Biotic Control of the Environment

V. V. Gorshkov *, V. G. Gorshkov **, V. I. Danilov-Danil’yan **,
K. S. Losev **, and A. M. Makar’eva **

* Komarov Botanical Institute, ul. Professora Popova 2, St. Petersburg, 197376 Russia

** Konstantinov Institute of Nuclear Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Gatchina, Leningrad oblast, 188350 Russia

Received October 12, 1998

Abstract—Anthropogenically undisturbed natural communities of species in the global biota represent a
unique mechanism for maintaining the environmental conditions appropriate for life on a local and global scale.
The stability of the present-day climate may be accounted for by the functioning of the natural biota. Informa-
tion on functions of the biota that are necessary and sufficient for stabilizing the environment is stored in the
genomes of species comprising natural communities. Utilization and transformation of the biota by man leads
to the distortion and loss of this information. After the disturbance and exploitation of natural communities
cease, the biota restores its ability to form and maintain the optimal environment for several decades.

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