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Ubiquitous principles in our world

Nature’s Unifying Patterns

Abraham Ortega Reboso

The project Biomimicry Changemakers Framework - BCF has received funding from the European Commision under the Erasmus + Programme, Action Type KA210-ADU - Small-scale partnerships in adult education, no. 2023-1-ES01-KA210-ADU-0001655552

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A world full of inspiration

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Same function, different shape

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Pattern 1

1 - Nature uses only the energy it needs and relies on freely available energy

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(Example of eagle using hot air currents)

Energy is an expensive resource for all organisms; the risk of using excess energy is death or the failure to reproduce. Therefore, they use it sparingly, tailoring their needs to the limited amount of energy available. While no energy is “free,” because all energy requires expenditure of energy to obtain it, nature’s sources for energy are freely available because they are renewable, are found locally, and don’t need to be mined.

Freely available energy includes sources such as electrons from sunlight used by plants for photosynthesis, rising air currents, wind, dissolved minerals from deep sea vents, decomposing organic materials, and nutrients from plants and animals that organisms feed upon. Two major energy expenditures for organisms are obtaining the energy (e.g., through photosynthesis or finding and capturing food) and growing materials that make up their bodies and homes. Organisms use low-energy processes to reduce the amount of energy they need. Those processes usually involve self-assembly, building from the bottom-up (small elements to large), using modular or nested structures, building at ambient temperatures and pressures, and making use of multi-functional design.

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Pattern 2

2 - Nature recycles all materials

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Pattern 3

3 - Nature is resilient to disturbances

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(Example of mangrove ecosystems resisting big tides and protecting coastal areas)

Being resilient is about having the ability to recover after disturbances or significant, unpredictable changes in the local environment, such as a fire, flood, blizzard, or injury. Nature uses diversity, redundancy, decentralization, and self-renewal and self-repair to foster resiliency. These result in maintaining the functions of an organism or ecosystem despite a disturbance.Diversity at a system level refers to including multiple forms, processes, or systems to meet a functional need. Diversity can include a variety of behavioral, physical, or physiological responses to a change in the environment. Redundancy means that there’s more than one representative system, organism, or species that provides each function, and that there’s overlap so the loss of or decline in one representative doesn’t destroy the whole system. Decentralization means that the mechanisms for maintaining those functions are scattered throughout the system, not located exclusively together, so that a localized disturbance doesn’t remove one or more vital parts of the whole system. Self-renewal and repair are terms that are more often applied at the cellular or organismal level, but self-renewal is also applied in ecological contexts. For the former, the terms mean that organisms have the capacity to generate new cells, heal wounds and damaged organs, respond to bacterial and viral threats, and more.

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Pattern 4

4 - Nature tends to optimize rather than maximize.

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Pattern 5

5 - Nature provides mutual benefits

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(Shrimp eating from the left overs in another fish mouth)

While there are many examples of predation, parasitism, and competition in nature, the prevailing relationships are those that are cooperative. Some common types of cooperation are mutualism—where both partners benefit from the relationship—and commensalism—where one partner benefits and the other receives neither benefit nor harm. Frequently, when studied broadly enough, cooperative relationships aren’t just between two organisms, but occur among many different organisms, with a mixture of commensalism and mutualism occurring. In the long run, even predation, parasitism, and competition, while harmful to the individual prey, host, or competitors respectively, often have benefits at the systems level.

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Pattern 6

6 - Nature runs on information

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(Dogs creating mental maps out of their sense of smell)

To be attuned to their environment, organisms and ecosystems need to receive information from the environment and be able to act appropriately in response to that information. This includes organisms sending and receiving signals to and from other organisms or even within their own bodies. This system of send, receive, and respond has been finely tuned through millions of years of evolution. Some living systems work within narrow ranges of optimal conditions, so they need to constantly monitor their environment and respond. Others have broader ranges, but still need to be able to detect and respond when conditions are such that they approach their limits (e.g., maximum survivable temperature or oxygen availability). Using feedback loops is one way to monitor those conditions. Both negative feedback loops (those that slow down a process), and positive feedback loops (those that speed up a process) are important in natural systems.

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Pattern 7

7 - Nature uses chemistry and materials that are safe for living beings

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(Shells being created under water and at normal temperature)

Organisms do chemistry within and near their own cells. This makes it imperative that organisms use chemicals, chemical processes, and chemistry- derived materials that are supportive to life’s processes. Life’s chemistry is water-based and uses a subset of chemical elements configured into precise 3D structures. The combination of 3D architecture and composition is the key to maximizing self-assembly, guiding chemical activity and material performance, and allowing for biodegradation into useful constituents when their work is done. With regard to our production systems, the importance of using life-friendly chemistry and materials is applicable at various system scales, from the sourcing or growing of materials, to the manufacture of products or goods, to transporting those goods, to considering what happens to the products at the end of their life cycle.

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Pattern 8

8 - Nature builds using abundant resources, incorporating rare resources only sparingly

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(Basic elements of biochemistry that are present in all the living matter)

Nature’s materials are abundant and locally sourced. This is true whether it’s building something external to itself, like a termite mound or a nest, or assembling materials that go into a wing, shell, leaf, or horn. The most common and abundant basic building blocks—chemical compounds—are those that are formed from the most common and readily found elements on earth—carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen. A few rarer minerals are also used, but these are found locally and are readily available, not mined, processed, or shipped thousands of miles. This pattern also means eliminating waste (e.g. through additive manufacturing) and building processes around readily available and low-cost sources of materials and energy.

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Pattern 9

9 - Nature is locally attuned and responsive

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(Example of the Boquila trifoliolata, that changes shape to camouflage next to other plants)

Chances of survival increase when individuals are good at recognizing local conditions and opportunities and locating and managing available resources. Survival also depends on responding appropriately to information garnered from the local environment. Organisms and ecosystems that are present in a location evolved in direct response to local environmental conditions. Some of those environmental conditions change in a cyclic pattern, such as tides, day and night, seasons, and annual floods or fires. Organisms use those predictable cyclic patterns as an opportunity, evolving to fill a particular niche. Within a particular location, there are micro-environments, such as a low spot that is moister than the surrounding area or an area that experiences more wind than others. These also provide opportunities for organisms to have an advantage over others and thrive. Some environmental conditions change slowly over time as the climate changes or as the organisms and ecosystems influence the local conditions. Being able to respond to these changes, again using them as opportunities, allows organisms and ecosystems to flourish.

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Pattern 10

10 - Nature uses shape to determine functionality.

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For an in depth description, please check the Biomimicry Toolbox.

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THANK YOU

The project Biomimicry Changemakers Framework - BCF has received funding from the European Commision under the Erasmus + Programme, Action Type KA210-ADU - Small-scale partnerships in adult education, no. 2023-1-ES01-KA210-ADU-0001655552