Complex System Theory Applied to Plant Sciences
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2012) | Viewed by 21758
Special Issue Editor
Interests: cerrado; complex system biology; ecophysiology; photosynthesis; plant physiology; savanna; stress physiology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Complex System Theory, a new emergent science based on General System Theory of Ludwig von Bertallanfy (1968), is addressed to phenomena that show some special traits such as: network organization with non-linear relations among some elements that constitute the system (complex networks), irregular (complex, eventually chaotic) temporal dynamic, self-organization, and robustness.
As other living system, plants are complex systems hierarchically organized and composed by interactive elements, from molecular to whole plant level, showing some properties that may not be understood by isolated elements, that is, high levels of organization exhibit emergent properties.
Analyses that evaluate interactions among network components can improve predictions of plant behavior under environmental changes. The relationship between complexity and physiological stability has been observed among different kinds of biological systems. In plants, some evidence indicates that more complex temporal dynamics in parameters such as photosynthesis, enzymatic reactions and a broad class of fluxes are associated with a greater capacity of system homeostasis.
Therefore, approaches that assess and quantify such systemic properties, considering the relationships among system elements (networks) and complex dynamics, could play an important role in improving classical physiological knowledge and its methods.
Dr. Gustavo Maia Souza
Guest Editor
Keywords
- system biology
- network
- temporal complex dynamics
- plant modeling
- stability
- robustness
- chaos
- fractals
- thermodynamical open systems
- sel-organization
- plant intelligence
- plant signaling and behavior