![]() ![]() ![]() Exergy has recently been proposed, from several directions, as a useful indicator of the state, structure and function of the ecosystem. Both have been applied in ecology since the 1950s and lately the concepts of exergy and entropy have been introduced. 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. Combining these views from the far from equilibrium thermodynamics to traditional classical thermodynamics, and ecology is obviously not going to happen without problems. 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. The last two decades have offered proposals for interpretation of ecosystems within a framework of thermodynamics. Ecosystems show a high degree of complexity, based upon a high number of compartments, interactions and regulations. This is not an easy task, as modern ecosystem theory exemplifies. To answer this we will need to give a scientific definition to concepts like sustainability, integrity, resilience and ecosystem health. How to predict the evolution of ecosystems is one of the numerous questions asked of ecologists by managers and politicians. ![]()
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