Is it known what conditions cause the quickest speciation in an ecosystem, like the cambrian explosion?
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Cambrian had an extinction event preceding it? Aren't extinctions sometimes effects rather than causes, as with anthropocene?
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comes to mind: highly distinct niches; intense radiation/mutation; fast reproduction cycles; frequent boom and bust cycles
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KSR's Aurora provides fascinating acct of zoo codevolution/island biogeography in an interstellar voyage. Meticulously researched
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I think this is an open question in biology, though there are interesting theories. Nick Lane's books are worth a read.
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Two ideas I've heard:
-High energy flux
-Network of similar niches w/semi-permeable barriers between
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invasive species arriving in an environment with lots of distinct niches
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A greater number of niches will make a greater diversity of traits more or less viable somewhere.






