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Some conclusions

David N. Thomas, G.E. (Tony) Fogg, Peter Convey, Christian H. Fritsen, Josep-Maria Gili, Rolf Gradinger, Johanna Laybourn-Parry, Keith Reid, and David W.H. Walton

in The Biology of Polar Regions

This chapter presents some concluding thoughts about polar habitats and polar ecology. It argues that polar habitats are unique and of great intrinsic interest to ecologists. Their study helps us ... More

This chapter presents some concluding thoughts about polar habitats and polar ecology. It argues that polar habitats are unique and of great intrinsic interest to ecologists. Their study helps us understand, and to some extent cope with, the damage humans have caused to global environment.Less

Introduction

Thomas W. Cronin, Sönke Johnsen, N. Justin Marshall, and Eric J. Warrant

in Visual Ecology

This introductory chapter talks about how every creature is guided by its eyes as it carries out its accustomed behaviors. Each animal's eyes allows it to execute the behavior necessary for its ... More

This introductory chapter talks about how every creature is guided by its eyes as it carries out its accustomed behaviors. Each animal's eyes allows it to execute the behavior necessary for its survival. This study of how visual systems function to meet the ecological needs of animals is called visual ecology. Researchers who work at various levels of inquiry, from genes to behavior, call themselves visual ecologists, but all are primarily concerned with how animals use vision for natural tasks and behaviors. Although the outcomes of visual ecological research may well have implications for health or may be applicable for use in engineering or technology, the research itself centers on the animal of interest and on how it employs its visual system to meet its own ecological needs.Less

Vision in Attenuating Media

Thomas W. Cronin, Sönke Johnsen, N. Justin Marshall, and Eric J. Warrant

in Visual Ecology

This chapter argues that it is important to understand vision through attenuating media, especially for visual ecologists studying aquatic species. Few areas of visual ecology are filled with more ... More

This chapter argues that it is important to understand vision through attenuating media, especially for visual ecologists studying aquatic species. Few areas of visual ecology are filled with more misconceptions, however. Common myths include: that visibility is degraded entirely by light scattering; that water is blue due to light scattering; and that one can see farther underwater using yellow lens filters because they screen out the blue, scattered light. The chapter dispels these myths and explores how vision is affected by both water and fog. There is only a small section on contrast attenuation in air because it is a far less significant issue in nearly all cases. Air does indeed absorb and scatter light. However, it does so to a much, much lesser extent than water does.Less

The Paradox of the Rising Demand for Both a Better Environment and More Reliable Services

Michel J. G. van Eeten and Emery Roe

in Title Pages

The examples go on and on: loading fish in trucks and on barges to enable them to swim downstream; opening a water gate and drowning endangered birds in one area, or ... More

The examples go on and on: loading fish in trucks and on barges to enable them to swim downstream; opening a water gate and drowning endangered birds in one area, or closing the gate and risk burning out habitat of the same species someplace else; spending more than $400 million a year to protect a handful of endangered species in just one region of a country; hatching endangered fish that end up too fat or stick out like neon in the water once released; releasing salmon trained to come to the surface for hatchery food when what is actually dropping from the sky are the ducks ready to eat them; keeping water in a reservoir to save the fish there, thus sacrificing other fish downstream; building a 250-foot-wide, 300-foot-high, $80 million device to better regulate the water temperature for salmon eggs in just one reservoir; controlled burning for fuel load management in the forests that harms not only air quality but also chronically bleeds pollution into adjacent aquatic ecosystems; breeding the wild properties out of endangered fish and releasing them, thereby polluting the gene pool of river fish; fighting urbanization to protect a green and open area, thereby condemning that area to monotonous, industrial agriculture and worse; closing a gate or releasing reservoir water in reaction to a sample of fish coming downstream and triggering electrical blackouts or the most severe urban water quality crisis in decades; restoring natural floodplains, erasing some of the oldest, best preserved, and greenest cultural landscapes in a country; putting in place even more massive infrastructure to keep ecosystems natural, thereby imprisoning them in intensive care units for life; and more. For some readers, these examples may appear a mix of the ridiculous and the desperate. Yet they are prime examples of a hard paradox at work: how do you reconcile the public’s demand for a better environment which requires ecosystem improvements with their concurrent demand for reliable services from that environment, including clean air, water, and power? Less

Adaptive Management in a High Reliability Context: Hard Problems, Partial Responses

Michel J. G. van Eeten and Emery Roe

in Title Pages

The examples found at the beginning of this book are, to our minds, neither instances of a lack of societal commitment to saving the environment nor evidence of ... More

The examples found at the beginning of this book are, to our minds, neither instances of a lack of societal commitment to saving the environment nor evidence of unreasonable demands for highly reliable services. If they were that, the obvious answer would then be to bite the bullet and take either the environment or the services more seriously. In our view, the examples really express the hard paradox of having to improve the environment while ensuring reliable services at the same time. Beyond specific examples, the strongest expressions of the paradox being taken seriously in terms of the budgets and stakes involved are those large-scale adaptive management initiatives proposed and undertaken in regions where they seem most difficult to implement; that is, where the reliable provision of services is a priority. Just what “reliability” is for the kinds of organizations we study is detailed in chapter 4. Here, we take a closer look at our case studies to see how the issues are articulated empirically. The paradox is even enshrined in law. The mandate of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980, for example, is to “protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the development, operation, and management of [power generation] facilities while assuring the Pacific Northwest an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable water supply.” But how to do this? Or, as one ecologist, Lance Gunderson (1999b, p. 27), phrased the paradox, “So how does one assess the unpredictable in order to manage the unmanageable?” The answer usually given by ecologists and others is to “undertake adaptive management” (chapter 2). The decision maker learns by experimenting with the system or its elements, systematically and step-by-step, in order to develop greater insight into what is known and not known for managing ecosystem functions and services. Learning more on the ground about the system to be managed is imperative, especially given imprecisely defined terms such as “restore,” “enhance,” and “reliable.” As the senior biologist planner at the Northwest Power Planning Council told us, the last clause of the Power Act “AERPS” (adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply) “never has been quantified, so it is not very clear what it actually means.” He is not alone. Less

Ecosystems in Zones of Conflict: The Case for Bandwidth Management

Michel J. G. van Eeten and Emery Roe

in Ecology, Engineering, and Management: Reconciling Ecosystem Rehabilitation and Service Reliability

What profession that is core to ecosystem management is described in the following passage? . . . [Their professional] representation of a . . . system can be typified ... More

What profession that is core to ecosystem management is described in the following passage? . . . [Their professional] representation of a . . . system can be typified as physical, holistic, empirical, and fuzzy; . . . [treating] the system more as a whole than in terms of individual pieces; ... [expecting] uncertainty rather than deterministic outcomes...; [taking] uncertainty or “fuzziness” . . . to be inevitable and, to some degree, omnipresent; [seeing] ambiguity . . . pervade the entire system, and . . . [suspecting] the unsuspected at every turn. . . . [T]he underlying notion [in their professional culture] is that no amount of rules and data can completely and reliably capture the actual complexity of the system . . . [I]t is more important . . . for [these professionals] to maintain an overview of the behavior of the whole system than to have detailed knowledge about its components. . . . [They] tend to be very wary of [the pressure to intervene], primarily because it runs counter to a basic attitude of conservatism fostered by their culture: “when in doubt, don’t touch anything.” Their reluctance to take any action unless it is clearly necessary arises from the awareness that any operation represents a potential error, with potentially severe consequences. (Von Meier 1999, pp. 104-107) . . . We suspect that many readers would see ecologists (writ large again) as the professional group whose views are being described. Ecologists, as we have seen, frequently describe the ecosystem in just such terms: it responds to external disturbances, the whole system is more than the sum of its parts, it displays nondeterministic behavior, its complexity can never be fully captured and, therefore, management is extremely challenging, with managers always reluctant to intervene—at least in major ways—in ecosystems they do not know, because this potentially creates more problems than it solves. However, ecologists are not the group being described, and here is the surprise. Though the quoted phrases are almost textbook ecology material, the professional culture discussed here is in fact that of line operators in high reliability organizations (HROs). Less

The Paradox Resolved: A Different Case Study and the Argument Summarized

Michel J. G. van Eeten and Emery Roe

in Ecology, Engineering, and Management: Reconciling Ecosystem Rehabilitation and Service Reliability

From the outset, the book’s chief policy question has resolved around the problem of how to manage. As this was addressed in the preceding chapters, a new question ... More

From the outset, the book’s chief policy question has resolved around the problem of how to manage. As this was addressed in the preceding chapters, a new question arises: what are the implications for policies governing the meeting of the twofold management goal of restoring ecosystems while maintaining service reliability? This chapter provides our answer to that question by means of a new case study. It sums up the book’s argument and recasts ecosystem management and policy for ecologists, engineers, and other stakeholders. The best way to draw out the policy-relevant ramifications of our framework and the preceding management insights is to apply them to a different ecosystem. The case-study approach has served us well in contextualizing management recommendations without, we believe, compromising their more general application to ecosystem management. Our analysis of the major land-use planning controversy in the Netherlands underscores the wider applicability of this book’s arguments for both management and policy. What follows is put more briefly because it builds on the analysis of and recommendations for the Columbia River Basin, San Francisco Bay-Delta, and the Everglades. Why the Netherlands? There are human-dominated ecosystems substantially different from those found in the United States, many of which are more densely populated. They have nothing remotely like “wilderness,” but instead long histories of constructing and managing “nature.” The Netherlands is one such landscape. Not only is the landscape different, it is also important to note that the context for ecosystem management is set by different political, social, and cultural values. Sustainability is a much more dominant value in the European context than currently in the United States. Case-by-case management, while also appropriate for zones of conflict outside the United States, now has to deal with the fact that there is a tension between its call for case-specific indicators and the use of more general sustainability indicators in Europe. In die Netherlands, for example, sustainable housing projects are designed and assessed not only in terms of specific indicators but also in light of the “factor 20 increase in environmental efficiency” needed to achieve sustainability. Less

Philosophy, Value Judgments, and Declining Amphibians

Sarah Aucoin, Robert G. Jaeger, and Steve Giambrone

in Amphibian Declines: The Conservation Status of United States Species

Most amphibian biologists would agree that some species of amphibians, or at least some populations of some species, are in decline and may be heading for extinction. Steven Shapin's (1996) view of ... More

Most amphibian biologists would agree that some species of amphibians, or at least some populations of some species, are in decline and may be heading for extinction. Steven Shapin's (1996) view of how the modern natural sciences establish knowledge (based on the historical roots of the Scientific Revolution) provides an interesting framework from which to examine contemporary discourses concerning “declining amphibian populations.” If one believes the paradigm advocated by Shapin, then amphibian population and community ecologists should follow a rigorous philosophy of science in their studies of populations and species, in which “society is kept at bay.” This chapter explores whether environmental ethics and the philosophy of science can or cannot lead to a unified approach to drawing “strong inferences” from diverse research programs. First, it considers the use of deduction versus induction to understand declines and disappearances of amphibian populations. It then compares strong inference with value judgments. The chapter also discusses the link between life history parameters and amphibian declines.Less

The Roots of Human Ecology

William R. Burch Jr., Gary E. Machlis, and Jo Ellen Force

in The Structure and Dynamics of Human Ecosystems: Toward a Model for Understanding and Action

This chapter looks at how the roots of human ecology lie primarily in general ecology, sociology, geography, and anthropology, as documented by numerous literature reviews. The idea for the ... More

This chapter looks at how the roots of human ecology lie primarily in general ecology, sociology, geography, and anthropology, as documented by numerous literature reviews. The idea for the application of general ecological principles to human activity was sparked by sociologists at the University of Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s. Sociologists Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess drew analogies between human and nonhuman communities, describing society’s symbiotic and competitive relationships as an organic web. Biological concepts such as competition, commensalism, succession, and equilibrium were freely borrowed, mirroring the biologists’ use of social science concepts. Borrowing from contemporary plant ecologists and their focus on plant community zones, early human ecologists moved from classrooms to city streets to map “natural areas” or zones of the urban metropolis.Less

The Ecologist and the New Ecology

Oswald J. Schmitz

in The New Ecology: Rethinking a Science for the Anthropocene

This chapter examines the efforts of ecologists—with the help of the New Ecology—to better understand nature in ecosystems created and heavily populated by humans. Ecology has developed into a ... More

This chapter examines the efforts of ecologists—with the help of the New Ecology—to better understand nature in ecosystems created and heavily populated by humans. Ecology has developed into a science in support of sustaining nature for people. This fresh scientific role is certainly helping to overcome the human–nature divide by promoting the view that biodiversity and ecosystem functions must be protected to provide the suite of environmental services, inside as well as outside of protected areas, in support of humanity. Ecologists are now realizing that understanding and predicting global trends in biodiversity has important implications for sustainability, ethics, and environmental policy in the interest of both humans and nature. An important challenge is to devise new experimental approaches that can speak to issues playing out at the large spatial extents and long time periods that are commensurate with the scales of human engagement with nature.Less

Darwin’s Orchids (1862, 1877):: Origins, Development, and Impact

Peter Bernhardt and Retha Edens-Meier

in Darwin's Orchids: Then and Now

The correspondence and publications of Charles Darwin are reviewed to determine why he became an authority on the adaptive structure of orchid flowers even before he published On The Origin of ... More

The correspondence and publications of Charles Darwin are reviewed to determine why he became an authority on the adaptive structure of orchid flowers even before he published On The Origin of Species (1859). The combination of native, temperate species vs. the exotic species he collected is interpreted within the context of Victorian fads and within their literary context. The authors contrast the contents and impact of Darwin’s first edition (1862) vs. the second edition (1877) showing Darwin’s transition as a functional anatomist vs. his insight as a pollination ecologist. Orchids of interest examined by Darwin (1862, 1877) are also examined within the following nine chapters.Less

Ascendant Ecology

Frank N. Egerton

in Roots of Ecology: Antiquity to Haeckel

Darwin's Journal of Researches,coral reef book, and barnacle books contain significant ecological observations, but his revolutionary On the Origin of Speciesis a landmark ecological work. These and ... More

Darwin's Journal of Researches,coral reef book, and barnacle books contain significant ecological observations, but his revolutionary On the Origin of Speciesis a landmark ecological work. These and later books made him an important founder of ecology. His Beagleexpedition inspired Wallace, Bates, and Spruce to explore Amazonia, collecting observations and specimens that led to their own publications having ecological relevance. Soon Hooker, Huxley, and Wallace undertook expeditions elsewhere, with similar results. During the 1800s, plant physiology and plant pathology built upon achievements of the 1700s to become sophisticated sciences that elucidated photosynthesis, respiration, and diseases. Entomology became the most widely researched zoological discipline, as insects attack valuable plants, animals, and humans. Insects are also important vectors of diseases, as became clear during later 1800s, when the germ theory was established. Haeckel, a Darwinian, reorganized zoology along evolutionary lines, and he named and defined ecology in 1866.Less

The Subtidal Ecology of Rocky Coasts: Local-regional- Biogeographic Patterns and Their Experimental Analysis

Sean D. Connell and Andrew D. Irving

in Marine Macroecology

People are becoming increasingly aware that ecologists work on local patterns that are likely to represent the outcome of special and unique events incorporate variation from broad to local scales. ... More

People are becoming increasingly aware that ecologists work on local patterns that are likely to represent the outcome of special and unique events incorporate variation from broad to local scales. For those interested in the discovery of detail, local patterns appear to have an infinite supply. For those interested in the existence of generalities, it is encouraging to observe that general patterns and responses can emerge from complexity on local scales. This realization, together with the need for a renewed effort for carefully planned sampling and experimentation across broad scales, suggests that there are opportunities to test some of the more interesting questions about the relative importance of processes across vast parts of the world's coast.Less

Open Sites in Model Building

in Unruly Complexity: Ecology, Interpretation, Engagement

In 1966, Richard Levins sketched a strategy of model building in ecology and population genetics that favored sacrificing precision to realism and generality. Discrepancies between a model and ... More

In 1966, Richard Levins sketched a strategy of model building in ecology and population genetics that favored sacrificing precision to realism and generality. Discrepancies between a model and observations imply the need for additional biological postulates and, together with the qualitative insights, generate interesting questions to investigate. In the early 1980s, a strong reaction developed against the ecological theory drawn from simple, general models. According to skeptical and particularist ecologists, the previous models were not realistic, and general models were not likely to be found in ecology. Realism and precision would be possible for models of particular situations, not for big questions such as accounting for ecological complexity. This chapter exposes some more profound implications that the exploratory approach has for thinking about science. In the process of analyzing what modelers are doing when they model, a different view of Levins' strategy and the generality–realism–precision trade-off may emerge.Less

James’s Animal Encounters

Benjamin Bateman

in The Modernist Art of Queer Survival

Henry James’s story “The Beast in the Jungle” is read as a response to the “nature fakers” controversy of the Progressive era. As Teddy Roosevelt and others insisted that nature is a war zone in ... More

Henry James’s story “The Beast in the Jungle” is read as a response to the “nature fakers” controversy of the Progressive era. As Teddy Roosevelt and others insisted that nature is a war zone in which animals clash violently, James’s tale probes less aggressive animal behaviors and suggests that social Darwinist ideologies encourage the competitive practices they claim to merely describe. Instructing John Marcher in the pleasures to be found in making himself available to a beast he has been trained to fear, May Bartram functions as an early feminist ecologist who deploys a critique of species exceptionalism and its environmental impacts to undermine patriarchal ambition and to promote a vulnerable version of survival.Less

Good-for-Nothings

Susan Wolf

in The Variety of Values: Essays on Morality, Meaning, and Love

Many people think that inanimate objects can only be good if they are good for someone whose existence is itself good. This might explain why the epithet “good-for-nothing” is a term of abuse. But ... More

Many people think that inanimate objects can only be good if they are good for someone whose existence is itself good. This might explain why the epithet “good-for-nothing” is a term of abuse. But such a view cannot make sense of our experience or of our judgments about the value of art and the value of philosophy. These are not good because they benefit us; rather, they benefit us because they are good. This can explain why writing good philosophy or creating good art can be worthwhile even if it does not increase anyone’s welfare. It also encourages us to take seriously the claims of deep ecologists who say that what is good in nature is not dependent on its interest for us.Less