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Human Economies (human + economy)
Selected AbstractsMotivations for the Restoration of EcosystemsCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2006ANDRE F. CLEWELL cambio climático; capital natural; restauración ecológica Abstract:,The reasons ecosystems should be restored are numerous, disparate, generally understated, and commonly underappreciated. We offer a typology in which these reasons,or motivations,are ordered among five rationales: technocratic, biotic, heuristic, idealistic, and pragmatic. The technocratic rationale encompasses restoration that is conducted by government agencies or other large organizations to satisfy specific institutional missions and mandates. The biotic rationale for restoration is to recover lost aspects of local biodiversity. The heuristic rationale attempts to elicit or demonstrate ecological principles and biotic expressions. The idealistic rationale consists of personal and cultural expressions of concern or atonement for environmental degradation, reengagement with nature, and/or spiritual fulfillment. The pragmatic rationale seeks to recover or repair ecosystems for their capacity to provide a broad array of natural services and products upon which human economies depend and to counteract extremes in climate caused by ecosystem loss. We propose that technocratic restoration, as currently conceived and practiced, is too narrow in scope and should be broadened to include the pragmatic rationale whose overarching importance is just beginning to be recognized. We suggest that technocratic restoration is too authoritarian, that idealistic restoration is overly restricted by lack of administrative strengths, and that a melding of the two approaches would benefit both. Three recent examples are given of restoration that blends the technocratic, idealistic, and pragmatic rationales and demonstrates the potential for a more unified approach. The biotic and heuristic rationales can be satisfied within the contexts of the other rationales. Resumen:,Las razones por la que los ecosistemas deben ser restaurados son numerosas, dispares, generalmente poco sustentadas, y comúnmente poco apreciadas. Ofrecemos una tipología en la que estas razones,o motivaciones,son ordenadas entre cinco razonamientos: tecnocrático, biótico, heurístico, idealista y pragmático. El razonamiento tecnocrático se refiere a la restauración que es llevada a cabo por agencias gubernamentales u otras grandes organizaciones para satisfacer misiones y mandatos institucionales específicos. El razonamiento biótico de la restauración es la recuperación de aspectos perdidos de la biodiversidad local. El razonamiento heurístico intenta extraer o demostrar principios ecológicos y expresiones bióticas. El razonamiento idealista consiste de expresiones personales y culturales de la preocupación o reparación de la degradación ambiental, reencuentro con la naturaleza y/o cumplimiento espiritual. El razonamiento pragmático busca recuperar o reparar ecosistemas por su capacidad de proporcionar una amplia gama de servicios y productos naturales de la que dependen las economías humanas y para contrarrestar extremos en el clima causados por la pérdida de ecosistemas. Proponemos que la restauración tecnocrática, como se concibe y practica actualmente, es muy corta en su alcance y debiera ampliarse para incluir al razonamiento pragmático, cuya importancia apenas comienza a ser reconocida. Sugerimos que la restauración tecnocrática es demasiado autoritaria, que la restauración idealista esta muy restringida por la falta de fortalezas administrativas, y que una mezcla de los dos enfoques podría beneficiar a ambas. Proporcionamos tres ejemplos recientes de restauración que combinan los razonamientos tecnocrático, idealista y pragmático y demuestran el potencial para un enfoque más unificado. Los razonamientos biótico y heurístico pueden ser satisfechos en el contexto de los otros razonamientos. [source] What do human economies, large islands and forest fragments reveal about the factors limiting ecosystem evolution?JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2009E. G. LEIGH Abstract What factors limit ecosystem evolution? Like human economies, ecosystems are arenas where agents compete for locally limiting resources. Like economies, but unlike genes, ecosystems are not units of selection. In both economies and ecosystems, productivity, diversity of occupations or species and intensity of competition presuppose interdependence among many different agents. In both, competitive dominants need abundant, varied resources, and many agents' products or services, to support the activity and responsiveness needed to maintain dominance. Comparing different-sized land masses suggests that productivity is lower on islands whose area is too small to maintain some of the interdependences that maintain diversity, productivity and competitiveness in mainland ecosystems. Islands lacking the rare, metabolically active dominants that make competition so intense in mainland ecosystems are more easily invaded by introduced exotics. Studies of islets in reservoirs identify mechanisms generating these phenomena. These phenomena suggest how continued fragmentation will affect future ,natural' ecosystems. [source] Approaches for Quantifying the Metabolism of Physical Economies: A Comparative Survey: Part II: Review of Individual ApproachesJOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Peter L. Daniels Summary This article is the second of a two-part series that describes and compares the essential features of nine "physical economy" approaches for mapping and quantifying the material demands of the human economy upon the natural environ-ment. These approaches are critical tools in the design and implementation of industrial ecology strategies for greater eco-efficiency and reduced environmental impacts of human economic activity. Part I of the series provided an overview, meth-odological classification, and comparison of a selected set of major materials flow analysis (MFA) and related techniques. This sequel includes a convenient reference and overview of the major metabolism measurement approaches in the form of a more detailed summary of the key specific analytical and other features of the approaches introduced in part I. The surveyed physical economy related environmental analysis ap-proaches include total material requirement and output mod-els, bulk MFA (IFF (Department of Social Ecology, Institute for Interdiscplinary Studies of Austrian Universities) material flow balance model variant), physical input-output tables, substance flow analysis, ecological footprint analysis, environmental space, material intensity per unit service, life-cycle assessment (LCA), the sustainable process index, and company-level MFA. [source] Securing water for people, crops, and ecosystems: New mindset and new prioritiesNATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 2 2003Sandra L Postel A fundamentally new approach to water and human development will be needed during this new century if we are to secure sufficient freshwater to meet the needs of some 9 billion people while at the same time protecting the critical ecosystem services upon which the human economy depends. Signs of unsustainable water use , including falling water tables, shrinking lakes, and the drying up of rivers and streams , are widespread and spreading. In many regions, greater modification and appropriation of freshwater systems for human purposes will yield greater costs than benefits and create the risk of irreversible losses of species and ecosystem services. A new mindset is needed to guide water use and management in this new century, one that views the human water economy as a subset of nature's water economy. Living within nature's limits will require that societies satisfy the basic needs of people and ecosystems before non-essential water demands are met. It will require on the order of a doubling of water productivity. And it will require stronger institutions to encourage equitable sharing of water to alleviate tensions within and between countries. [source] | |||||||||||||