Kay. J. 2000. "Ecosystems as Self-organizing Holarchic Open Systems : Narratives and the Second Law of Thermodynamics" in Sven Erik Jorgensen, Felix Muller (eds), Handbook of Ecosystem Theories and Management, CRC Press - Lewis Publishers. pp 135-160

At the core of these narrative descriptions of ecosystems as self-organizing holarchic open systems is the conceptualization of these systems as dissipative systems. Dissipative system descriptions are in terms of how the system makes use of available energy (and other resources) to self-organize. Such a description is inherently thermodynamic in nature and as such the second law of thermodynamics plays a central role. This paper explores the role of the second law of thermodynamics in building narratives of ecosystem self-organization. This paper begins with an exploration of the second law and its implications for self-organization. This serves as the basis for a discussion of the characterization of ecosystem attractors in terms of the their sources of exergy. This in turn provides the basis for formulating narratives and in particular a conceptual model of ecosystems as self-organizing holarchic open systems

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