Hoelzer G A, Smith E, Pepper J W
Department of Biology, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
J Evol Biol. 2006 Nov;19(6):1785-94. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01177.x.
Most evolutionary biologists cherish Darwin's theory of natural selection (NS) as the process of adaptive evolution more than 140 years after publication of his first book on the subject. However, in the past few decades the study of self-organization (SO) in complex dynamical systems has suggested that adaptation may occur through intrinsic reorganization without NS. In this study, we attempt to describe the logical framework that relates the general process of SO to the specific process of NS. We describe NS as a mechanism that coordinates the coevolution of species in an ecosystem to effectively capture, process and dissipate solar energy into the earth's shadow. Finally, we conclude that NS is an emergent process founded on the same thermodynamic imperatives that are thought to underlie all SO. This perspective suggests that the theory of self-organizing systems offers a broader physical context in which to understand the process of NS, rather than contesting it. It even suggests the possibility that there may be a physical basis for understanding the origin of the process of NS. Rather than being merely a fluke of nature, the origin of NS that may be driven by energy flows across gradients.
在达尔文关于自然选择（NS）的第一本著作出版140多年后，大多数进化生物学家仍将其视为适应性进化的过程而倍加珍视。然而，在过去几十年里，对复杂动力系统中自组织（SO）的研究表明，适应可能通过内在重组而非自然选择发生。在本研究中，我们试图描述将自组织的一般过程与自然选择的具体过程联系起来的逻辑框架。我们将自然选择描述为一种机制，它协调生态系统中物种的共同进化，以有效地捕获、处理太阳能并将其消散到地球的阴影中。最后，我们得出结论，自然选择是一个基于与所有自组织相同的热力学法则而产生的过程。这种观点表明，自组织系统理论为理解自然选择过程提供了更广阔的物理背景，而不是对其提出质疑。它甚至暗示，可能存在理解自然选择过程起源的物理基础。自然选择的起源可能并非仅仅是大自然的偶然现象，而是由跨越梯度的能量流驱动的。
