Physics of Life, Ep 3: Why is life so diverse?

18 snips

Feb 28, 2024

Delving into the enigma of life diversity, the podcast explores scaling laws in organisms and the ecological network of metastatic cancer. It discusses biodiversity in the face of climate change and the importance of scientific trans-culturalism. Exploring how organisms adapt to diverse environments through scaling laws offers prospects for future challenges.

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INSIGHT

Biodiversity and Scaling Laws

Scaling laws show a relationship between size and traits like lifespan and energy use.
Environmental factors cause deviations, leading to biodiversity.

ANECDOTE

Adaptation Examples

Aspens thrive in wildfire-prone areas, highlighting adaptation.
Balsa and mahogany trees demonstrate different survival strategies in the same environment.

INSIGHT

Wood Density and Survival Strategies

Balsa prioritizes rapid reproduction, while mahogany invests in longevity.
Denser wood offers climate change resilience, but many species lack this trait.

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Guests:

Brian Enquist, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Arizona
Pablo Marquet, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, Professor at Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Hosts: Abha Eli Phoboo & Chris Kempes

Producer: Katherine Moncure

Podcast theme music by: Mitch Mignano

Other music: Craig Smith, Justkiddink, MaestroALF, ComputerHotline, James Ro Davidson, SoundEnsemble, Trundlefly, Geoff Bremner, Newagesgroup, Oddmonoliths, Thepla

More info:

SFI programs: Education

Complexity Explorer: Origins of Life: Astrobiology & General Theories for Life - Scaling with Pablo Marquet

Books:

Scale by Geoffrey West
Scaling Biodiversity (Ecological Reviews) edited by David Storch, Pablo Marquet , James Brown
How Landscapes Change: Human Disturbance and Ecosystem Fragmentation in the Americas (Ecological Studies Book 162) edited by Gay A. Bradshaw and Pablo A. Marquet

Talks:

Better Forecasting our Ecological Future: Taming Big Data with Big Theory, Brian Enquist

Papers & Articles:

“More than 17,000 tree species are at risk from rapid global change,” in Nature Communications (January 2, 2024), doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-44321-9
“Metastatic cells exploit their stoichiometric niche in the network of cancer ecosystems,” in Science Advances (December 13, 2023), doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi79
“Environmental heterogeneity as a driver of terrestrial biodiversity on a global scale” in PPG: Earth and Environment (August 11, 2023), doi.org/10.1177/03091333231189045
“The number of tree species on Earth,” PNAS (Jan 31, 2022), doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115329119
“Globally important plant functional traits for coping with climate change,” in Frontiers of Biogeography (October 2, 2021), doi.org/10.21425/F5FBG53774
“Scaling from Traits to Ecosystems: Developing a General Trait Driver Theory via Integrating Trait-Based and Metabolic Scaling Theories,” Advances in Ecological
Research (May 4, 2015), doi.org/10.1016/bs.aecr.2015.02.001
“A general quantitative theory of forest structure and dynamics,” PNAS (April 28, 2009), doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0812294106