System consequences of including recycle loops in the calculation of transformities.

LUCÍA ZARBÁ; MARK T. BROWN

Gainesville, Florida

Congreso; 8th Biennial Emergy Conference; 2014

Emergy Society

Ecosystems cycle energy and material through an intricate network of interactions between components. The processes that result from these interactions are unique and define the conditions that support the ecosystem?s biotic community and drive change. Although cycles are considered among the most important features of ecosystems they are often disregarded in the analysis due to methodological limitations (Allesina, 2009).Odum and Collins (2003) proposed a network-based emergy methodology that recognizes internal cycling energy as an additional driving force. The modifications consist in incorporating information of all elements of the network simultaneously while calculating the transformities. This method emphasizes the relevance of the complexity of the network structure in maximizing efficiency through recycling energy, at the same time that incorporates dynamism to the calculation of the transformities, increasing their sensitivity to changes in the system.In this paper we compare how the ?network-based? and ?classic? transformities affect the system properties of a trophic network of the Crystal River Estuary (Florida).