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Current position
Professor
Research Interests:
- general organisational principles governing non-equilibrium behaviour
- stomatal, plant and ecosystem function
- biodiversity
- molecular evolution
- global change science
My overall research interest lies in identifying and applying general organisational principles that govern the behaviour of complex, non-equilibrium systems in biology, chemistry, physics and beyond – from energy-transforming macromolecules and biochemical networks to cells, plants, ecological communities, turbulent fluids, Earth’s climate, and economies.
Currently I am looking to construct those principles from the fundamental probability-based concepts of statistical mechanics, and to develop and apply them as practical tools across a range of scientific disciplines.
In particular, I am studying a possible statistical basis for the proposed organisational principle of Maximum Entropy Production (MEP), and exploring the use of MEP as a novel predictive tool for modellers in global change research.
General feature articles:
Lorenz RD (2003) Full steam ahead - probably. Science 299, 837-838. PDF
Whitfield J (2005) Order out of chaos. Nature 436, 905-907. PDF
Whitfield J (2007) Survival of the likeliest? PLoS Biology 5(5), e142 PDF
Two more technical reviews:
Ozawa H, Ohmura A, Lorenz RD and Pujol T (2003) The second law of thermodynamics and the global climate system: a review of the maximum entropy production principle. Reviews of Geophysics 41, 1081. PDF
Martyushev LM and Seleznev VD (2006) Maximum entropy production principle in physics, chemistry and biology. Physics Reports 426, 1-45. PDF
Selected Publications
Dewar RC, Franklin O, Mäkelä A, McMurtrie RE and Valentine HT (2008) Optimal function explains forest responses to global change. BioScience 59, 127-139. PDF
McMurtrie RE, Norby RJ, Medlyn BE, Dewar RC, Pepper DA, Reich PB and Barton CVM (2008) Why is plant-growth response to elevated CO2 amplified when water is limiting, but reduced when nitrogen is limiting? A growth-optimization hypothesis. Functional Plant Biology 35, 521-534. PDF
Dewar RC and Porté A (2008) Statistical mechanics unifies different ecological patterns. Journal of Theoretical Biology 251, 389-403. PDF
Dewar RC, Juretic D and Zupanovic P (2006) The functional design of the rotary enzyme ATP synthase is consistent with maximum entropy production. Chemical Physics Letters 430, 177-182. PDF
Dewar RC (2005) Maximum entropy production and the fluctuation theorem. Journal of Physics A 38, L371-L381. PDF
Dewar RC (2004) Maximum entropy production and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. In Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics and Entropy Production : Life, Earth and Beyond (eds. Kleidon A, Lorenz R), Springer-Verlag, pp. 41-55. PDF
Dewar RC (2003) Information theoretic explanation of maximum entropy production, the fluctuation theorem and self-organized criticality in non-equilibrium stationary states. Journal of Physics A 36, 631-641. PDF
Dewar RC (2002) The Ball-Berry-Leuning and Tardieu-Davies stomatal models : synthesis and extension within a spatially aggregated picture of guard cell function. Plant, Cell and Environment 25, 1383-1398. PDF
Quereix A, Dewar RC, Gaudillere J-P, Dayau S and Valancogne C (2001) Sink feedback regulation of photosynthesis in vines : measurements and a model. Journal of Experimental Botany 52, 2313-2322. PDF
Dewar RC (2000) A model of the coupling between respiration, active processes and passive transport. Annals of Botany 86, 279-286. PDF
Dewar RC (1999) Plant energetics and population density. Nature 398, 572. PDF
Dewar RC, Medlyn BE and McMurtrie RE (1998) A mechanistic analysis of light and carbon use efficiencies. Plant, Cell and Environment 21, 573-588. PDF
Dewar RC (1997) A simple model of light and water use evaluated for Pinus radiata. Tree Physiology 17, 259-265. PDF
Dewar RC (1996) The correlation between plant growth and intercepted radiation: an interpretation in terms of optimal plant nitrogen content. Annals of Botany 78, 125-136. PDF
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