Species Are to Ecosystems as Cells Are to the Human Body, According to a Mathematical Model

 ScienceDaily (May 16, 2011) — An ecosystem is like a great organism in that the species in it behave in a manner similar to the manner in which cells behave within the human body: the group forms a permanent entity, although the entities that form it are constantly being substituted. This is is the conclusion that can be drawn from a theoretical study carried out by researchers at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M -- Carlos III University of Madrid). These scientists have developed a mathematical model that recreates the behavior of an ecosystem in order to observe its dynamics and its reactions in different situations. And what they have discovered is that the ecosystem reaches a state in which it remains more or less unchanged, in spite of the fact that the species that make it up are continuously substituted by others, even to the point that a complete change takes place, similar to the change that occurs inside a human organism. "In short: the species change, but the structure does not,"     link