A simple thermodynamic model for evaluating the ecological restoration effect on a manganese tailing wasteland

Wu, Zijian; Wu, Xiaofu; Yang, Zhihui; Ouyang, Linnan

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2016.12.008

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…To do so we can consider the following analysis of the individual CESL terms: The term −⟨Δ E i ⟩ 1→2 represents the change in internal energy from a CGS1 to a CGS2. We can simply approximate the internal energy of a system to the chemical energy resulting from the addition of the chemical potential of n components of the systems (Jorgensen, 2007; Wu et al, 2017). It is challenging to calculate an exact value for the internal energy of a complex system as it is technically difficult to measure the chemical potential of all its components.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A hierarchical thermodynamic imperative drives the evolution of self-replicative life systems towards increased complexity

Menéndez

2021

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From a basic thermodynamic point of view life structures can be viewed as dissipative open systems capable of self replication. Energy flowing from the external environment into the system allows growth of its self replicative entities with a concomitant decrease in internal entropy (complexity) and an increase of the overall entropy in the universe, thus observing the second law of thermodynamics. However, efforts to derive general thermodynamic models of life systems have been hampered by the lack of precise equations for far from equilibrium systems subjected to arbitrarily time varying external driving fields (the external energy input), as these systems operate in a non-linear response regime that is difficult to model using classical thermodynamics. Recent theoretical advances, applying time reversal symmetry and coarse grained state transitions, have provided helpful semi-quantitative insights into the thermodynamic constraints that bind the behaviour of far from equilibrium life systems. Setting some additional fundamental constraints based on empirical observations allows us to apply this theoretical framework to gain a further semi-quantitative insight on the thermodynamic boundaries and evolution of self replicative life systems. This analysis suggests that complex self replicative life systems follow a thermodynamic hierarchical organisation based on increasing accessible levels of usable energy (work), which in turn drive an exponential punctuated growth of the system's complexity, stored as internal energy and internal entropy. This growth has historically not been limited by the total energy available from the external driving field for the earth life system, but by the internal system's adaptability needed to access higher levels of usable energy. Therefore, in the absence of external perturbations, the emergence of an initial self replicative dissipative structure capable of variation that enables access to higher energy levels is sufficient to drive the system's growth perpetually towards increased complexity across time and space. Furthermore, the self-replicative system would adopt a hierarchical organisation with all permitted energy niches evolving to be optimally occupied in order to dissipate the work input from the external drive and further adapting as higher energy levels are accessed. This model is consistent with current empirical observation of life systems across both time and space and explains from a thermodynamic point of view the evolutionary patterns of complex life systems on earth. We propose that predictions from this model can be further corroborated in a variety of artificially closed systems and that they are supported by experimental observations of complex ecological systems across the thermodynamic hierarchy.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A hierarchical thermodynamic imperative drives the evolution of self-replicative life systems towards increased complexity

Menéndez

2021

Preprint

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“…Detailed experimental information has been presented in previous work (Ouyang et al, 2016;Wu et al, 2017). The experiment plots, sample analysis and equations for calculation are briefly described below.…”

Section: Applied Remediation Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a record of the restoration process history of the plant community, the data show the dynamic changes in its ecological and thermodynamic states. The effect of the applied restoration method has been partly discussed in previous papers (Wu et al, 2017;. Some of the main results are briefly summarized below:…”

Section: Dynamic Changes In the Restoration Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The key factor that led to the differences in C T and N between Plots I and II was the type of applied fertilizers. However, as the organic manure was only addressed to the rooting area of the transplanted species in Plot I for reducing the remediation cost (Wu et al, 2017), the rapid increase in the number of native plant species spreading over the entire area of Plot I suggested that the root growth and metabolic activities of the transplanted species and decomposition of their fallen branches and leaves had also played important roles in promoting the growth of other native species and enhancing the species richness of the plant community particularly in later years.…”

Section: Contribution Of Plant Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermodynamic analysis of an ecologically restored plant community：Process and diversity

Wu²,

Chen

et al. 2020

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The experimental data used for testing the applicability of the thermodynamic equations presented in the theoretical section were obtained from an ecological restoration project implemented at a manganese tailing site. Restoration of the plant community was shown to be an irreversible process characterized by spontaneous increases in its total biomass CT and total number of plant species N associated with increases in its enthalpy H, Gibbs free energy G and entropy S. Species enrichment was the cause for the decease in mass ratio xi (biomass of a species Ci divided by CT) and biomass growth potential μi (the partial derivative of Gi with respect to Ci). The increase in s/CT (s denoting the ratio of S to gas constant R) associated with decrease in f/CT (f denoting the ratio of G to RT) with increasing N confirmed that the restored plant community possessed natural trends towards increase in its species richness and evenness. The observed trends gave support to use of the thermodynamic functions for describing the productivity-biodiversity relationship. The present analysis did not fully prove the use of the Shannon form of information entropy as a biodiversity index for the investigated plant communities. Because of the presence of significant differences in individuals among species, the biodiversity of the plant community could not be uniquely determined by its individual numbers. In comparison, the entropy factor s was shown to be a suitable biodiversity index. The fact that N is the key factor that determines the changes in s/CT and f/CT makes N >0ausef ulindexf ordeterminingthedirectionof spontaneouschangesf orallopensystemswithcontinuousinputof matterandenergy.Asameasureo

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“…There are more rigorous formulations (e.g. Wu et al, 2017) as well as critical discussions (e.g. Volk and Paulus, 2010).…”

Section: Three Examplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Wiesner et al., 2018

Anonymous

2018

Preprint

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Wiesner et al. analyze energy use efficiencies for three different forested ecosystems along a moisture gradient using the framework of maximum entropy production. This is an interesting approach but needs a far more critical overview and careful analyses than what is presented currently. Major Comments The authors need to provide a more detailed overview of the concept of entropy. Are these concepts definable for biological systems? What are the caveats? How do they fit in with the second law of thermodynamics (and concepts of disorder and free energy)? C1

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A simple thermodynamic model for evaluating the ecological restoration effect on a manganese tailing wasteland

Cited by 6 publications

References 33 publications

A hierarchical thermodynamic imperative drives the evolution of self-replicative life systems towards increased complexity

A hierarchical thermodynamic imperative drives the evolution of self-replicative life systems towards increased complexity

Thermodynamic analysis of an ecologically restored plant community：Process and diversity

Review of Wiesner et al., 2018

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