The Gaia hypothesis is James Lovelock's spin on the Mother Earth concept. Lovelock defines Gaia to be "as a complex entity involving the Earth's biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and soil; the totality constituting a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet." The earth acts as a single, self-regulating system of biota and abiota, the biota help to maintain the abiotic conditions that make life possible. This means the living plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi who use nutrients in the soil and oceans and the gasses in the air balance each other by producing what others consume and consuming what others produce. Entropy is reduced by a living planet, improbable combinations are exhibited in this balance and are maintained by the complimentary co-evolution of all life on Earth.