ECOSYSTEM AS SELF-ORGANIZING CRITICAL SYSTEMS

The paper examines the following properties which are often associated with self-organizing critical systems: (1) Is the relationship betwee n body size and abundance for species in ecosystem a power law? (2) Wi lt the frequency with which observed changes exceeds a given change ve rsus the change follow a power law? (3) Will the typical frequencies o f 'avalanches' follow a power law? (4) Can the occurrences of 'avalanc hes' according to a well-examined ecosystem model be used to explain t he underlying causality? As the examinations give the clear answer 'ye s' to all four questions, and as many other properties of ecosystems a lso point towards ecosystems as self-organising critical systems, it s eems possible to support the hypothesis, that ecosystems are self-orga nizing systems. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.