ABSTRACT
The idea that single-species groups, multi-species communities, and human societies can possess the properties of single organisms is a frequently recurring theme in human thought. Within biology, social insect colonies have been regarded in this fashion for centuries. More recently, Clements (1916) compared the succession of plant species that culminates in a forest, to the growth and development of a single organism. Odum(1969) compared ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling to the physiological processes of individuals. Wynne-Edwards (1962, 1986) proposes that populations evolve to avoid extinction, just as individuals evolve to avoid their own deaths. Margulis (1970,1981) proposes that eucaryotic cells are in fact tightly integrated communities of bacteria. Lovelock (1979) even portrays the entire earth as a kind of organism that regulates its atmosphere to be conductive for life.
