Empirical cyclic stabilization of an oyster reef ecosystem

Theories of feedback control as a possible stabilizing mechanism have already been introduced into ecosystem analysis. One problem in the theory is the identification of the informational links by which such controls operate. Cyclic controls, for example, zero-mean sine functions added to certain exchange flows in the system, might also contribute to system stability. Their advantage is that they operate without need for information from the rest of the system. A theory of ecosystem cyclic control has also been developed. In this paper, an extended empirical application of the cyclic control concept is applied to an oyster reef ecosystem. The application technique is useful in exploring the stabilizability of a particular ecosystem but no theory now exists to predict the results.