I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 626 - 524: Failed Experiment

Within a Dome City, insects fly all over the sky, constantly devouring the leaves of planted vegetation, turning the once vibrant environment into a state of desolation and decay.

A massive infestation of insects reigns unchecked, overwhelming even other animals in this disaster, leaving streets littered with the corpses of small animals, which become prey to the insects, and even serve as breeding grounds for new ones.

"Failed again, huh!" Chen Xin sighed deeply upon seeing this scene, while the researchers around him who witnessed the same thing appeared utterly discouraged.

"It truly is incredibly difficult to artificially construct a stable ecosystem!" one researcher uttered in frustration, almost losing the will to continue.

This marked their seventeenth failure; although this attempt persisted longer than any previous test they had conducted, the ecosystem eventually collapsed due to the gradual death of birds and a near-exponential rise in insect numbers.

Before this, all sixteen previous attempts had also ended in failure.

The first attempt failed due to poor management of plant species, leading to toxins in plants' leaves killing the birds, then causing other animals to indirectly poison themselves, collapsing the entire ecosystem.

The second try, despite addressing plant species issues, fell apart because birds in the city were imbalanced due to pet cats hunting them, again leading to an insect outbreak and ecosystem collapse.

The third was due to a surge in bird numbers that ate all the insects; the fourth involved introducing predatory birds intending to maintain balance, but ordinary birds were wiped out over territorial conflicts; the fifth...

Chen Xin leafed through the experiment records, unwilling to recall exactly how each previous failure unfolded.

Across the seventeen experiments thus far, the shortest-lived ecosystem survived only seven months, while the longest, this current one, lasted ten years but ultimately collapsed.

"Where exactly did it go wrong? We've thoroughly considered the needs and output of every animal in the food chain, so why does it still collapse?" one researcher questioned bitterly, seemingly asking others while also questioning himself.

Confronted with this inquiry, Chen Xin helplessly sighed, "Eco-balance itself is exceptionally fragile. Any slight variable can easily disrupt the existing balance, forming a stable structure naturally requires a lengthy time to establish a coexistence relationship.

Our thinking of artificially grouping several species together to construct a balanced ecosystem…is truly too idealistic."

Though Chen Xin didn't believe it impossible, after so many failures, even he had to concede that a truly stable ecological environment isn't achieved merely by adding a few species.

Perhaps there exists a natural predator-prey relation between two species, but factors like population numbers, environmental carrying capacity, and other environment influences often result in outcomes that differ greatly from expectations, with theoretical and practical results frequently diverging due merely to one differing variable causing massive differences.

"Isn't our thinking flawed?" Although seventeen consecutive failures had left everyone discouraged, a researcher still proposed a new idea: "Every experiment before involved simultaneously releasing animals, and differing reproduction rates led to uneven species growth and an imbalanced ecological system, causing each to swiftly fall apart.

This time, we attempted breeding populations to a certain scale before staggered releases, resulting in the ecological system surviving ten years—outlasting all prior attempts—so shouldn't we adjust our thinking?"

"What you say makes sense, eco-balance should be a dynamic equilibrium, with flexible numbers among species to provide tolerance and self-correction capability for the ecological system, perhaps we indeed should change our perspective." Hearing this, Chen Xin nodded in agreement.

Previous experiments mainly relied on Professor Li's successful experience in researching ecological agricultural systems, combining species with coexistence relations according to consumption and supply chains, thinking it could build a balanced ecosystem.

But clearly, ecosystems aren't simply formed by combining a few species.

Changes in environmental factors especially affect species ecology, while interactions between different species influence each other.

In such circumstances, numerous variables ultimately impacting eco-balance exist, although Chen Xin can simulate various environment influences here, calculating a correct answer is impossible.

Or, there is a correct answer, but provided conditions are insufficient to calculate the optimal solution.

Facing repeated failures across seventeen experiments, shifting focus appears an advisable choice.

"Seems we've overlooked another crucial factor!" A researcher currently reviewing the tests spotted a blind spot in the reprisal.

Hearing the claim, Chen Xin turned curiously toward him: "What did you discover?"

"A city ecosystem is what we're supposed to be constructing, right? Yet, until now, it seems we've never included the city as a variable in the ecosystem, and always only simulated animal and plant ecology without factoring human presence." The researcher loudly stated his realization.

"That's indeed the case, but if we can't build a stable ecosystem without considering city and human activity, incorporating them might make equilibrium more challenging, no?" Despite agreeing upon his discovery, other researchers weren't fully onboard with his notion.

Here, Chen Xin clearly held different views, interrupting the researchers' dispute. After reflection, he suggested, "Since we're adjusting our approach, introducing city variables and human activity into the ecosystem as reference isn't a bad path, especially since that's our ultimate goal, incorporating them now improves calculation, doesn't it?

Furthermore, instead of this, shouldn't our emphasis be on how to initially construct this system to operate steadily, rather than repeatedly fail due to various causes."