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July 8, 2011
Tim Flannery's book "The Eternal Frontier".
A vision of North America throughout the eons:
o The two vertical mountain ranges generate extreme
seasons and an exaggerated response to climate
changes. He calls this the "climate trumpet".
o The continent is periodically connected to and
invaded by species from larger land masses, and
then disconnected to evolve on it's own.
Flannery presents some general principles which
I gather are not controversial: typically the
species from larger landmasses defeat the smaller.
Presumably, the larger arena presents a tougher
challenge, and stronger evolutionary pressures.
Robustness is proportional to pool size.
Successful invading species are
(1) adapted to hard environments
(2) have a degree of altruism
("helpers at the nest")
There's also a pattern of older forms
surviving on the periphery, where after
a change in conditions, the old forms
may spread once again, and may become
dominant once more.
So: the periphery acts
as a library, a storage place.
CONNECTIVITY
CONTROL
UTOPIAN_BERLIN
Contending on a wide stage produces strength.
Hiding in small cracks increases diversity,
leads to resilience in the face of change.
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