Abstract
The analysis of metabolic control has reached a high level of understanding of the regulation in cellular metabolic pathways. However, as soon as we leave the realm of cell compartments and enter into the demise of coordination at the organism or ecosystem level, control theory enters unstable ground.
Organisms act as individuals. Here, I compare control features at different levels of organization (cell to ecosystem), to indicate how we may approach understanding of control in complex and multiple-species systems.