SYSTEM-LEVEL EFFECTS
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3441 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
One of the most startling system-level effect is that an established system's dynamics may block invasions by new species, even those endowed with superior characteristics.
In Roger LEWIN's words: “The network of connections between the species of the mature ecosystem protects those species from outside competition ” (1997, p. 31)
This remains true until the existing ecosystem is deeply perturbed, with a considerable disorganization of the interrelations network . In such a situation , a sudden collapse becomes possible.
According to LEWIN, such effects can also be observed in economy: New firms, even with a superior product, could be unable to introduce themselves in the productive circle, due to a kind of global inertia of the existing system.
The disorganization of an ecosystem (biological or otherwise) is frequently a progressive process and the collapse occurs only at a critical stability threshold . Some oceanic ecosystems have been thus affected in the recent years and one may wonder if similar effects cannot appear in economic and socio-political systems.