Lynn Margulis 1938 - 2011
Symbiogenesis
“Her theories on the importance
of symbiosis—close partnerships
between different life forms in
nature - revolutionized our
thinking about how life evolves
and how earth systems function.”
“Brilliant at every turn, she could learn a new language quite thoroughly in months,”
“She could quickly digest difficult science concepts and then be able to translate
these for others.” - Douglas Zook @ Boston University, 2011
“Life did not take over the globe by combat,
but by networking” — Lynn Margulis
“The evolution of the eukaryotic cells
was the single most important event in
the history of the organic world,” said
Ernst Mayr, the leading evolutionary
biologist of the last century. “Margulis’s
contribution to our understanding the
symbiotic factors was of enormous
importance.”
Gaia

Lynn Margulis - Symbiosis is a key to evolution.

5 Kingdoms
“Gaia”
The Self-Organizing
Planetary Ecosystems
regulate
planet temperature,
ocean salinity,
atmospheric oxygen,
and many more.
Jim Lovelock
and
Lynn Margulis

Sorin Sonea - Bacteria don’t have species!
1983
Prokaryotology
2001

Baytown Marsh Lab Results
In Out
Ammonia, ppm 20.51 1.07
(NH3)
Chloroform, ppb 14.4 0.3
(CHCl3)
BPA, ppb 513 7
(hormone disruptor)

Anoxic Oceans - H2SOcean Methane Release

Biodiverse Past
200 years ago ?
1000 years ago ?
10,000 yrs ago ?
NOW
Extinction
Episode
Anoxic Oceans >
> Sulfur Extinction
(Peter Ward)
Methane Ice >
atmosphere - Very Hot!
(Reg Morrison)
Biodiversity Returns
Photosynthesis, Humification
Infiltration, Transpiration
Cover the Ground, Grazing
Microbes, Fungi, Dung Beetles
Beaver, A Conscious Humanity
(Margulis, Todd, Savory, C. Jones,
Stamets, Ingham, Shepard,
Mitchell-Innes, Judy, Shinn)
What Future
do
You Prefer?

“When you understand the power of self-organization, you
begin to understand why biologists worship biodiversity even
more than economists worship technology.”
“Hierarchical Systems evolve from the bottom up.
The purpose of the upper layers of the hierarchy
is to serve the purposes of the lower layers.”
from Thinking in Systems
by Donella Meadows
Places to Intervene in a System
12. Numbers - “Mostly, the numbers are not worth the sweat put into them”
(I’ll skip a few.)
4. Self-Organizing Systems (John Todd & Eco-Machines)
3. Goals (What do you want? - Allan Savory & HM)
2. Paradigms (Lynn Margulis - Microbial Symbiosis)
1. Transforming Paradigms (questioning your own beliefs and paradigms)

Paul Stamets