BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

DISTRIBUTION (Clustered) 1)2)

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H.T. ODUM writes (refering himself to ecosystems): "Individual plant species are not evenly spread but are concentrated in zones according to their specialized adaptations to local conditions. More than one species is interspersed in the same kind of environment, because networks need diverse pathways… Random distributions are rare" (1971 , p.72).

ODUM observes, moreover, that consumers, such as "ants, antelopes and people" tend to become clustered, "… because their complex functions are favored by grouping" (Ibid).

All this is related to the ways flows of energy circulate within the environment and to their progressive concentration into systems of a higher level of complexity, which prove more apt to capture them.

The concept is related to LOTKA's 'world engine' and to hexagonal distribution in human settlements.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

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