Khanna, Aditya. “Exploring the Nature of Environmental Feedback in Daisyworld.” PhD diss., Moravian College, 2005.
Daisyworld is a hypothetical planet with a simple biosphere that demonstrates how a planet might self-regulate its climate. This model provides a mathematical basis for the idea that all life on the earth and its physical environment might be part of an interconnected web (Gaia hypothesis) and is used extensively in studying various ecological processes. The planet consists of two species of daisies whose growth rate is dependent upon temperature. However, the death rate of the daisies remains constant. It seems likely that the death rate should also be affected by climatic factors such as temperature. The objective of my research is to investigate the impact of altering the nature of environmental feedback in Daisyworld by making the death rate of daisies functionally dependent on temperature as well. My project questions the fundamental assumptions on which the environmental feedback in Daisyworld is based. I observed that making the death rate dependent on temperature does not alter the basic qualitative features of the model.