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When,
in a habitat (terrestrial, aquatic, or aerial)
one or more of the basic abiotic ingredients of
life (oxygen, food, or water) are in decline, we
say that the said habitat is being
ecologically pressed (ecopressed).
That ecopressure
could
come from two, and only two,
sources:
i)
one, coming from external,
uncontrollable factors (be it from a
drought, from a volcano eruption, or
from the impact of an asteroid),
called exter press or
outer press and
ii) the other, coming
from within the internal pressure,
called the inner or intra
press, resulted from the
self-induced ecopressure
process triggered by the most
dominant
species (domispec)
that, through its rapid overpopulation,
began rapidly depleting the natural
abiotic resources of that habitat which
was not able to replenish itself, to
keep up with the ever growing
consumption demand.
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asteroid
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We call ecological system (ecosystem), the
biotic-abiotic
(bioabi)
amalgam of a habitat.
A species from its birth experience continuously
ecological
pressure (ecopress).
Natural
selection (natsel),
through ecopress,
will differentiate and eliminate the less adaptable
species to the ecological
pressure
from the once that are more adaptable to it, creating as
such better adaptable
to change (adaptoc)
lineages. We formalize that recognition of the beneficial
effect of the ecopressure
to the successful development of species into
The First Theorem
of Ecopressure (1st TOFEC):
On The Beneficial Characteristic of Sustained
Moderate Environmental
Pressure
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A
quasi-steady and tempered ecopressure
is always beneficial and necessary for
the global development of
a
successful
species.
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Proof:
Natural
selection (natsel),
by eliminating species that are less adaptable
to the environmental pressure, will develop a
stronger more adaptable lineage for its
challenging evolutionary development.
Thus,
for a successful grow and evolutionary
development of a species, a steady, temperate
eco-strangulation is necessary being, as such,
most beneficial.
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Remark:
In studying the embryonal
Nature (Embryna),
we recognized (point 2, of the
Ultimate Marks of Creation)
that a stable material entity once created is
endowed, at its birth, with a
resistance
to change (RETOC).
As such, a stable
ecological
niche (ecolon),
upon its formation, is endowed with an inborn
RETOC.
For a most beneficial development, a moderate
controled ecopressure
must exist whose strength should stay
preferably close to, but not to exceed, the
upper limit of RETOC.
And at the end of the next page, we are going
to show how this beneficial development
(bendev)
is being manifested to the current evolved
human species.
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The Second Theorem
of Ecopressure (2nd TOFEC):
On
the Detrimental Characteristic for Lack of
Environmental Pressure
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The
less ecopressure
a species will have, the
weaker its resilience and
dominance will be. That is to
say, that the more protection
a
species
will have, the weaker and less
adaptable to change it will
end up to be.
As
such,
overprotective species are
dammed in their successful
development and doomed to
self-extinction.
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QED.
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The Third Theorem
of Ecopressure (3rd TOFEC):
The
Biotic-Abiotic Interdependence
Characteristic
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The
biotic
and abiotic
life develop a reciprocal interdependence
characteristic via their
ecological
pressure (ecopress),
as follows:
When
the biotic
life strangulates the
abiotic
life of the habitat by excessive
consumption, the
abiotic
life in turn, by not being able
completely to be replenished, will
begin strangulating the
biotic
life by reducing the available
consumption supply.
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Thus,
the evolution of an ecosystem
has an innermost dependency of its
ecopressure:
if
it is too excessive, it will perish
but,
if it is moderate, it will benefit by
flourishing.
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As such,
an ecopress
differentiation needs to be made between
a quasi steady ecopress
that is tempered and moderated and
of
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an
intense accelerated
ecopress
that is at the verge of passing a
tipping
point of no return
(tiponor).
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with the
first, exerting a beneficial influence, while the
latter, exerting a lethal influence, as detailed
below.
The Fourth Theorem
of Ecopressure (4th TOFEC):
On The Lethal Charcteristic
The
Strangulation (strang)
Theory
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An
excessive unabated and uncontrolable
ecopressure
will always turn destructive and lethal in the
end for that ecosystem.
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Proof:
As
long as the skewed
ecological balance (skeb)
is moderate and not exceeding the "strength" of
RETOC,
a tolerable quasi steady
skeb
will exist. However, if the
ecopressure
increases in strength and overpowers
RETOC,
an
oppressive relationship begins to develop: the
ecological harshness
(ergoharsh).
Now,
should the ergoharsh
continues unabated increasing in its strenght,
then such an increase will reach the
strangulation phase --the ecological
strangulation (ecostrang).
Continuing
on that path of unabated ecostrang,
that self-destructive path will reach, as in an
avalanche, the tipping
point of no return (tiponor)
after
which the stoppage of that self-destructive
process could no longer be possible.
Now,
we have entered into the ecological dooming
(ecodoom) final phase composed of the
ecological suffocation (ecosuff) stage
and the ultimate ecological graveyard
(ecograve).
In
a nutshell, the presented
ecological
strangulation (ecostrang)
theory
can be encapsulated as follows:
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QED.
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We have examined in here the global influence of
how an ecosystem
is being affected by the ecopressure
from being beneficial
(when applied steadily and in moderation) to becoming
lethal
when in excess (through excessive
eco-strangulation,
leading to the eco-suffocation
and
ultimately to the eco-graveyard
stages). The demarcation line between the
beneficial and lethal zones
is dictated by the line of RETOC.
Thus,
by 4th
TOFEC,
when that ecopressure
becomes far more intense, we say that the habitat
experiences an ecological
strangulation
(ecostrang).
In an ecostrang
habitat most, but not all*,
species will become extinct. We say now that the said
strangulated
species had undergone a mass strangulation (masstrang)
process.
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*Remark:
The
reason that some of the species of an
ecostrang
habitat would be able (marginally) to survive is
because those surviving species
(surspecs) did not face a direct brunt of
the lethal ecopressure.
As
such, surspecs
are the carriers of the subsequent
evolutionary cycle (evocycle) for that
strangulated
habitat.
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Now continuing with our ecological
strangulation (ecostrang)
theory,
we note of the Preponderance
Principle of Causality (PPOC)
from where we now introduce
The Evolutionary
Precedence Principle Of Strangulation
(EPPOS)
The
Evolutionary Precedence Over the Ad Hoc
Outer Environmental
Strangulation
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When
a habitat becomes ecopressed,
the outer
press
will be considered --as a cause-- only when
the
inner press
has
been ruled out. That is to say, that
the
inner
press
will
always take precedence over the
outer
press
in
the establishment of a mass extinction
(massex)
cause.
A
prime example of EPPOS
is the case of Dinosaur
(detailed below) whose extinction was proved to
be self-induced
(simex),
caused
by the inner
rater than of a speculative cosmic
asteroid
outer
ecopress.
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Futuristic
Outlook
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It
is hoped
that
EPPOS
will
cement the foundation of
the
Rational
Evolutionary Biology
(REB)
pioneered
by
Charles
Darwin
and
continued with
the
"punctuated
equilibria"
theory of
Niles
Eldredge
and Stephen
Jay
Gould
to
contrast with the
current
Speculative
Evolutionary Biology (SEB).
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From
EPPOS,
we
now introduce
The First Foundational
Theorem
of Mass Extinction (1st
FOTH)
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In
all mass
extinctions (massexes),
the dominant
species
(domispec),
that has triggered the habitat to become
strangulated (ecostrang),
will always end up extinct.
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Proof for the two (2) major eras:
before and
after (modern) human
intervention.
Case
I: Animal Intervention (The Dinosaur Case)
For
the Animal case, we have choosen the most
popular one, that of the Dinosaur.
Herbivorous
Dinosaurs
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Contrary
to the popular view, the Dinosaur alone, and not
an asteroid
nor other cataclysmic event, is responsible for
its own demise.
Indeed,
how the Dinosaur gradually had triggerd a
mass
extinction
for
the terrestrial habitat (terrahab)
was posted in the previous page and encapsulated
anew here:
Having
no (serious) predators and being
herbivore, it quickly saturated the
terrahab
with
its presence and overwhelmed the
natural "green" world that quickly
become exterminated.
With no food left and little oxygen
remaining,
the extinction of the Dinosaur is a
foregoing ecological conclusion
(ecolocon).
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Not
all terrestrial animals were wiped out by that
terrestrial mass extinction triggered by the
Dinosaur. Small nocturnal creatures living in
burrows were able to survive because, by the
gravity, molecules of oxygen were able to
conglomerate sustaining marginally the life
there.
Those
small creatures must have had spines covering
them, so when moving around in those burrows,
they were able to dislodge from the soil the
conglomerated oxygen needed for their breathing.
We will call such a tiny primitive creatures
with spine, a spinetas. The
spinetases
resemble echidnas or
porcupines.
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The
aquatic habitat (aquahab)
was not much affected by the
terrestrial mass extinction and, as
such, most of the maritime creatures,
including the crocodile,
amphibians and other land creatures
like lizards (that can live
in-and-out water), were able to survive
the Dinosaur's demise.
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Foundational
Corollary
On the Origin of Birds: The
Gliding/Flying
Lizard
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Proof:
The
mass
extinction
triggered
by the
Dinosaurs
has left a massive
trail of
destruction and
death. As noted,
the most prominent
terrestrial
survivor was the
nocturnal
spinetas.
Another
important survivor
groups that were
able to escape the
dinosaur's mass
extinction, that
depleted the
terrestrial
landscape of the
oxygen
(O2),
were the
amphibians
and
reptiles.
They were able to
survive because of
their connection
to the nearby
water
(H2O)
that is rich in
oxygen.
Some
lizards,
from all reptiles,
were able through
accidental
mutations, to
begin gliding from
one place to
another. That
gliding ability
was pushing their
bodies to
gradually
transform
themselves for
becoming better
gliders. And that
body
transformation
evolved into two
(2) major
directions: the
i)
interior and
the
ii)
exterior.
i)
The
internal
modification was
geared towards
transforming their
bodies from cold
blooded creatures
to warm blooded.
That evolutionary
transformation was
needed so that
they could survive
the cold weather
during the night.
As such, their
cardiovascular
system was
transformed. Their
heart was
modified,
acquiring another
chamber: from
three (3) to four
(4)
chambers.
ii)
The
external
modification was
geared towards
improving their
gliding
capability. That
evolutionary
transformation
dictated their
bodies to acquire
a more aerodynamic
shape and get rid
of the unnecessary
features that
interfered with
the gliding. As
such, they
dispensed of their
teeth and added a
toothless
beak.
The
primitive bird was
born.
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Note:
This Foundational Corollary
is a direct refutation of
the current prevailing view
that considers the origin
of birds not reptilian, but
dinosaurian.
That
dinosaurian hypothesis
emerged from the belief
that a
transitional
fossil
(tranfos)
was found that established
the dinosaur at the base of
the bird evolutionary
tree.
But,
that conclusion is
false
contradicting the
landmark
result
of how evolution occurs
in
the first place:
Evolution
(aka
POPvolution)
always occurs in saltation
or jumps.
From
there, it was recognized in
The
Principle of
Popvolution
that
no
transitional
fossils
(tranfoses)
can
exist
between
a
base
species
(baspec)
and
an
emerging
new species
(newspec).
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As
such,
the discovered
Archaeopteryx
fossil is NOT a
transitional
fossil
of
anything!
There
are NO
transitional
fossils
(tranfos)
to be found anywhere,
ever!
The
tranfoses
are in fact, as noted, the
primospecs.
At
best, as such,
that
Archaeopteryx
is a
primospec
fossil,
as recognized in
1868 by
Thomas
Henry
Huxley,
of a "very
dinosaur-like bird
" whose lineage
eventually become
extinct due to the
mass
extinction
triggered by the
dinosaur.
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The
lineage of the
modern
birds
started, as such, anew with
the demise of the
Archaeopteryx
lineage, and that
new
bird
lineage
started, as proved above,
with the
Flying
Lizard.
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Case
II: Human Made Intervention
The
human species has become the most dominant
species on the planet on all existing habitats
far exceeding thus the past dominance of the
Dinosaur that had only terrestrial
dominance.
This
human dominance, as in the case of the Dinosaur,
began depleting the Earth's natural resources on
one hand, and began destroying the
terrashield,
on the other hand. That relentless dual assault
on Earth's land and air, on one hand, with the
massive population increase, on the other hand,
created the necessary and sufficient condition
for the self-strangulation process to commence.
Famine, abrupt climate change, abrupt
deterioration of the quality of the air that we
bread --are sign that, as in an avalanche, that
the masstrang
has began. Time is ticking now for the
inevitable end. We are about to reach the
tipping point of no return (tiponor).
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The
existing Asteroid Belt in our Solar
System,
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The humans, as oppose to the Dinosaur, have the
capability of accelerating or
decelerating (but not eliminating) their
self-induced
"strangulation."
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An
snapshot on the systematic and
vast forest loss linked to
cattle farming in Brazil as
reported by
The Guardian.
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The acceleration could come by
ignoring the visible sign of the
"strangulation," by the massive
deforestation currently in place, or by
using (as an act of exasperation,
madness, or accidental) the lethal
powerful explosive weapons that we
have, capable not only to wipe out the
entire human species, but also capable
of blowing up the entire Earth
transforming it into another
asteroid belt in our Solar
System.
An
asteroid belt
fragment that could
be imagined as being
the remnant of Earth
after being
blown-up.
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The
deceleration could come by
making a concerted effort of protecting
and repairing the terrashield,
i.e., by putting a stop of the
depletion of the Ozone layer
and, by recognizing the importance of
curbing the global warming. To this, we
need to add the creation of a
massive global Forestation
initiative (Forin) that will be
able to increase substantially the
natural Oxygen
production.
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A
market in Mumbai, India. With a
population of over 1.4 billion,
India is set to pass China in
population.
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The
ultimate reason that, in the end, the human
species will perish is because, it has created
and continue to create, as in the case of
Dinosaur, an overpopulation that can no
longer be able to be sustained. It is indeed the
hope that the inevitable end will come later
than sooner.
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Moving on, we
introduce now
The Second Foundational
Theorem
of Mass Extinction (2nd
FOTH)
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The
self-induced
mass extinction (simex),
in the Cycle
of Life (Cycol),
acts as a turning
evolutionary point
(tep).
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Proof:
The surspecs
will change the direction of evolution with the
disappearance of domispec
that triggered the mass extinction
(massex). That change of direction in
evolution (codev) would created new
evolutionary oportunities that were barred by
the existence of domispec.
Thus, each massex
is being reduced to a turning evolutionary
point (TEP) that signals, in turn, the
starting of a new evocycle.
PS>
By EPOL,
simex
can be expanded regardless how a
massex
will originate, as the same "punctuated"
codev
with its TEPs
will emerge, as long as Earth, as a planet,
will preserve its integrity.
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Preview
of the Current Human Self-Induced
Extinction (SINEX)
(Paralleled
with the Dinosaurs
simex)
The
human species has evolved as the most dominant and
evolved species from the entire history of biological
evolution (biolev). That dominance triggered a
dramatic increase in population. That, as in the case of
Dinosaur, triggered a dramatic increase in the natural
terrestrial consumption of Earth's natural resources that
become in danger of depletion by not being able to be
replenished in time.
However,
the human species, unlike the Dinosaur, did not stop
there from the terrestrial consumption. We humans started
devouring the underground, as well. For combustion, we
humans become ravaging the underground fossil fuels
(fofuls) vested in coal and petrolium with the
accompanying flammable natural gas. When burned,
fofus
happened to release into the atmosphere the Carbon
Dioxide (CO2) that is not only a toxic
ingredient to life, but also is a heat entrapper in
Earth's "exhaling" mechanism!
The
destruction, by the humans, of Earth's natural ecological
environment --the ecocide, is now in full swing
assuring, as such, for SINEX
to
continue, with little resistence, the completion of its
deadly scenario.
With
the growing demand for fofuls,
a Carbon Dioxide Blanket (Cardiob) emerged
that entraps the heat dispersed from the surface of
Earth. That heat entrapment created a worming effect on
the planet that triggered a substantial increase in rain
storms and other violent activity due the increased
trappings of the vapor molecules from oceans reaching the
Cardiob.
A
massive climate change (clicha) with violent
atmospheric activity unable to escape from
Cardiob,
has began to dominate the new transformed climate.
Floods, increased rain activity, violent hurricanes and
typhoons, are now part of this new evolving
clicha.
In addition, with the temperature rise, the ice-self
melting of glaciers adding more water to Earth's oceans
puts the costal land and cities around the globe in
imminent danger of disappearing...
Migration
from inhospitable regions due to increased inhabitable
temperature, of permanent floods, of sinking cities, of
shortage of food, are unmistakable signs of the direction
that awaits us to see...
In
our biological study of Nature, we recognized that a
mass
extinction (massex)
will usher the way for a new hierarchical
evolutionary
cycle (evocycle)
to commence. We noted that the
surviving
species (surspecs)
of massex
will be the initiators of the new
evocycle.
We
call ultimon the ultimate evolutionary species
that was able to escape and survive massex.
On the "shoulders" of ultimons,
the direction of evolution of new evocycle
will be rested. As such,
ultimons
are indeed the turning
evolutionary points (TEPs)
in the grand tableau of biological
evolution (biolev).
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