[Can’t say I understand it all yet – but I have a hunch it’s extremely interesting, maybe important]
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2024
Andrej Spiridonov[Opens in a new window] and
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/bretskyan-hierarchy-multiscale-allopatry-and-geobiomeson-the-nature-of-evolutionary-things/DB8A87F669AB8EA50E27D007EF55C033
Explicated by a 25-tweet thread from one author:
And here’s an LLM generated summary of the tweet thread:
Article published in “Paleobiology” on the third (Bretskyan) hierarchy of life, called the “zipper hierarchy” of eco-genealogical units.
The synthesis of major themes in hierarchical evolution theory: ecological (Vernadskyan) and genealogical (Linnaean) hierarchies, and major transitions in evolution.
Connection between ecosystem evolution, biogeography, and the Geological Time Scale hierarchy.
Bretskyan hierarchy composed of eco-genealogical units at various scales; smallest scales involve communities integrated by biotic interactions, potentially merging into holobionts.
As spatial and temporal scales grow, biotic integration becomes less likely, with geological structures playing a central role.
Geological structures determine geomorphology, geochemistry, and climate, leading to the separation and compartmentalization of biotas by abiotic barriers.
Larger geological structures enhance the individuality of biotas, exemplified by allopatric speciation.
[Definition: Allopatry, meaning ‘in another place‘, describes a population or species that is physically isolated from other similar groups by an extrinsic barrier to dispersal.]
Hierarchical allopatry works across all time and space scales, achieving greater importance at larger scales.
Biotic entities defined by geological structures are termed Geobiomes, which emerge, persist, and fuse due to geodynamics and planetary complexity scaling.
The largest and most integrated geobiome is Gaia, confined by the outer space barrier.
Systems Community of Inquiry 