چکیده :
Biodiversity is hierarchically structured both phylogenetically and functionally. Phylogenetic hierarchy
is understood as a product of branching organic evolution as described by Darwin. Ecosystem biologists
understand some aspects of functional hierarchy, such as food web architecture, as a product of
evolutionary ecology; but functional hierarchy extends to much lower scales of organization than those
studied by ecologists. We argue that the more general use of the term “evolution” employed by physicists
and applied to non-living systems connects directly to the narrow biological meaning. Physical evolution
is best understood as a thermodynamic phenomenon, and this perspective comfortably includes all of
biological evolution. We suggest four dynamical factors that build on each other in a hierarchical fashion
and set the stage for the Darwinian evolution of biological systems: (1) the entropic erosion of structure;
(2) the construction of dissipative systems; (3) the reproduction of growing systems and (4) the
historical memory accrued to populations of reproductive agents by the acquisition of hereditary mechanisms.
A particular level of evolution can underpin the emergence of higher levels, but evolutionary
processes persist at each level in the hierarchy. We also argue that particular evolutionary processes can
occur at any level of the hierarchy where they are not obstructed by material constraints. This theoretical
framework provides an extensive basis for understanding natural selection as a multilevel process. The
extensive literature on thermodynamics in turn provides an important advantage to this perspective on
the evolution of higher levels of organization, such as the evolution of altruism that can accompany the
emergence of social organization
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