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On the quantification of habitability: merging the astrobiological and ecological schools

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2018

Lien Rodríguez-López Open the ORCID record for Lien Rodríguez-López [Opens in a new window] ,
Rolando Cardenas Open the ORCID record for Rolando Cardenas [Opens in a new window] ,
Oscar Parra ,
Lisdelys González-Rodríguez ,
Osmel Martin Open the ORCID record for Osmel Martin [Opens in a new window]  and
Roberto Urrutia
Lien Rodríguez-López*
Affiliation:
Environmental Science Centre EULA, University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile
Rolando Cardenas
Affiliation:
Planetary Science Laboratory, Universidad Central ‘Marta Abreu’ de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
Oscar Parra
Affiliation:
Environmental Science Centre EULA, University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile
Lisdelys González-Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering, University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile
Osmel Martin
Affiliation:
Planetary Science Laboratory, Universidad Central ‘Marta Abreu’ de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
Roberto Urrutia
Affiliation:
Environmental Science Centre EULA, University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile
*
Author for correspondence: Lien Rodríguez-López, E-mail: lrodriguezl@udec.cl; rcardenas@uclv.edu.cu
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Abstract

In this paper, we connect ideas of the astrobiological and ecological schools to quantify habitability. We show how habitability indexes, devised using the astrobiologically inspired Quantitative Habitability Theory (QHT), can be embedded into ecological models of trophic levels. In particular, we address the problem of spatial-temporal scales. It turns out that the versatility of QHT allows to treat spatial and temporal scales typical of ecological studies. As a habitability index, we propose a new version of our Aquatic Primary Habitability, devised by some of us and formerly applied to saltwater ecosystems (both ocean and coastal) and now applied to freshwater. Although the aim of the paper is to outline the methodology rather than realism, initial steps for parameterization are considered for lakes of South-Central Chile.

Keywords

Freshwater ecosystemhabitability indexmodellingphysical–biological interactions
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 18 , Issue 5 , October 2019 , pp. 412 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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