It's often said -- occasionally even by us -- that we currently know of but a single ecosystem, our own, with no other data points for reference. That's not precisely true. Although we know of no other naturally-occuring ecosystem (yet), it is possible to construct self-contained ecologies, receiving no input other than sunlight -- just like the Earth. The "Biosphere II" project, despite its many failings, stands as one of the biggest experiments in such construction. But it turns out that you don't have to buy up land in the Arizona desert to give the biosphere experiment a try. You can do it on your desk.
"EcoSpheres" are sealed globes containing filtered water, a variety of microorganisms and shrimp, able to live and reproduce for years, even a decade or more, with only sunlight as input. They come in a variety of sizes; the larger ones tend to last longer. They require no maintenance other than keeping them at a comfortable temperature.
I don't have one of these, and the various typos and clumsy constructions on the website give me some caution. The UK website is much better, however, and there are equivalent sites for a handful of other countries. Nonetheless, I'd have just checked the site and gone about my business had I not seen an essay by one EcoSphere owner -- Carl Sagan.
Sagan, an astronomer, was perhaps best known for trying to get non-scientists to think about the bigger picture of how humans affected their environment, and the potential for other environments on other planets. He wrote this about the globes:
Unlike an aquarium, this little world is a closed ecological system. Light gets in, but nothing else - no food, no water, no nutrients. Everything must be recycled. Just like the Earth. In our larger world, we also - plants and animals and microorganisms - live off each other, breathe and eat each other's wastes, depend on one another. Life on our world, too, is powered by light. Light from the Sun, which passes through the clear air, is harvested by plants and powers them to combine carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and other foodstuffs, which in turn provide the staple diet of the animals.Our big world is very like this little one, and we are very like the shrimp. But there is at least one major difference: Unlike the shrimp, we are able to change our environment. We can do to ourselves what a careless owner of such a crystal sphere can do to the shrimp.
I honestly don't know if EcoSpheres would have a particular pedagogical or philosophical value for most people. I have some doubts. Ecological simulations allow one to explore new parameters and learn from mistakes, for example, and one could argue that the EcoSphere is little more than an ant farm for the lazy.
But the underlying concept of an ecology one can observe over the months and years, one where a mistake -- leaving it in the dark for too long, or in the heat -- can lead to an unrecoverable catastrophe, has a certain metaphorical value. Watching the growth and decline cycles of shrimp and bacteria won't lead to any great insights into how best to manage environmental changes on Earth, but it may provide an ongoing reminder of the fragility and finality of the great wager we have made.
Sagan saw in the EcoSpheres a metaphor, as well, one not just of caution, but of hope. If we can figure out how to maintain our own planet, he believed, we could one day have the ability to shape other planets as well, responsibly, with foresight and wisdom. The Earth won't be our only example of a complex ecosystem forever.
(Via Bleepblog)
