Abstract:Throughout the history of life on earth, rare and complex innovations have periodically increased the efficiency with which abiotic free energy and biotic resources are converted to biomass and organismal diversity. Such macroevolutionary expansions have increased the total amount of abiotic free energy utilized by life and shaped the earth’s ecosystems. Meanwhile, Darwin’s theory of natural selection assumes a historical, worldwide state of effective resource limitation, which could not possibly be true if li… Show more
“…In a changing world, the rise of generalist species (and subsequent loss of specialists) appears to be a “blind” selection process (possibly resultant from natural reward; Gilbert, 2020) whereby natural systems maintain ecosystem functionality despite the continued loss or gain of species. Notwithstanding the “gloomy” reports of global entomofaunal communities (Wagner et al, 2021), there is growing support for general increases in freshwater biodiversity (Haase et al, 2019; Pilotto et al, 2020).…”
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
“…In a changing world, the rise of generalist species (and subsequent loss of specialists) appears to be a “blind” selection process (possibly resultant from natural reward; Gilbert, 2020) whereby natural systems maintain ecosystem functionality despite the continued loss or gain of species. Notwithstanding the “gloomy” reports of global entomofaunal communities (Wagner et al, 2021), there is growing support for general increases in freshwater biodiversity (Haase et al, 2019; Pilotto et al, 2020).…”
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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