The Thermodynamic Meaning of Ecological Efficiency

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Abstract
Ecological efficiency (yield divided by available food) is defined in terms of fundamental thermodynamic principles, treating the population as an open system. The factors affecting efficiency are dissipation, energy, entropy, incident radiation, and also chemical potential, molar volume and quantity of both imported materials and waste products. The thermodynamic formulation of the efficiency concept makes it possible to state precisely the relation between efficiency and changes in any of these quantities as well as to determine the consequences of interdependencies among them where these interdependencies must derive from separate biological considerations.

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