Thermodynamic extremization principles and their relevance to ecology

Yen, Jian D. L.; Paganin, David M.; Thomson, James Robertson; Nally, Ralph Charles Mac

doi:10.1111/aec.12130

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 108 publications

(190 reference statements)

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“…size distributions; Yen et al . , ). More broadly, our approach could be used to relate structure and function in a range of biological networks (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thermodynamics provides some justification for the maximization of throughput, with several studies exploring links between maximization principles and ecological patterns (Kleidon, Malhi & Cox ; Yen et al . ). Thermodynamic approaches have been used to study the outcome of interspecific competition experiments (DeLong ), the broad‐scale distribution of vegetation (del Jesus et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Linking structure and function in food webs: maximization of different ecological functions generates distinct food web structures

Yen

Cabral

Cantor

et al. 2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Trophic interactions are central to ecosystem functioning, but the link between food web structure and ecosystem functioning remains obscure. Regularities (i.e. consistent patterns) in food web structure suggest the possibility of regularities in ecosystem functioning, which might be used to relate structure to function. We introduce a novel, genetic algorithm approach to simulate food webs with maximized throughput (a proxy for ecosystem functioning) and compare the structure of these simulated food webs to real empirical food webs using common metrics of food web structure. We repeat this analysis using robustness to secondary extinctions (a proxy for ecosystem resilience) instead of throughput to determine the relative contributions of ecosystem functioning and ecosystem resilience to food web structure. Simulated food webs that maximized robustness were similar to real food webs when connectance (i.e. levels of interaction across the food web) was high, but this result did not extend to food webs with low connectance. Simulated food webs that maximized throughput or a combination of throughput and robustness were not similar to any real food webs. Simulated maximum-throughput food webs differed markedly from maximum-robustness food webs, which suggests that maximizing different ecological functions can generate distinct food web structures. Based on our results, food web structure would appear to have a stronger relationship with ecosystem resilience than with ecosystem throughput. Our genetic algorithm approach is general and is well suited to large, realistically complex food webs. Genetic algorithms can incorporate constraints on structure and can generate outputs that can be compared directly to empirical data. Our method can be used to explore a range of maximization or minimization hypotheses, providing new perspectives on the links between structure and function in ecological systems.

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“…size distributions; Yen et al . , ). More broadly, our approach could be used to relate structure and function in a range of biological networks (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Linking structure and function in food webs: maximization of different ecological functions generates distinct food web structures

Yen

Cabral

Cantor

et al. 2016

Journal of Animal Ecology

Self Cite

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“…Our aim was to explore the implications of maximizing P, subject to suitable constraints [12], In this case, we considered a constraint on total biomass M, which could result directly from resource limitations (e.g., insolation, water, or nutrients). Total community biomass can be expressed as mp(m)dm = M, and our constraint on community biomass means that M takes a constant value for a given community at a particular point in time.…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…vie.gov.au §ralph.macnally@canberra.edu.au in community resource use. In particular, patterns in resource use might be linked to a broad suite of thermodynamic extremization principles, which suggest that thermodynamic systems tend toward a state of maximum rate of energy use (or entropy production), subject to relevant constraints (e.g., fixed total biomass) [12]. Thermodynamic extremization principles have received sporadic attention in ecology [13][14][15][16], but they have not been incorporated broadly into mainstream ecological thinking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamics predicts density-dependent energy use in organisms and ecological communities

et al. 2015

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Linking our knowledge of organisms to our knowledge of ecological communities and ecosystems is a key challenge for ecology. Individual size distributions (ISDs) link the size of individual organisms to the structure of ecological communities, so that studying ISDs might provide insight into how organism functioning affects ecosystems. Similarly shaped ISDs among ecosystems, coupled with allometric links between organism size and resource use, suggest the possibility of emergent resource-use patterns in ecological communities. We drew on thermodynamics to develop a maximization principle that predicted both organism and community energy use. These predictions highlighted the importance of density-dependent metabolic rates and were able to explain nonlinear relationships between community energy use and community biomass. We analyzed data on fish community energy use and biomass and found evidence of nonlinear scaling, which was predicted by the thermodynamic principle developed here and is not explained by other theories of ISDs. Detailed measurements of organism energy use will clarify the role of density dependence in driving metabolic rates and will further test our derived thermodynamic principle. Importantly, our study highlights the potential for fundamental links between ecology and thermodynamics.

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“…This includes an introduction to the Prigoginean world views of living systems as dissipative structures, ( Section 5.1 ) [ 109 ] that move toward a state of minimum dissipation ( Section 5.2 ) and evolve through instabilities and bifurcations ( Section 5.3 ). By the introduction of the hypothesis of the minimum dissipation principle we are moving in the direction of extremal principles to biological systems [ 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 ]. Later this principle has been criticized [ 116 , 117 ] and additional proposal describing ecosystems tendencies to obey a principle of maximum entropy production has been introduced [ 42 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermodynamics in Ecology—An Introductory Review

Nielsen

Müller

Marques

et al. 2020

Entropy

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How to predict the evolution of ecosystems is one of the numerous questions asked of ecologists by managers and politicians. To answer this we will need to give a scientific definition to concepts like sustainability, integrity, resilience and ecosystem health. This is not an easy task, as modern ecosystem theory exemplifies. Ecosystems show a high degree of complexity, based upon a high number of compartments, interactions and regulations. The last two decades have offered proposals for interpretation of ecosystems within a framework of thermodynamics. The entrance point of such an understanding of ecosystems was delivered more than 50 years ago through Schrödinger’s and Prigogine’s interpretations of living systems as “negentropy feeders” and “dissipative structures”, respectively. Combining these views from the far from equilibrium thermodynamics to traditional classical thermodynamics, and ecology is obviously not going to happen without problems. There seems little reason to doubt that far from equilibrium systems, such as organisms or ecosystems, also have to obey fundamental physical principles such as mass conservation, first and second law of thermodynamics. Both have been applied in ecology since the 1950s and lately the concepts of exergy and entropy have been introduced. Exergy has recently been proposed, from several directions, as a useful indicator of the state, structure and function of the ecosystem. The proposals take two main directions, one concerned with the exergy stored in the ecosystem, the other with the exergy degraded and entropy formation. The implementation of exergy in ecology has often been explained as a translation of the Darwinian principle of “survival of the fittest” into thermodynamics. The fittest ecosystem, being the one able to use and store fluxes of energy and materials in the most efficient manner. The major problem in the transfer to ecology is that thermodynamic properties can only be calculated and not measured. Most of the supportive evidence comes from aquatic ecosystems. Results show that natural and culturally induced changes in the ecosystems, are accompanied by a variations in exergy. In brief, ecological succession is followed by an increase of exergy. This paper aims to describe the state-of-the-art in implementation of thermodynamics into ecology. This includes a brief outline of the history and the derivation of the thermodynamic functions used today. Examples of applications and results achieved up to now are given, and the importance to management laid out. Some suggestions for essential future research agendas of issues that needs resolution are given.

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Thermodynamic extremization principles and their relevance to ecology

Cited by 17 publications

References 108 publications

Linking structure and function in food webs: maximization of different ecological functions generates distinct food web structures

Linking structure and function in food webs: maximization of different ecological functions generates distinct food web structures

Thermodynamics predicts density-dependent energy use in organisms and ecological communities

Thermodynamics in Ecology—An Introductory Review

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