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Evolution, Motor of the Changing Biosphere

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Creative Complex Systems

Part of the book series: Creative Economy ((CRE))

Abstract

The biosphere, representing the entity of organisms, has changed since it started 3,490 million years before present. Biodiversity increased steadily in the Phanerozoic starting at 541 million years ago, and was interrupted by five mass extinctions. The motor of this increase is organismic evolution caused by changing environmental conditions. Microevolution explains changes in the species’ life span and diversification by speciation. Macroevolution is responsible for extreme changes during speciation leading to higher taxonomic units (genera and families). Macroevolution is the main motor for rapid recovering of environments after mass extinction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Geozentrum, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Johann Hohenegger

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  1. Johann Hohenegger
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Correspondence to Johann Hohenegger .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RIEB, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan

    Kazuo Nishimura

  2. Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Masatoshi Murase

  3. Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Kazuyoshi Yoshimura

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Hohenegger, J. (2021). Evolution, Motor of the Changing Biosphere. In: Nishimura, K., Murase, M., Yoshimura, K. (eds) Creative Complex Systems. Creative Economy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4457-3_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4457-3_17

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