Levin Has It Right

Clifford Duke

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Published: December 11, 2001

"A principal difficulty, however, is defining what normative behavior is desirable" (Levin 2001).

Levin has it right. Furthermore, it is difficult to define the desirable composition of the system. For most organisms, the distinction between self and nonself is relatively clear, making allowances for such complications as gut flora. However, such a distinction is problematic at best for ecosystems; even defining an “invasive species” is a matter of human judgment. If a plant originates in New Hampshire and spreads to California, it may be considered invasive; but what if it spreads only to Vermont? The metaphor of immune systems in ecosystems, like that of the earth as an organism, is appealing, but overlooks important biological complexities.

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Levin, S. A. 2001. Immune systems and ecosystems. Conservation Ecology 5(1): 17. [online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/Journal/vol5/iss1/art17