Key Concepts

Every Society needs Laws and Rules of conduct to be able to function smoothly and efficiently. Each member of such a Society must know what is expected of them and what they each can best do to fit into the Society and what care is needed to be taken to avoid transgressing the rights and opportunities of others in that Society so as to avoid dangerous and even fatal consequences not only for themselves but also, to the Society as a whole.

Let us first look at how Nature deals with such a situation, before we get down to how humans did in ancient times.

In Nature

The Equatorial rain forest is a unique bio-environment with a great density of life, both plant and animal / insect population is a well functioning ecosystem.

The trees of the equatorial rain forest grow into tall vertical towers going up even over 150 ft. Life in such forests exists vertically in a complex manner making the best use of the many layers and niches that exist therein.

Life in the Emergent layer that rises above the Canopy is in constant sunlight even as the lower layers get less and less sunlight. The water from the daily rains, drops down quickly into the lower layers. This Emergent layer is occupied by many birds and lightweight animals.

Life in the Understory and on the Forest Floor is also, profligate and diverse, but here we look at only life in the Canopy, which comes in between these layers, and contains over 70 percent of the life in the rain forest to show us how life evolves rules to live in densely populated locations.

Here each of the species live within distinct sub-layers and niches. Although the strict distinctness of each layer or niche is arguable, as one layer or niche ‘grades’ into another, each is a unique biotic community containing different plants and animals adapted for life in that particular layer or niche. The quantum of sunlight, water and food available in each layer is a key criterion. The extra- ordinary density of life herein is possible due to the relationships amongst them.

Though the layers and even niches therein are related, each is a distinct world, and the plants and animals that live in each will need characteristics that best suit them to the unique conditions of their particular surroundings.

Each species faces opposition and even aggression as they move into other niches or layers, from the occupants of that layer or niche. However, in the long run, life in the canopy also, maintains a symbiotic relationship with other life there.

It is also, seen that a population with high density will have an increased rate of infections by pathogens that other life may expose them to, and therefore restricting themselves to specific niches helps protect all life therein from such infections.

Among the factors that determine the overall structure of a community are the number of species (diversity) within it, the numbers in each species (abundance) found within it, the interactions among the various species in a community, each occupying their own ecological niche. The niche of a species includes all of its interactions with other members of the community, including competition, predation, parasitism, and mutualism. Structures arise within communities as species interact, and food chains, food webs, ‘guilds’, and other interactive webs are created.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14