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Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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The Invariance Maintenance Condition (IMC) - Translation for Ecological Population Regulation

IMC Companion #4 - Ecological Population Regulation
Authors: Thomas, Charles S.;

The Invariance Maintenance Condition (IMC) - Translation for Ecological Population Regulation

Abstract

The Invariance Maintenance Condition (IMC) [Thomas, 2026a] identifies the class of systems that actively maintain structural invariants under perturbation at measurable cost. This paper demonstrates that self-regulating populations satisfying density-dependent demographic dynamics meet all four IMC applicability conditions by their own internal logic. We provide an explicit variable-by-variable correspondence between IMC objects and standard population ecology objects, expressed in demographic and life-history terms. The maintenance cost column carries thermodynamic grounding via trophic efficiency, making this translation the second most directly grounded in energy units after nonequilibrium thermodynamics. We derive five predictions: a precursor demographic signal in vital rates preceding abundance decline; recovery hysteresis requiring active augmentation rather than passive perturbation removal; the extinction debt phenomenon as a structural consequence of the critical regime; intervention transfer efficacy between ecologically isomorphic populations; and a destruction threshold asymmetry distinguishing reversible population depression from irreversible carrying-capacity elimination. The ecology translation contributes one structural insight that is novel to the other translations in the series: the IMC’s invariant φ must be defined as a demographic regime rather than as an abundance threshold, because abundance is a partial and lagging indicator of viability regime membership. This distinction has direct implications for conservation monitoring practice.

Keywords

recruitment collapse, conservation monitoring, vital rates, regime shift, population regulation, minimum viable population, abundance vs viability, demographic viabillity, timescale indepedence, extinction debt

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
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