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An heuristic model of transformations of the aquatic ecosystems
of the
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin
Henry A. Regier1
& James J. Kay2
1Institue
for Environmental Studies, University of Toronto, Toronto,
Ontario, M5S 3E8, Canada
2Department
of Environment and Resources, University of Waterloo, Ontario,
N2L 3G1, Canada
Received 4 June 1995; accepted in revised
form 20 November1995
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Abstract
Seminal works of the 1960s on open systems by Arthur
Koestler, Ramon Margalef and Richard Vollenweider are interrelated
here, with many other works on the science of aquatic ecosystems,
in a heuristic model of selected manifestations and transformations
of the aquatic ecosystems of the rivers and lakes of the Great Lakes
St. Lawrence River Basin, here perceived as a single loosely-integrated
ecosystem. Our empirical model is in the form of a tentative generalization
of a set of features and events - large-scale with respect to lime
and space in these aquatic ecosystems, with some suggestions of
recent relevant theoretical concepts from post-normal studies of
complex phenomena. Our work may be a step toward a more comprehensive,
bioregional, heuristic model of the Basin to include the aquatic
and terrestrial, as well as the natural and cultural ecosystemic
features.
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