Terraforming & Sustainability using Kudzu & Waste (cont. 4)

The other biological model of sustainability involves almost no waste at all as it involves symbiosis. A good example is a major Protist group: the Foraminifera. Though only “amoebae”, forams have exquisite tests (shells) which eventually cover the ocean floor. Both plankton and benthonic forams are common and abundant. Many foraminifera , though “animals” contain symbiotic algae. The algae flourish in the protoplasm and use the forams nitrogenous waste and carbon dioxide as plant food. In return the “animal” obtains carbohydrates and proteins. The system is entirely sustainable and the concept of “waste” has little meaning here. The end products of metabolism of one organism acts as food for the other organism. In fact some forams will digest the algae but retain the chloroplasts (kleptotrophy). I apply these two models, the rainforest and the symbiosis models to try & understand sustainability.