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Author: Jason Lambacher
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Drawing on the most recent data from the IUCN Red List and Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, this paper explores how various factors such as habitat loss, over-consumption and climate change continue to create an extinction debt that will unfold in the decades and centuries to come. Though largely unpredictable, many scientific experts agree that future life will take the form of weedy, relic and ghost species, with weedy species proliferating and relic and ghost species struggling against likely evolutionary foreclosure. The presence of weedy species gives the appearance that biodiversity is strong and the persistence of relic and ghost species creates the illusion that threats to survival are overblown. One under looked aspect of this dilemma is that each stage of the extinction crisis produces shifting baselines of a "new normal" that shapes and constrains political attitudes about what is to be conserved and why. The paper argues that the biodiversity crisis is exacerbated in peculiar ways due to this lack of remembrance about what constitutes stable and robust ecological communities. To balance political short-sightedness and the rapid pace of ecological change, biodiversity advocates should critically engage in a long politics of memory that challenges complacent adaptation to weaker conceptions of species health and environmental well being.
Author: Jason Lambacher
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Drawing on the most recent data from the IUCN Red List and Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, this paper explores how various factors such as habitat loss, over-consumption and climate change continue to create an extinction debt that will unfold in the decades and centuries to come. Though largely unpredictable, many scientific experts agree that future life will take the form of weedy, relic and ghost species, with weedy species proliferating and relic and ghost species struggling against likely evolutionary foreclosure. The presence of weedy species gives the appearance that biodiversity is strong and the persistence of relic and ghost species creates the illusion that threats to survival are overblown. One under looked aspect of this dilemma is that each stage of the extinction crisis produces shifting baselines of a "new normal" that shapes and constrains political attitudes about what is to be conserved and why. The paper argues that the biodiversity crisis is exacerbated in peculiar ways due to this lack of remembrance about what constitutes stable and robust ecological communities. To balance political short-sightedness and the rapid pace of ecological change, biodiversity advocates should critically engage in a long politics of memory that challenges complacent adaptation to weaker conceptions of species health and environmental well being.
Author: David Johns
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1444360396
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 472
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Book Description
Despite many successes in the field of conservation, species extinction rates continue to climb and wild areas and habitats continue to be lost. Many look to more (or better) biology and ecology to solve the problem but the obstacles are not just scientific but political. To stop the 6th great extinction the conservation movement must become much stronger, more tenacious, and more effective. By learning from its own history and especially from the movements that abolished slavery, brought down apartheid, changed gender relations, and expanded democratic rights, conservationists can become more successful. This book brings together in one place and in a highly usable format the lessons of those movements culled from practitioners and academic analysts. "Protecting Earth's rich web of life, and our only known living companions in the universe, depends upon people caring enough to act. This book shows conservationists how to evoke the caring and action necessary to change policy and ultimately society." Paul R Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University and author of The Dominant Animal: Human Evolution and the Environment “This timely book by David Johns explains why facts alone don’t motivate and mobilize people to care for the natural world. Even better, Johns spells out what will work, based on a frank and informed assessment of human nature applied to social and political movements. If you would rather see change than be right, this readable and authoritative guide should be your bible.” Michael Soulé, Professor Emeritus, Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz “For me, this is a truly fascinating book. I spend much of my time writing--trying to write the stories we need to tell--and the rest of it helping run national and global mobilizations on climate change (Step It Up and now 350.org). I think David Johns has done a tremendous job of linking together insights about useful rhetoric and very practical notions about organizing. If you're trying to save a river, a forest, or a planet you need to read this book.” Bill McKibben, Scholar-in-Residence, Middlebury College
Author: Jason Lambacher
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Economic development
Languages : en
Pages : 280
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Book Description
This dissertation examines the species extinction crisis as a matter of environmental political theory. By engaging the anthropocentrism/ecocentrism debate, literature in green deliberative democracy and green civic republicanism, and the work of Hans Jonas and Hannah Arendt, among others, I explore the challenges of the extinction predicament in light of key concepts such as freedom, responsibility, and wildness.
Author: Navjot S. Sodhi
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191574252
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368
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Book Description
Conservation Biology for All provides cutting-edge but basic conservation science to a global readership. A series of authoritative chapters have been written by the top names in conservation biology with the principal aim of disseminating cutting-edge conservation knowledge as widely as possible. Important topics such as balancing conversion and human needs, climate change, conservation planning, designing and analyzing conservation research, ecosystem services, endangered species management, extinctions, fire, habitat loss, and invasive species are covered. Numerous textboxes describing additional relevant material or case studies are also included. The global biodiversity crisis is now unstoppable; what can be saved in the developing world will require an educated constituency in both the developing and developed world. Habitat loss is particularly acute in developing countries, which is of special concern because it tends to be these locations where the greatest species diversity and richest centres of endemism are to be found. Sadly, developing world conservation scientists have found it difficult to access an authoritative textbook, which is particularly ironic since it is these countries where the potential benefits of knowledge application are greatest. There is now an urgent need to educate the next generation of scientists in developing countries, so that they are in a better position to protect their natural resources.
Author: Jeremy B.C. Jackson
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 161091029X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 309
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Book Description
Shifting Baselines explores the real-world implications of a groundbreaking idea: we must understand the oceans of the past to protect the oceans of the future. In 1995, acclaimed marine biologist Daniel Pauly coined the term "shifting baselines" to describe a phenomenon of lowered expectations, in which each generation regards a progressively poorer natural world as normal. This seminal volume expands on Pauly's work, showing how skewed visions of the past have led to disastrous marine policies and why historical perspective is critical to revitalize fisheries and ecosystems. Edited by marine ecologists Jeremy Jackson and Enric Sala, and historian Karen Alexander, the book brings together knowledge from disparate disciplines to paint a more realistic picture of past fisheries. The authors use case studies on the cod fishery and the connection between sardine and anchovy populations, among others, to explain various methods for studying historic trends and the intricate relationships between species. Subsequent chapters offer recommendations about both specific research methods and effective management. This practical information is framed by inspiring essays by Carl Safina and Randy Olson on a personal experience of shifting baselines and the importance of human stories in describing this phenomenon to a broad public. While each contributor brings a different expertise to bear, all agree on the importance of historical perspective for effective fisheries management. Readers, from students to professionals, will benefit enormously from this informed hindsight.
Author: Pushpam Kumar
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1136538801
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 454
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Book Description
Human well-being relies critically on ecosystem services provided by nature. Examples include water and air quality regulation, nutrient cycling and decomposition, plant pollination and flood control, all of which are dependent on biodiversity. They are predominantly public goods with limited or no markets and do not command any price in the conventional economic system, so their loss is often not detected and continues unaddressed and unabated. This in turn not only impacts human well-being, but also seriously undermines the sustainability of the economic system. It is against this background that TEEB: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project was set up in 2007 and led by the United Nations Environment Programme to provide a comprehensive global assessment of economic aspects of these issues. This book, written by a team of international experts, represents the scientific state of the art, providing a comprehensive assessment of the fundamental ecological and economic principles of measuring and valuing ecosystem services and biodiversity, and showing how these can be mainstreamed into public policies. This volume and subsequent TEEB outputs will provide the authoritative knowledge and guidance to drive forward the biodiversity conservation agenda for the next decade.
Author: Richard Peet
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136904328
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 655
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Book Description
The world is caught in the mesh of a series of environmental crises. So far attempts at resolving the deep basis of these have been superficial and disorganized. Global Political Ecology links the political economy of global capitalism with the political ecology of a series of environmental disasters and failed attempts at environmental policies. This critical volume draws together contributions from twenty-five leading intellectuals in the field. It begins with an introductory chapter that introduces the readers to political ecology and summarizes the books main findings. The following seven sections cover topics on the political ecology of war and the disaster state; fuelling capitalism: energy scarcity and abundance; global governance of health, bodies, and genomics; the contradictions of global food; capital’s marginal product: effluents, waste, and garbage; water as a commodity, a human right, and power; the functions and dysfunctions of the global green economy; political ecology of the global climate, and carbon emissions. This book contains accounts of the main currents of thought in each area that bring the topics completely up-to-date. The individual chapters contain a theoretical introduction linking in with the main themes of political ecology, as well as empirical information and case material. Global Political Ecology serves as a valuable reference for students interested in political ecology, environmental justice, and geography.
Author: Julie Koppel Maldonado
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319052667
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 178
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Book Description
With a long history and deep connection to the Earth’s resources, indigenous peoples have an intimate understanding and ability to observe the impacts linked to climate change. Traditional ecological knowledge and tribal experience play a key role in developing future scientific solutions for adaptation to the impacts. The book explores climate-related issues for indigenous communities in the United States, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and relocation. The book also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. Fifty authors from tribal communities, academia, government agencies and NGOs contributed to the book. Previously published in Climatic Change, Volume 120, Issue 3, 2013.
Author: Scott P. Carroll
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199719225
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 393
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Book Description
The main goal of this book is to encourage and formalize the infusion of evolutionary thinking into mainstream conservation biology. It reviews the evolutionary foundations of conservation issues, and unifies conceptual and empirical advances in evolutionary conservation biology. The book can be used either as a primary textbook or as a supplementary reading in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course - likely to be called Conservation Biology or in some cases Evolutionary Ecology. The focus of chapters is on current concepts in evolution as they pertain to conservation, and the empirical study of these concepts. The balanced treatment avoids exhaustive reviews and overlapping duplication among the chapters. Little background in genetics is assumed of the reader.
Author: Joseph Alcamo
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biodiversity
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
Ecosystems and Human Well-Being is the first product of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a four-year international work program designed to meet the needs of decisionmakers for scientific information on the links between ecosystem change and human well-being. The book offers an overview of the project, describing the conceptual framework that is being used, defining its scope, and providing a baseline of understanding that all participants need to move forward. The Millennium Assessment focuses on how humans have altered ecosystems, and how changes in ecosystem services have affected human well-being, how ecosystem changes may affect people in future decades, and what types of responses can be adopted at local, national, or global scales to improve ecosystem management and thereby contribute to human well-being and poverty alleviation. The program was launched by United National Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001, and the primary assessment reports will be released by Island Press in 2005. Leading scientists from more than 100 nations are conducting the assessment, which can aid countries, regions, or companies by: providing a clear, scientific picture of the current sta
