Role of organisms in the regulation of migrations of chemical elements and transfer of matter in ecosystems
On the basis of the data accumulated in ecology, hydrobiology, limnology, and biological oceanography, some conceptual conclusions could be made. The classification of migrations of elements, as proposed in this paper, can include the following types: vectorial and stochastic, cyclic and non-cyclic migrations. The role of the living matter in regulation of that which proportion of matter (chemical elements) undergos any of those types of migrations is analyzed. The author considers both groups of factors (biotic and abiotic ones) as important in that regulation. The structurization of the migrations of chemical elements on the surface of Earth is under the combined and complex control of the both groups of the factors. Extending the area of usage of the unique adjective proposed by V. I. Vernadsky ("biocosny", which means formed as a pro- cess and result of the combined and closely interwoven action of biotic and abiotic factors; the adjective consists of two parts, "bio" and "cosny", the latter means "inert" in Russian and reflects the sum of abiotic factors), we consider the complex biocosny regulation of migrations of matter and chemical elements in the biosphere, including the regulation of dichotomies at the points of bifurcations among the vectorial and stochastic, as well as cyclic and non-cyclic types of their migrations. The conceptual conclusions are based on the empirical data in literature and the results of our experiments (e.g., Ostroumov, Kolesnikov 2000, 2001; Ostroumov 2001).