Summary of Santos Definition – Anthroposystem: “the orderly combination or arrangement of physical and biological environments for the purpose of maintaining human civilization” The four components of the anthroposystem Real world differs from closed and ideal anthroposystem. –Processes generate waste as byproducts of industry. –Second law of thermodynamics – During energy conversion, useful energy is lost and cannot be recycled. –Real anthroposystems are open systems due to energy loss and the import/export of resources. How does the anthroposystem concept help? –Points to sustainable systems, not just sustainable economic development. –Provides intellectual framework to include environment in all decision-making processes. –Society requires economic systems and industrial processes that mimic natural ecosystems. Overall Concept: Anthroposystem concept helps society avoid treating the environment as an oversimplified ‘black box’ and instead identify and unify sustainable human-environment systems.

Summary of Ecosystem Metaphors for Human-Induced Material Flows –Industrial metabolism: “organisms” consume “food” to function; exhale waste –Ecosystem analog: Anthroposystem, the human version of the ecosystem Ecosystem based material flow system –Environmental Spheres Analog Metaphor 1.Industrial Metabolism 2.Ecosystem/Anthroposystem 3.Environmental Spheres Pros Relates consumers and products to organisms and food Both systems contain the same elements Includes all distribution of matter Shows distribution of matter Cons Causes of metabolism depend on external world Ecosystem is a closed system, Anthroposystem is an open system No hint of where matter is transferred Complicated Environmental Spheres approach + Ecosystem approach = Complete end-to-end flow analyses

Critical Comparison Provide mathematical models to predict and model the distribution of matter. Similarities Address the open/closed loop problem between ecosystems and anthroposystems. Both note that long-term sustainable development requires the understanding of the interaction between human activity and natural process. Differences Santos states the need for scientists to develop theories that explain and predict the behavior of the ‘forest’ (human environment system), not just the trees. The Ecosystem article provides a theory of this nature – the environmental spheres analog. Santos does not seem concerned with the location of redistributed matter where the ecosystem paper is quite concerned. Santos’ model includes matter and energy where the ecosystem paper only concerns matter.