The hypothesis of an increase in free energy (exergy) by ecosystems during evolution is tested on direct measurements. As a measuring system of thermodynamic parameters (exergy, information, entropy), a series of measurements of reflected solar radiation in bands of Landsat multispectral imagery for 20 years is used. The thermodynamic parameters are compared for different types of ecosystems depending on the influx of solar radiation, weather conditions and the composition of communities. It is shown that maximization of free energy occurs only in a succession series (time scale of several hundred years), and on a short evolutionary time scale of several thousand years, various strategies of energy use are successfully implemented at the same time: forests always maximize exergy and, accordingly, transpiration, meadows—disequilibrium and biological productivity in summer, and swamps, due to a prompt response to changes in temperature and moisture, maintaining disequilibrium and productivity throughout the year. On the basis of the obtained regularities, we conclude that on an evolutionary time scale, the thermodynamic system changes in the direction of increasing biological productivity and saving moisture, which contradicts the hypothesis of maximizing free energy in the course of evolution.

中文翻译：

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北方地区生态系统太阳能转化策略（基于遥感数据的热力学分析）


生态系统在进化过程中自由能（㶲）增加的假设通过直接测量得到了检验。作为热力学参数（火用、信息、熵）的测量系统，使用了 20 年来对 Landsat 多光谱图像波段反射太阳辐射的一系列测量。根据太阳辐射的流入、天气条件和群落的组成，对不同类型的生态系统的热力学参数进行比较。结果表明，自由能的最大化仅发生在连续序列（几百年的时间尺度）中，并且在几千年的短暂进化时间尺度上，各种能源利用策略同时成功实施：森林总是使火用最大化，从而使蒸腾作用最大化，草地——夏季的不平衡和生物生产力，以及沼泽，由于对温度和湿度变化的迅速反应，全年保持不平衡和生产力。根据所获得的规律，我们得出结论，在进化时间尺度上，热力学系统朝着提高生物生产力和节省水分的方向变化，这与进化过程中自由能最大化的假设相矛盾。