where potential density-dependent regulation might be 

 observed . 



The conclusions we have reached about the lack of a neat 

 and tidy "balance of nature" or "regulating mechanisms" may be 

 unsettling to some. There is, however, no reason for panic; 

 "chaos" is not as intimidating as it first seems. It is, 

 perhaps, a desire of most of us that there be order, 

 measurability , and predictability in our world. This desire 

 may have even affected Albert Einstein's lack of acceptance of 

 the uncertainty inherent in the guantum theory that eventually 

 evolved. This view reportedly led him to state emphatically 

 to Niels Bohr that "God does not play dice [with the 

 universe]" (Calder 1979). More recently, Joseph Ford, a 

 physicist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has answered 

 Einstein (guoted by Gleick 1988 p. 314): "God plays dice with 

 the universe. But they're loaded dice. And the main 

 objective of physics [or ecology] now is to find out by what 

 rules were they loaded and how can we use them for our own 

 ends . " 



Explanations for the behavior of weather, a major factor 

 influencing population dynamics, have come more and more to 

 rely on "chaos" theory (Gleick 1988). What at first appears 

 to be chaos, is upon further examination, channelized 

 randomness or ordered disorder (Gleick 1988). This "channel" 

 of variation (or loading of the dice) is measurable and 

 environmental variation and population level and dynamics will 

 remain within the bounds of that "channel". 



The lack of evidence for deterministic and consistent 

 self-regulation or other forms of density-dependent regulation 

 of many populations need not be controversial or disquieting. 

 Before, during, and continuing after the times we have argued 

 about mechanisms and theories of regulation, populations have 

 generally varied within natural channels. We have not found 

 the "balance of nature" we sought because we looked in the 

 wrong places. A "balance" does occur--it is in the 

 environment. There, over time, unfavorable conditions are 

 balanced by favorable conditions. Rarely, natural 

 catastrophes may perturb a population outside its "natural" 

 channel. In that case, another natural phenomenon may take 

 place — local or large scale extinction. 



More frequently of late, it seems, man's activities may 

 perturb environmental conditions beyond the natural channel of 

 animal adaptability. Extinctions that may result in these 

 cases are preventable and thus, are cause for concern. 

 Reliable information on natural environmental variability and 

 animal adaptability and fixed habitat requirements will be 

 necessary to address the impacts of human activities. 



330 



