Assessment of ecosystem trophodynamic power: A model based on the power equation for an oscillating string

Abstract

The emergence of organic biophysics of ecosystems (OBEC: an interdisciplinary approach supported bythirteen previous articles in order to get a non-contingent explanation of ecosystem dynamics) may closethe gap between the foundation of ecosystem ecology in classical thermodynamics and the paradoxicalfact that conventional thermostatistics is currently regarded as useless to explain ecosystem functioning.The measurement of eco-kinetic energy (Eep) was the first step of OBEC. However, Eepassesses trophicenergy as a stock rather than a flow. In order to normalize the above-mentioned situation, this articleproposes a model to assess the average trophodynamic power (Pt ,avg: flow of eco-kinetic energy perspace-time unit) of ecosystems by extrapolating the equation of average power for an oscillating string.With such a goal, we quantified the power associated to oscillations of the difference between the stan-dardized values of species richness and evenness per value class of several species diversity distributions.In order to validate if Pt,avghas a reliable meaning, Pt,avgwas correlated with a wide spectrum of bioticand abiotic environmental factors, every of them with a well-known independent meaning. We hereinuse field data from three databases (inland water zooplankton, leaf litter invertebrates, and ruderal veg-etation) to test the reliability of this model. Our results showed that Pt,avgis correlated in a significantway, either positively or negatively, with important environmental factors. As a result, it is feasible touse the proposed equation as a reliable tool to measure the intensity of eco-kinetic energy flow understationary and non-stationary conditions. This proposal has advantages in comparison with conventionalmethods (e.g.: standing biomass, carbon fixation), and it is useful for monitoring anthropogenic impactson ecosystem metabolism.