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Can ecosystems be healthy? Critical consideration of concepts
P. Calow
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of
Sheffield, Sheffield 510 2UQ, U.K.
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Abstract
Health, it is argued, implies that a system has an optimum
state that can be defended. For organisms and populations this can
be understood objectively and generally in terms of neo-Darwinian
principles. Similar reasoning cannot be applied to ecosystems. The
possible advantages and difficulties of applying this concept of
health to ecosystems are critically considered.
Keywords: analogy, control, fitness, optimization, teleology
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