"In the absence of sending the entire terrestrial biosphere, a fundamental unsolved problem arises: what is the minimum complexity of an ecosystem — dominated, as I have explained, by microbes — necessary for long-term sustainability? At what point, as more and more microbial species are dropped from the inventory of interstellar passengers, does the remaining ecosystem go unstable and collapse? Which microbes are crucial and which would be irrelevant passengers as far as humans (and their animal and plant food supply) are concerned?"
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 23:28:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015