The Niche, Its Hypervolume and the Entropy of Existence

Stevenson, David S.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-25550-3_7

David S. Stevenson²

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Abstract

Although life may be ubiquitous, the ultimate question is whether intelligent (or even complex multicellular) life is equally abundant. Moreover, given a few certainties, such as an energy and nutrient source, will life inevitably follow a path to complexity? Although Chaps. 8 and 9 deal with some specifics, this chapter will focus on developing some underlying ideas and principles that are likely to be applicable to all biological systems, no matter their origin or overall design. By the close of this chapter, you should be able to consider any number of planets in terms of their habitability for life in general—and in terms of whether complex and intelligent biology becomes likely. As a consequence, we can then address the so-called Fermi Paradox—why has ET not (officially) phoned us up?

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Notes

1.
For plant and animal species two other terms (Potential Evapotranspiration – PET – and precipitation) are often more useful terms.
2.
Shannon index, \( {H}_a^{\prime }=\sum \limits_{i=1}^a\frac{n}{N}\mathit{\ln}\frac{n}{N} \) and Simpson’s index, D = [N(N − 1)/Σn(n − 1)], where N is the community size and n is the population size for each species in the community. A population is defined as the number of individuals of a species in an area at a given time. A community is the sum of all of the members of each population in that area at that time.
3.
Simply swap “n” for “a” for the area of a patch of land with a characteristic; and “N” for “A” for the total area of land that is being considered. Otherwise, it is the same equation.

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Stevenson, D.S. (2019). The Niche, Its Hypervolume and the Entropy of Existence. In: Red Dwarfs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25550-3_7

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25550-3_7
Published: 12 September 2019
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