Earth's biodiversity balances the Universal's gravitational response of mass creation

According to Whitehead (2007), nature is apprehended by the human mind as a network of events. Each event has factors that possess intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics, of which only the extrinsic aspects are observable. Observability requires extension and duration in space and time, both of which are implied by mass. Mass, however, is not understood as a simple substrate of inertial or linear momentum or energy. Instead, it functions as a dynamic and hidden factor inherent to events and is inseparably linked to another hidden factor which is gravitation.

Building on this framework, we have integrated Whitehead’s concepts of space, time, and mass into Verlinde’s emergent theory of gravity. Verlinde (2017) conceptualizes gravitation not as a fundamental force but as a memory effect arising from changes in quantum information and the competition between short- and long-range entanglement entropy within de Sitter space. In this model, mass acts as a hidden variable that alters quantum entanglement, thereby contributing to the emergence of spacetime and gravity. The gravitational response to baryonic matter redistribution minimizes the memory effects of external perturbations in condensed matter systems. Verlinde interprets this response as an apparent positive dark energy and describes gravity as a pressureless fluid, revealing its nature as an intrinsic elastic property of spacetime characterized by stress and strain.

If gravitation is understood as an elastic response, then entropy production depends on the balance between strain and stress. In elastic systems, including Earth, entropy decreases under stress and increases under strain. Furthermore, biological life plays a significant role in Earth’s entropy dynamics. As argued by Penrose, living organisms contribute to a reduction in planetary entropy by organizing matter and energy, thereby reinforcing entropy reduction when stress dominates over strain.

To examine biodiversity within this thermodynamic framework, we adopt Hubbell’s Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography. This theory treats species as functionally equivalent and explains biodiversity patterns through stochastic processes such as reproduction, immigration, and emigration. Species abundance follows a lognormal distribution, allowing biodiversity to be quantified using Shannon entropy, with the standard deviation serving as a key parameter.

We estimated entropy density production across multiple ecosystems by combining satellite-derived monthly land surface temperature data (LST) from MODIS & SENTINEL (1 x1 km grid) with energy balance calculations based on the Stefan–Boltzmann law using latent heat flux data from FLUXCOM-X (1 x 1 km), and linking these results to ecosystem-specific Shannon entropy values globally over the period 2003-2020. Our analysis includes 11 ecosystems worldwide, eight located within national parks with minimal human impact and three adjacent control areas subjected to anthropogenic activity, enabling comparative assessment of natural and human-influenced systems.