Biogeographic Computation as Information Processing in Ecosystems

Abstract

Assuming nature can be investigated and understood as an information processing system, this chapter aims to explore this hypothesis in the field of ecosystems. Therefore, based on the concepts of biogeography, it further investigates a computational approach called biogeographic computation to the study of ecosystems. The original proposal in the literature is built from fundamental concepts of ecosystems and from a framework called a metamodel that allows the understanding of how information processing occurs. This chapter reproduces part of the content of the original proposal and extends and better formalizes the metamodel, including novel experimental results, particularly exploring the role of information and causality in ecosystems, both being considered essential aspects of ecosystems' evolution.