---
_id: '4246'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Gaia theory, which describes the life–environment system of the Earth as stable
    and self-regulating, has remained at the fringes of mainstream biological science
    owing to its historically inadequate definition and apparent incompatibility with
    individual-level natural selection. The key issue is whether and why the biosphere
    might tend towards stability and self-regulation. We review the various ways in
    which these issues have been addressed by evolutionary and ecological theory,
    and relate these to ‘Gaia theory’. We then ask how this theory extends the perspectives
    offered by these disciplines, and how it might be tested by novel modelling approaches
    and laboratory experiments using emergent technologies.
author:
- first_name: Andrew
  full_name: Free, Andrew
  last_name: Free
- first_name: Nicholas H
  full_name: Nicholas Barton
  id: 4880FE40-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Barton
  orcid: 0000-0002-8548-5240
citation:
  ama: Free A, Barton NH. Do evolution and ecology need the Gaia hypothesis? <i>Trends
    in Ecology and Evolution</i>. 2007;22(11):611-619. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007">10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007</a>
  apa: Free, A., &#38; Barton, N. H. (2007). Do evolution and ecology need the Gaia
    hypothesis? <i>Trends in Ecology and Evolution</i>. Cell Press. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007</a>
  chicago: Free, Andrew, and Nicholas H Barton. “Do Evolution and Ecology Need the
    Gaia Hypothesis?” <i>Trends in Ecology and Evolution</i>. Cell Press, 2007. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007</a>.
  ieee: A. Free and N. H. Barton, “Do evolution and ecology need the Gaia hypothesis?,”
    <i>Trends in Ecology and Evolution</i>, vol. 22, no. 11. Cell Press, pp. 611–619,
    2007.
  ista: Free A, Barton NH. 2007. Do evolution and ecology need the Gaia hypothesis?
    Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 22(11), 611–619.
  mla: Free, Andrew, and Nicholas H. Barton. “Do Evolution and Ecology Need the Gaia
    Hypothesis?” <i>Trends in Ecology and Evolution</i>, vol. 22, no. 11, Cell Press,
    2007, pp. 611–19, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007">10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007</a>.
  short: A. Free, N.H. Barton, Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22 (2007) 611–619.
date_created: 2018-12-11T12:07:49Z
date_published: 2007-11-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2021-01-12T07:55:35Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.007
extern: 1
intvolume: '        22'
issue: '11'
month: '11'
page: 611 - 619
publication: Trends in Ecology and Evolution
publication_status: published
publisher: Cell Press
publist_id: '1856'
quality_controlled: 0
status: public
title: Do evolution and ecology need the Gaia hypothesis?
type: journal_article
volume: 22
year: '2007'
...