ENERGY AND

EQUILIBRIA
• Energy exists in a variety of forms:
• Light
• Heat
• Chemical
• Electrical
• Kinetic
• Any form of energy can be converted to other
forms
• Heat can be converted to other forms only when
there is a temperature difference https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JH-GgLe1xs

ENERGY
• Energy can neither be created nor destroyed
• It can only change form
• The total energy in any system, including the entire
universe is constant and all that can happen is the change
in the form the energy takes
• This is known as the Law of Conservation of Energy

1 LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
st
• Heat is released in ecosystems because of INEFFICIENT
TRANSFER of energy

Energy conversion

Available energy Unavailable energy

Available energy

ENERGY IN ECOSYSTEMS
• As transfer and transformation of energy is not 100%
efficient, there is dissipation of energy which is not
available for work
• Energy goes form a concentrated form to a dispersed
form and so the availability of energy to do work
decreases and the system becomes increasingly
disordered – ENTROPY
• An increase in entropy reduces the energy available to do
work
• Universe – In billions of years time, entropy is increasing
so, no energy will be present

2 LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
nd
2 LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
nd
• Natural systems can never be isolated

THERMODYNAMICS AND
ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
• Open systems tend to have a state of balance among the
components of a system – they are in Equilibrium
• Equilibrium allows a system to return to an original state
following disturbance

THE NATURE OF EQUILIBRIA

 Eg. Death of a canopy
tree in a rainforest
Homeostatic
mechanism

No natural
systems are in
static equilibrium

STEADY – STATE AND

STATIC EQUILIBRIA
STEADY STATE EQUILIBRIUM
STABLE AND UNSTABLE
EQUILIBRIA
POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOP
 Alters the state of
the system away
from its original
equilibrium towards
instability

Contributes to
stability

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE

FEEDBACKS
• Is a critical threshold when even a small change can have
dramatic effects and cause a disproportionately large
response in the overall system
• Positive loops are destabilizing and tend to amplify
changes and drive the system towards a tipping point
where a new equilibrium is adopted

TIPPING POINT
• Antarctic ecosystem (case study)
• Arctic sea ice
• Greenland ice sheet
• West Antarctic ice sheet
• ENSO
• West African monsoon
• Amazon rain forest
• Boreal forest
• Thermohaline circulation (THC)

SYSTEMS AT THREAT FROM

TIPPING POINTS
 • https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html

EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION

(ENSO)
• Affected by sea surface temperature

WEST AFRICAN MONSOON

• Creates its own weather patterns with high levels of
transpiration leading to local rainfall
• So tipping point, leading to desertification. HOW?

AMAZON RAINFOREST
• 30C increase in global temperatures may cause:
• Increased water stress
• Decreased tree reproduction rates
• Increased vulnerability to disease
• fire

BOREAL FOREST / TAIGA

• Models are used to predict tipping points but they have their strengths
and weaknesses
• Delays involved in feedback loops makes it difficult to predict tipping
points
• No globally accepted definition
• Not all properties of a system changes abruptly
• Exact size of the impacts resulting from tipping points have not been
fully identified for all systems
• Complexity of ecosystems
• Not all systems have been examined
• Difficult to determine the causes – inherent or external
• Worksheet on Apo island and video: http://
www.mrgscience.com/ess-topic-13-energy-and-equilibria.html

PREDICTION OF TIPPING
POINTS
• RESILIENCE of a system refers to its tendency to avoid
tipping points, and maintain stability through steady-state
equilibrium
• Diversity and the size of storages within systems can
contribute to their resilience
• Eg. Rainforest – high diversity
• Grasslands – size of storages
• Ecosystems with higher resilience have nutrient-rich soils
which can promote new growth

RESILIENCE AND DIVERSITY

IN SYSTEMS
• https://sites.google.com/a/aisb.hu/mr-mac-s-house/ib-ess-
2017/topic-1-foundations-of-ess-16-hours/13-energy--
equilibria

TIPPING POINT AND RESILIENCE