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Sustainable systems as organisms?

Mae-Wan Ho¹, Robert Ulanowicz

¹Biophysics Group, Department of Pharmacy, King's College, London SE1 9NN, UK. m.w.ho@i-sis.org.uk

|June 30, 2005

Summary

Organisms and ecosystems are ideal sustainable systems, maintaining organization far from equilibrium. Analyzing them as organisms offers new diagnostic criteria for sustainability in ecology and economics.

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Area of Science:

Thermodynamics of organized complexity
Ecosystem dynamics
Sustainable systems analysis

Background:

Organisms maintain organization using metabolic energy, a phenomenon unexplained by classical thermodynamics.
A novel thermodynamics of organized complexity, based on nested dynamical structures, explains efficient energy transfer in organisms.
This model aligns with the dynamical structure of steady-state ecosystems.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore common features between organisms and ecosystems.
To analyze sustainable systems in agriculture, ecology, and economics through an organismic lens.
To extract indicators of system health and sustainability.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of organismic and ecosystemic organization.
Application of thermodynamic principles to complex systems.
Identification of diagnostic criteria for sustainability.

Main Results:

Viewing sustainable systems as organisms provides fresh insights into sustainability.
Diagnostic criteria for system health were identified for ecosystems (e.g., biodiversity, energy efficiency) and economic systems (e.g., resource regeneration, equitable exchange).

Conclusions:

Organisms are ideal sustainable systems due to their ability to maintain organization and avoid equilibrium.
The organismic model offers valuable diagnostic criteria for assessing the health and sustainability of ecological and economic systems.

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