An Analysis of Functions in Ecosystems

Viorel Pâslaru
Philosophy Dept., University of Cincinnati, and Romanian Academy

     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: June 15, 2005
     Presentation date: 07/14/2005 2:00 PM in MACK 238
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
I argue that the dominant conceptions of functional analysis are not sufficient to account for functions in ecology. I show that functions in ecology can be explained by applying the account of Robert Cummins.

In the first part of the paper, based on the role of functional groups in ecological explanations, I show that ecology needs a specific account of functions. Accordingly, (1) I underscore the distinctive character of ecosystems by examining the current view on this topic, (2) I show why the dominant accounts of functional analysis by philosophers are not sufficient in ecology, and (3) I argue that ecological role functions is the adequate conception.

In the second part of the paper, I develop an account of ecosystem functions. First, I show that functions are identified against the backdrop of a broader theoretical framework. In the case of ecology, the physico-chemical perspective of energy and nutrients cycling and the population/community perspective form the relevant theoretical framework. Against this backdrop, functions implicit in ecological explanations turn out to be (a) ways of energy acquisition and (b) organismic factors that determine distribution and abundance of organisms and their interrelationships. Second, I argue that Robert Cummins’s concept of functional analysis is most suitable for analyzing ecosystem functions. Thus, ecosystem capacities, e. g. biomass production, are explained by examining how its functional groups and organization enable it to have those capacities. Functional groups are classes of organisms that share similar traits according to an analytical account. The exercise of an organism’s trait identified in the light of an analytical strategy is the function of that trait and it determines the ecological function of the organism. However, numerous ecological descriptions do not relate functional groups to any systemic capacities. To account for these cases, I use a suggestion by George V. Lauder derived from Cummins’s approach. I show how ecological functions are the actions of phenotypic characters in certain contexts.