Exergy content in the pelagic food chain of Lago Maggiore

An application of exergetic concepts to the analysis of the pelagic trophic food chain in Lago Maggiore over the period 1978‐1992 is presented and discussed with a view to determining the value of this approach. The preliminary results obtained suggest that the approach could be useful in verifying ecological models and in providing a better description of the mechanisms involved in the functioning of the food chain. The exergy model can, among other things, enable the efficiency of the food chain in utilizing available resources to be estimated. It can also be used to predict the most important factors which affect ecosystem function.