Thermodynamics, ecology and evolutionary biology: A bridge over troubled water or common ground?

Skene, Keith R.

doi:10.1016/j.actao.2017.10.010

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 157 publications

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“…2 1 -J u n 2 2 -J u n 2 3 -J u n 2 4 -J u n 2 5 -J u n 2 6 -J u n 2 7 -J u n 10 useful aspect is that MEP provides a different perspective to view biology (Skene, 2017). For the Siders Pond model, the perspective focused our attention on how microbial functional activity changes with the length of the entropy integration interval, △t.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MEP principle has been applied to both abiotic and biotic processes (Kleidon and Lorenz, 2005;Kleidon et al, 2010;Dewar et al, 2014b), and we have used MEP to model periodically forced methanotrophic microbial communities (Vallino et al, 2014) and investigate metabolic switching in nitrate reducing environments (Algar and Vallino, 2014). While MEP is consistent with Darwinian evolution, and likely guides its trajectory (Goldenfeld and Woese, 2011;Skene, 2015Skene, , 2017Judson, 2017), it has yet to gain general acceptance in theoretical or experimental ecological communities largely because of an insufficient number of case studies and uncertainty in how to apply it.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Maximum Entropy Production to Describe Microbial Biogeochemistry Over Time and Space in a Meromictic Pond

Vallino

Huber

2018

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Maximum Entropy Production to Describe Microbial Biogeochemistry Over Time and Space in a Meromictic Pond

Vallino

Huber

2018

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…He obtained a similar course of the dynamics of entropy production for lake systems [ 20 ], on the basis of which he concluded that this pattern is universal [ 21 ]. In another time scale of the system, Keith Skene [ 22 , 23 ] analyzing the production of entropy in the succession series showed that the production of entropy reaches its maximum at its final stage—climax. However, he left out the post-climax, crumbling community.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Energy Transformation Strategies by Ecosystems of the Boreal Zone (Thermodynamic Analysis Based on Remote Sensing Data)

Sandlersky

2020

Entropy

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The hypothesis of an increase in free energy (exergy) by ecosystems during evolution is tested on direct measurements. As a measuring system of thermodynamic parameters (exergy, information, entropy), a series of measurements of reflected solar radiation in bands of Landsat multispectral imagery for 20 years is used. The thermodynamic parameters are compared for different types of ecosystems depending on the influx of solar radiation, weather conditions and the composition of communities. It is shown that maximization of free energy occurs only in a succession series (time scale of several hundred years), and on a short evolutionary time scale of several thousand years, various strategies of energy use are successfully implemented at the same time: forests always maximize exergy and, accordingly, transpiration, meadows—disequilibrium and biological productivity in summer, and swamps, due to a prompt response to changes in temperature and moisture, maintaining disequilibrium and productivity throughout the year. On the basis of the obtained regularities, we conclude that on an evolutionary time scale, the thermodynamic system changes in the direction of increasing biological productivity and saving moisture, which contradicts the hypothesis of maximizing free energy in the course of evolution.

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“…This standpoint seems to be shared by several authors throughout the recent decades. Thus, several attempts to analyze the process of the origin and evolution of life and living systems, in general from a thermodynamic point of view haven been carried out and is found in current literature [ 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 ].…”

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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Thermodynamics, ecology and evolutionary biology: A bridge over troubled water or common ground?

Cited by 18 publications

References 157 publications

Using Maximum Entropy Production to Describe Microbial Biogeochemistry Over Time and Space in a Meromictic Pond

Using Maximum Entropy Production to Describe Microbial Biogeochemistry Over Time and Space in a Meromictic Pond

Solar Energy Transformation Strategies by Ecosystems of the Boreal Zone (Thermodynamic Analysis Based on Remote Sensing Data)

Thermodynamics in Ecology—An Introductory Review

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