Gaia and natural selection.
Evidence indicates that the Earth self-regulates at a state that is tolerated by life, but why should the organisms that leave the most descendants be the ones that contribute to regulating their planetary environment? The evolving Gaia theory focuses on the feedback mechanisms, stemming from naturally selected traits of organisms, that could generate such self-regulation.
School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. t.lenton@uea.ac.uk
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D005075:Biological Evolution; D018534:Earth, Planet; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D019419:Evolution, Planetary; D018559:Exobiology; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D005246:Feedback; D008954:Models, Biological; D010839:Phytoplankton; D012641:Selection, Genetic