The Ecological Connection - Part 2: The Crash

Source: Civilization.Wika

Source: Civilization.Wika

How would you stand the test of time in the wake of a worsening climate? Would you venture out to new lands to find more habitable environments to live in? Or would you stay put, bunker down and try to adapt to the world around you? In all essence, I wouldn’t mind travelling to somewhere new, as long as it suited my ideal conditions. Civilizations though do not have that luxury since they are born out of opportunistic environmental conditions and are a stable entity spatially, which forces it to adapt to its unique circumstances (Linden 2006). 

Examples of basic Ecological Feedback Systems
Source (e-education)

This sounds very similar to what I mentioned in my last blog regarding ‘social complexity’. Actually, this is one of the easiest ways for civilizations to mitigate the effects of deteriorating climatic and environmental conditions (Linden 2006). By increasing complexity you have more trophic levels, by having more trophic levels you have more interconnected systems and by having more interconnecting systems you have more negative feedbacks to regulate your ideal living conditions (Butzer 1984).


Though there is a point whereby these systems will become less efficient to cope with the extreme conditions, pushing society closer and closer to an ‘Instability threshold’. Often the point of decay begins when complexity reaches an ‘Angle of Repose’ (Brunk 2002). For those who are not aware of this concept it is best described as a pile of sand, slowly you add more sand to the pile, increasing its height and slope; eventually there will come a point where the slope cannot  support the height and it collapses (Brunk 2002). In society, as this point is reached the permutations throughout the complex systems build up and up until finally *crash* it collapses (Brunk2002). 

 A diagram showing the concept of
'Instability Threshold' to usher in change
Source (Arctic Council)

These great big civilization, with all their technology and social ingenuity, developed because there way of life was being threatened by external factors, which results in a much steeper social order which places pressures on the whole system. This in turn causes the system to drift closer to the angle of repose and one that is reached, it’s only a matter of time before it reaches that threshold. A little bit ironic, isn’t it? 

So what happens to the society when it crashes? It does end well. Political power is lost, there is no order or bond keeping people together, leading to a shift in low population, low complex societies with very little socio-economic power or structure (Coombs and Barber 2005). More accurately they revert back to a nomadic stochastic way of life, which is more stable and more malleable to climatic conditions. This is the concept of Adaptive Systems and bring us full circle. So would you rather stay put and adapt, build up something great but easily undone by the forces of nature? Or would you like to be simple and track climate for a duller more flexible life.

How would you stand to test the time?

The Ecological Connection

In preparation for this blog post I had to do a little bit of hunting around, in order to try and understand the debate regarding climate as a factor to the fall of civilizations. Though to be honest, I couldn’t find much, if anything regarding an arbitrary proved or disproved debate. Instead I stumbled across a debate which encompassed the topic in the form of ecological principals, rather that the civilization is a living entity and thus can be defined and modelled around those ideas. 

Civilization V Indicators
Source: Steam Workshop

The birth of this idea dates back to the 1920’s, with scientists interpreting these societies as organisms which are born, developed and eventually withers away, often directed and led by creative individuals (Splenger 1926). Thinking in this kind of context it reminds me of playing Sid Mires Civilization V. I founded my little civilization and I developed and shaped it how I saw fit for that gaming experience. I ensured that its growth and economy was strong so that it could survive and progress. Though some ideas were haphazard and in retrospect led to my civilization becoming stagnant, falling apart and rebelling. 

Though the game is impressive in referencing back to West’s organism principal, it also highlights that the principal is not all that sound. Mainly that it neglects to account for internal and external systems which promotes the civilization grow and become sustainable (Butzer 1984). No longer viewed in isolation, but as a response to bring itself in equilibrium with its unique surroundings, this often increases the ‘social complexity’ of the civilization. Now that term might confuse some people, but the best way to explain it is in terms of an ecological concept, trophic levels.

A diagram showing examples of how human and natural systems interact internally and externally
Source: Marten 2001

Different Trophic level complexity
Source: Butzer 1980c

The more systems you have in place, the more people you need to run and mange those systems, and depending on the importance of said system will dictate where you are in terms of the trophic levels (Butzer 1980c). For example agriculture will be the base of the civilization, whilst the ruler and his advisors are at the top, dictating and affecting what’s below. The greater the complexity, the more resilient the system becomes to any changes which threaten to alter the status quo (deMenocal 2000).

So in essence the civilization is an opportunistic human ecosystem, but if that’s the case since climate ultimately controls the composition of an ecosystem, hasn’t climate got a very important role to play in the fate of the civilization?

Well the answer is yes, and no because these societies aren’t natural, they are human constructs and so even though they might show aspects of ecological principals, it doesn’t mean that it is going to react and behave like a system free from powerful intrinsic systems (Coombs and Barber 2005). Where am I going with this you might think? Well I’m going to go into more detail in my next post but I will give you a hint. Social Complexity.

Is that the factor which determines if your civilization can stand the test of time?