Thermo-ecology: Exergy as a Measure of Sustainability integrates thermo-ecology and exergy replacement cost as a new and original tool called thermo-ecology cost, or TEC. This tool allows for a more inclusive measurement of the impacts of using renewable and non-renewable resources by including the thermodynamics law in decision-making and presenting applications of this tool across industries and lifecycle assessments. It includes ways to investigate these effects more effectively by combining these critical aspects. This combination has emerged as a valuable decision-support tool for policymakers and the industry as they seek to evaluate the impacts of a product or process. - Walks through what Thermo-Ecology Cost (TEC) is and why it gives a more holistic assessment when calculating the costs vs benefits of utilizing a natural resource - Provides a new and more efficient way to measure and evaluate the sustainability of resources - Includes: TEC calculation examples to explain the TEC theory as well as to help readers prepare their own analyses devoted to exergo-ecological applications across industries including energy production and waste management - Demonstrates the potential of TEC usage for applications like ecological taxes proportional on TEC

This is the first single volume to cover the effect of temperature in its entirety. The threat of rapid climatic change on a global scale is a stark reminder of the challenges that remain for evolutionary thermal biologists, and adds a sense of urgency to this book's mission.

The book presents a consistent and complete ecosystem theory based on thermodynamic concepts. The first chapters are devoted to an interpretation of the first and second law of thermodynamics in ecosystem context. Then Prigogine's use of far from equilibrium thermodynamic is used on ecosystems to explain their reactions to perturbations. The introduction of the concept exergy makes it possible to give a more profound and comprehensive explanation of the ecosystem's reactions and growth-patterns. A tentative fourth law of thermodynamic is formulated and applied to facilitate these explanations. The trophic chain, the global energy and radiation balance and pattern and the reactions of ecological networks are all explained by the use of exergy. Finally, it is discussed how the presented theory can be applied more widely to explain ecological observations and rules, to assess ecosystem health and to develop ecological models.

Temperature affects everything. It influences all aspects of the physical environment and governs any process that involves a flow of energy, setting boundaries on what an organism can or cannot do. This novel textbook reveals the key principles behind the complex relationship between organisms and temperature, namely the science of thermal ecology. It starts by providing a rigorous framework for understanding the flow of energy in and out of the organism, before describing the influence of temperature on what organisms can do and how fast they can do it. With these fundamental principles covered, the bulk of the book explores thermal ecology itself, incorporating the important extra dimension of interactions with other organisms. An entire chapter is devoted to the crucially important subject of how organisms are responding to climate change. Indeed, the threat of rapid climatic change on a global scale is a stark reminder of the challenges that remain for evolutionary thermal biologists, and adds a sense of urgency to this book's mission.

This book traces the interacting histories of the disciplines of ecology and economics, from their common origin in the ancient Greek concept of oikonomia, through their distinct encounters with energy physics, to the current obstruction of neoliberal economics to responses to the ecological and climate crisis of the so-called Anthropocene. Reconstructing their constitution as separate sciences in the era of fossil-fuelled industrial capitalism, the book offers an explanation of how the ecological sciences have moved from a position of critical collision with mainstream economics in the 1970s, to one of collusion with the project of permanent growth, in and through the thermal crisis of the biosphere.

Ecology of Reptiles.

Temperature impacts the behaviour, physiology and ecology of all organisms more than any other abiotic variable. In this book, the author draws on theory from the more general discipline of evolutionary ecology to foster a fresh approach toward a theory of thermal adaptation.

The exergy method makes it possible to detect and quantify the possibilities of improving thermal and chemical processes and systems. The introduction of the concept thermo-ecological cost (cumulative consumption of non-renewable natural exergy resources) generated large application possibilities of exergy in ecology. This book contains a short presentation on the basic principles of exergy analysis and discusses new achievements in the field over the last 15 years. One of the most important issues considered by the distinguished author is the economy of non-renewable natural exergy. Previously discussed only in scientific journals, other important new problems highlighted include: calculation of the chemical exergy of all the stable chemical elements, global natural and anthropogenic exergy losses, practical guidelines for improvement of the thermodynamic imperfection of thermal processes and systems, development of the determination methods of partial exergy losses in thermal systems, evaluation of the natural mineral capital of the Earth, and the application of exergy for the determination of a pro-ecological tax.A basic knowledge of thermodynamics is assumed, and the book is therefore most appropriate for graduate students and engineers working in the field of energy and ecological management.

In this age of increasing human domination of the Earth's biological and physical resources, a basic understanding of ecology is more important than ever. Students need a textbook that introduces them to the basic principles of ecological science, one that is relevant to today's world, and one that does not overwhelm them with detail and jargon. Peter Cotgreave and Irwin Forseth have designed this book to meet the needs of these students, by providing a basic synthesis of how individual organisms interact with their physical environment, and with each other, to generate the complex ecosystems we see around us. The unifying theme of the book is biodiversity-its patterns, causes, and the growing worldwide threats to it. Basic ecological principles are illustrated using clearly described examples from the current ecological literature. This approach makes the book valuable to all students studying ecology. Examples have been chosen carefully to represent as wide a range of ecosystems (terrestrial and aquatic, northern and southern hemisphere) and life forms (animal, plant and microbe) as possible. Particular attention is paid to consequences of global change on organisms, populations, ecological communities and ecosystems. The end result is a text that presents a readable and persuasive picture of how the Earth's natural systems function, and how that functioning may change over the coming century. Features include: · strong coverage of applied and evolutionary ecology · applications of ecology to the real world · a question-orientated approach · the only comprehensive treatment of ecology written for the introductory student · an emphasis on definitions of key words and phrases · an integration of experimental, observational and theoretical material · examples drawn from all over the world and a wide variety of organisms · a logical structure, building from the response of individual organisms to physical factors, through population growth and population interactions, to community structure and ecosystem function · suggested further reading lists for each chapter · boxes to explain key concepts in more depth · dedicated textsite featuring additional information and teaching aids www.blackwellpublishing.com/cotgreave Peter Cotgreave is an animal ecologist who has worked for the University of Oxford and the Zoological Society of London. His research interests centre on abundance and rarity within animal communities. Irwin Forseth is a plant physiological ecologist who has taught introductory ecology and plant ecology at the University of Maryland since 1982. His research focuses on plant responses to the environment. The authors have studied organisms as diverse as green plants, insects and mammals in habitats from deserts to tropical rainforests. They have worked in ecological research and education in Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe and the Caribbean.