear in very few individuals, thus becoming easily lost.
This can be observed for example in animal and vegetal populations in islands or in natural reserves or parks of reduced extension. A small population , with limited genetic variety , can easily be wiped out by, for instance, a newly introduced predator or pathogen.
Such an event may well trigger a more extended instability in the ecosystem and lead to crashes in other species (D. Quammen, 1997) .
A similar effect has been observed in small aboriginal populations confronted with invasors. In Southern Argentina and Chile such populations were decimated by infectious diseases against which they had no immunity. Most of them finally became extinct and their cultural traits, as for examplelanguage , have been totally lost.
Cultural traits may also be lost when small populations accept new beliefs and ways of life introduced by colonizers.