On the quantification of habitability: merging the astrobiological and ecological schools

Abstract

In this paper, we connect ideas of the astrobiological and ecological schools to quantify habitability. We show how habitability indexes, devised using the astrobiologically inspired Quantitative Habitability Theory (QHT), can be embedded into ecological models of trophic levels. In particular, we address the problem of spatial-temporal scales. It turns out that the versatility of QHT allows to treat spatial and temporal scales typical of ecological studies. As a habitability index, we propose a new version of our Aquatic Primary Habitability, devised by some of us and formerly applied to saltwater ecosystems (both ocean and coastal) and now applied to freshwater. Although the aim of the paper is to outline the methodology rather than realism, initial steps for parameterization are considered for lakes of South-Central Chile.

Habitability Models for Astrobiology

“…Astrobiologists have proposed many habitability models or indices for Earth, the Solar System, and extrasolar bodies in the last decade (e.g., Stoker et al, 2010;Schulze-Makuch et al, 2011;Armstrong et al, 2014;Irwin et al, 2014;Barnes et al, 2015;Silva et al, 2017;Kashyap Jagadeesh et al, 2017;Rodríguez-López et al, 2019, Seales & Lenardic, 2020. There are some specific universal biological quantities that can be used as proxies for habitability such as carrying capacity, growth rate, metabolic rate, productivity, or the presence of some requirements of life, or even genetic diversity (Heller 2020).…”

Habitability Models for Planetary Sciences

“…Astrobiologists have proposed many habitability models or indices for Earth, the Solar System, and extrasolar bodies in the last decade ( e.g. , Stoker et al ., 2010;Schulze-Makuch et al ., 2011;Armstrong et al ., 2014;Barnes et al ., 2015;Silva et al ., 2017;Kashyap Jagadeesh et al ., 2017;Rodríguez-López et al ., 2019, Seales & Lenardic, 2020. There are some specific universal biological quantities that can be used as proxies for habitability such as carrying capacity, growth rate, metabolic rate, productivity, or the presence of some requirements of life, or even genetic diversity (Heller 2020).…”

Construction of urban livability evaluation index system by principal component analysis combined with entropy value method

“…With the rapid growth of urban scale and economy, a series of urban problems such as overcrowding, environmental degradation, land tension, ecological quality decline, and so on arise. With the continuous improvement of living standards and the further pursuit of the living environment, living conditions, and survival state, people pay more and more attention to the human environment [1][2]. Developed countries usually take the human environment as the evaluation standard of urban livability.…”