title: The concept of life and its significance in the construction of the new ecosystem ecology of Bernard Patten, Sven Jørgensen and Milan Straskraba.
abstract: In a series of articles, three system ecologists, B. Patten, S. Jørgensen and M. Straskraba attempt to construct a new ecosystem ecology. In this effort, an innovative ecological definition of life that originates from the cognitive domain is prevalent. To be more specific, living entities are defined as those who make models of reality. Through the exploration of this definition, we will try to point out the ontological and the epistemological characteristics of the new ecology. These characteristics facilitate the integration of physicochemical, biological and human systems into a common framework. Indeed, system ecologists attempt to unify the inorganic and the organic world, including human beings, under a universal evolutionary scheme. This scheme is organized around an innovative scientific hypothesi, namely the exergy storage hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, School of Biology, UPB 119, Aristotle University, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitris G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Schizas
authors.forename: George P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Stamou
mesh_terms: D018504:Ecological Systems, Closed; D004463:Ecology / Q000266:history*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D019369:Life; D008954:Models, Biological; D049490:Systems Biology / Q000266:history*