Biocomplexity: The Emergence of Ecosystem Pattern

0083566莱文生物系统，从生态系统到生物圈，支持我们在地球上的持续存在。 我们从中获取食物和纤维、燃料和药品。 生态系统调节当地和区域气候，稳定土壤，净化水，并一般提供我们所知的几乎无穷无尽的生命所必需的服务，保护生态系统和这些服务的理由显而易见;关键的挑战在于如何做到这一点的细节。关键在于理解生物复杂性--它是如何产生的，如何维持的，以及它如何维持我们从中获得的服务。本项目将研究维持作为我们生命支持系统基础的关键区域和全球进程的机制。 研究方法将结合联合收割机的经验和理论工作，记录组织的紧急法律，并通过复杂的建模产生和维持生物复杂性和可预测性的机制进行检查。

0083566LevinBiological systems, from ecosystems to the biosphere, support our continued existence on the planet. From them we derive food and fiber, fuel and pharmaceuticals. Ecosystems mediate local and regional climates, stabilize soils, purify water and in general provide a nearly endless list of services essential to life as we know it. The case for the preservation of ecosystems and these services is manifestly clear; the essential challenges are in the details of how to do it. The key is in understanding biocomplexity - how it arises, how it is maintained, and how it sustains the services we derive from it. This project will examine the mechanisms sustaining crucial regional and global processes that underlie our life-support systems. The research approach will combine empirical and theoretical work, documenting emergent laws of organization, and examining through sophisticated modeling the mechanisms that generate and maintain biocomplexity and predictable