Ecosystem and the Biosphere: Metaphors for Human-Induced

Material FlowsBy: Brian Ponczak

January 31, 2002

Sustainable Air Quality

Background

• Unnatural flows of materials by industrial and agricultural activities places stress on, and endangers the quality of the environment.

• Understanding anthropogenic material flows is a key to understanding sustainable development.

• “Industrial Metabolism” is a metaphor for describing how biological organisms produce, consume, and waste materials in an ecosystem.

• The ecosystem and the environmental spheres system are analogues of the “industrial metabolism” concept.

The Ecosystem Analog

• Biological flow of materials is maintained by 3 groups: producers, consumers, and decomposers.

• The ecosystem relies on complete recycling of materials by decomposers

• The anthroposystem is similar to the ecosystem however, lacks complete recycling of materials, and is therefore considered an “open” system.

Ecosystem-Anthroposystem Comparison

• The ecosystem is a “closed” system (i.e.- complete recycling).

• This could be due to the natural physical proximity between producers, consumers, and decomposers.

• The anthroposystem is “open” partly due to the great distance between producers and consumers, and the overall lack of decomposers.

• Mathematical models based on matrices can be used to the describe the physical transport of materials between producers, consumers, and decomposers.

• The ecosystem model does not address the placement of materials after the cycle has occurred.

Environmental Spheres Analog

• Materials on Earth are distributed between 4 environments: atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere.

• Atmosphere – Small storage capacity, great transporter of materials.

• Hydrosphere – A transporter and storage facility.• Lithosphere – Soil and rock are mainly used as storage

facilities for deposited matter.• Biosphere – Includes human activities, responsible for

energy and matter recycling, and changing chemical form of matter.

Summary

• Industrial organizations can be compared to biological systems that produce, consume, and decompose materials.

• The ecosystem provides a good explanation of the cycle of flow of materials.

• The environmental spheres analog explains where materials are deposited, in accordance with the law of conservation of matter.

What I have learned?

• The advantages and disadvantages of the ecosystem and environmental spheres analogues with regard to the “industrial metabolism” metaphor.

• The specific roles of each of the spheres in transporting and storing matter.