Weber, S. L., and J. M. Robinson. “Daisyworld homeostasis and the Earth system.” Scientists Debate Gaia: The Next Century (2004): 231-240.
This chapter examines the Daisyworld model’s steady-state solution with emphasis on the mechanisms that stabilize the system. This shows that to a large extent the model’s formulations decouple the equilibrium temperature from incoming radiation. Such formulations obviously stabilize the planetary temperature subject to variations in incoming radiation. The heat transport formulation used in the Daisyworld model is found to be essential to the model’s homeostatic behavior around a set point. Finally, the chapter reviews work that has altered the assumption of a fixed set point (the biological optimal temperature), showing that adapting daisies are no longer homeostatic. We hope that this analysis stimulates the search for a model based on more realistic concepts.