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A Fundamental Principle Governing Populations

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Abstract

Proposed here is that an overriding principle of nature governs all population behavior; that a single tenet drives the many regimes observed in nature—exponential-like growth, saturated growth, population decline, population extinction, and oscillatory behavior. The signature of such an all embracing principle is a differential equation which, in a single statement, embraces the entire panoply of observations. In current orthodox theory, this diverse range of population behaviors is described by many different equations—each with its own specific justification. Here, a single equation governing all the regimes is proposed together with the principle from which it derives. The principle is: The effect on the environment of a population’s success is to alter that environment in a way that opposes the success. Experiments are suggested which could validate or refute the theory. Predictions are made about population behaviors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Marvin Chester

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  1. Marvin Chester
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Correspondence to Marvin Chester.

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Chester, M. A Fundamental Principle Governing Populations. Acta Biotheor 60, 289–302 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-012-9160-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-012-9160-6

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