On the nature of ecodynamics

Abstract

Conventional physics is of little help in describing how ecosystems develop. Imbalances in material and energy usually equilibrate at rates that are much faster than changes in the internal structural constraints occur. Quantifying and following these internal constraints, therefore, constitutes the primary task for those who would describe ecodynamics. Many of the internal constraints link the biotic elements that constitute the ecosystem, and such connections often form self-entailing cycles. The combination of contingent behavior with auto-referential constraints engenders decidedly non-mechanical behaviors in ecosystems. It is impossible to treat explicitly all the hidden constraints in an ecosystem, and so an implicit phenomenological approach, akin to what is done in thermodynamics is attempted. The network of material or energy exchanges in the ecosystem is used as a surrogate to record all the effects of the hidden constraints. The attributes of this network can be quantified with the help of information theory, and the ensuing measures appear to provide an adequate description of whole system development. This description of ecodynamics clashes, however, with the normal conventions on how nature is considered to operate; hence, a new ecological metaphysic is suggested. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.