Ecosystem Distributed Function
Purely distributed ecosystem control provides robustness to species loss, local adaptation, evolutionary innovation, and lack of single points of failure.
No central authority plans or coordinates the nitrogen cycle - the ecosystem-level function emerges from myriad individual actions, none coordinated by central planning.
Ecosystem function illustrates pure distribution. Ecosystems lack any central coordinating authority; no organism directs ecosystem-level processes. Yet ecosystems exhibit emergent regulation and relatively stable function. Consider nitrogen cycling in a forest: no central authority plans the cycle - each organism acts according to its own metabolic needs and the ecosystem-level function emerges from myriad individual actions.
Business Application of Ecosystem Distributed Function
Purely distributed ecosystem control provides robustness to species loss, local adaptation, evolutionary innovation, and lack of single points of failure. Limitations include no goal-directed optimization, vulnerability to novel stresses, slow coordinated response, and tragedy of the commons.