Re: [ECOLOG-L] Humans in the definition of ecosystems
I am confused by the original question. The CBD definition does not exclude humans. Nor does it refer only to pristine areas. And I do not agree that a general definition of something as broad as ecosystem should single out humans or any other species. Joe Poston High Point NC USA On Jun 25, 2010, at 11:20 PM, Warren W. Aney a...@coho.net wrote: Instead of looking for recent, confounded definitions, I prefer to go back to simpler, classical definitions such as: Any area of nature that includes living organisms and nonliving substances interacting to produce an exchange of materials between the living and nonliving parts is an ecological system or ecosystem. (Odum, Fundamentals of Ecology, 1953) That definition would cover an ant-colonized crack in my driveway, the urban system I live in, and the pristine (almost) wilderness that contains my footprints. Warren W. Aney Senior Wildlife Ecologist 9403 SW 74th Ave Tigard, OR 97223 (503) 539-1009 (503) 246-2605 fax -Original Message- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ecolo...@listserv.umd.edu] On Behalf Of Fabrice De Clerck Sent: Friday, 25 June, 2010 08:21 To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Humans in the definition of ecosystems Dear Friends, An environmental economist colleague of mine is disappointed with the CBD definition of ecosystems which gives the impression that only pristine areas are ecosystems. Can anyone point us to a more recent definition of ecosystems that explicitly includes humans as an integral part of the definition? Here is the original question: The CBD defines ecosystems as a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. I find this boring, as it leaves us humans, as special animals, out of the picture. When you read it, it is easy to think of pristine environments. Has there been any reaction or correction of this definition? I need an authoritative quote that balances the CBD´s All reactions welcome, and citations welcome! Fabrice Fabrice DeClerck PhD Community and Landscape Ecologist Division of Research and Development CATIE 7170, Turrialba, Costa Rica 30501 (506) 2558-2596 fadecle...@catie.ac.cr Adjunct Research Scholar Tropical Agriculture Programs The Earth Institute at Columbia University
[ECOLOG-L] Postdoctoral positions Jena Biodiversity Experiment Germany
A number of positions are available in the framework of the Jena grassland biodiversity experiment (www.the-jena-experiment.de): One postdoctoral position for data synthesis One position for data management Six Ph.D.-positions in the areas of modeling, plant-water relations, carbon storage, belowground resource complementarity, plant ecology and plant - soil feedback. One technician position in plant ecology/molecular ecology. All details can be found on the webpage of the Jena-Experiment or on www.uni-jena.de/dfg_jobs.html The Jena Experiment is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and is a collaborative research effort of the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena and a number of other European Universities. The closing date for applications is the 9. July 2010. Electronic applications should be sent to the addresses given on the web page, or to wolfgang.weis...@uni-jena.de.
[ECOLOG-L] Volunteers needed for shark tagging in South Carolina!
Hello! My name is David Shiffman, and I'm a Masters in Marine Biology student in Charleston, South Carolina. I study the feeding ecology of sharks in SC estuaries. I need volunteers to come tag sharks with me. We take day trips 2-4 days a week, leaving from Charleston early in the morning and returning before dinnertime. It's hard work on a small boat with no shade or bathrooms, and you get completely disgusting from bait, mud, and sweating in the South Carolina summer heat. However, you will see a lot of sharks. We caught 20 on the slowest day I've ever participated in, and over 200 on the busiest. I am making the volunteer schedule for July in the next few days, so please e-mail me ASAP if you are interested. Because our trip dates can change at the last minute due to bad weather or mechanical issues, *I DO NOT RECOMMEND TRAVELING FROM FAR AWAY TO DO THIS*. I cannot guarantee that we'll actually go out on the day you come. For those of you coming in from out of town, my lab has apartments for visiting scientists that are pretty reasonably priced, and Charleston also has a variety of hotels and motels. You are welcome to participate in more than one day if you'd like. Please let me know if you're interested and if you have any questions for me! Sincerely, David Shiffman
Re: [ECOLOG-L] Humans in the definition of ecosystems
Not only that, but if you have read Ricklefs 2008, the Disintegration of the Ecological Community (Am. Nat 172:741 - DOI: 10.1086/593002), you might even realize that THAT ecosystem definition leaves a lot to be desired, especially the part interacting as a functional unit. Cheers, Jim Fabrice De Clerck wrote on 25-Jun-10 12:20: Dear Friends, An environmental economist colleague of mine is disappointed with the CBD definition of ecosystems which gives the impression that only pristine areas are ecosystems. Can anyone point us to a more recent definition of ecosystems that explicitly includes humans as an integral part of the definition? Here is the original question: The CBD defines ecosystems as a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit. I find this boring, as it leaves us humans, as special animals, out of the picture. When you read it, it is easy to think of pristine environments. Has there been any reaction or correction of this definition? I need an authoritative quote that balances the CBD´s All reactions welcome, and citations welcome! Fabrice Fabrice DeClerck PhD Community and Landscape Ecologist Division of Research and Development CATIE 7170, Turrialba, Costa Rica 30501 (506) 2558-2596 fadecle...@catie.ac.cr Adjunct Research Scholar Tropical Agriculture Programs The Earth Institute at Columbia University -- James J. Roper, Ph.D. Ecology, Evolution and Population Dynamics of Terrestrial Vertebrates Caixa Postal 19034 81531-990 Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil E-mail: jjro...@gmail.com mailto:jjro...@gmail.com Telefone: 55 41 36730409 Celular: 55 41 98182559 Skype-in (USA):+1 706 5501064 Skype-in (Brazil):+55 41 39415715 Ecology and Conservation at the UFPR http://www.bio.ufpr.br/ecologia/ Home Page http://jjroper.googlespages.com James Roper's citations http://www.mendeley.com/profiles/james-roper1/ In Google Earth, copy and paste - 25 31'18.14 S, 49 05'32.98 W
Re: [ECOLOG-L] worlds authorities in sustainable ag/meat/ag ecology
A quick disclosure - I work at MSU and did my graduate education at U-M, so this response pretty Midwest focused, and includes names I know as a privilege of my job and schooling. There are many great researchers out there pursuing aspects of agroecology/sustainability in the food production system that I am not mentioning, though they certainly have had significant contributions to the field. Before you start to try to reinvent the wheel, there is a strong and ongoing literature around sustainable, agriculture, and a growing one on meat production. As far as ecologists in the field, try starting with the authors of Agroecology textbooks and the new International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development [IAASTD] report: Steve Gliessman, John Vandermeer, Peter Rosset, Ivette Perfecto to name just a few. Many scientists that might be classified as agricultural researchers are strongly utilizing ecological knowledge - check out the long-term ecological research site in agriculture at MSU with many well-known researchers like Sieg Snapp and Phil Robertson. Look to the land-grant institutions with strong agroecologically-based programs for more about sustainable meat production. Here at MSU, we have cattle grazing ecologist Satiago Utsumi. There are also many social science researchers looking at ag technology adoption, political ecology, and the renewing of ancestral skills... that is another set of literature that I am less familiar with, but can mention recent influential public economics writer Raj Patel and political ecologist Jahi Chappell. Most traditional animal science departments are wary of ecological-based production methods, opting in the past to focus on feed efficiency and disease management, but there is a growing willingness to consider many alternatives. Remember that research funding is tighter than ever, so industry groups influence what can be researched in academia. Yet, the majority of cattle producers are still small - it's not until later consolidation in the production model that most cattle could be considered industrial. Anyone familiar with sustainable poultry, pork and other meat production, please chime in. In addition to the above mentions, Iowa State, University of Wisconsin-Madison, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Cornell, and many other institutions have strong faculty in agroecology... you just need to do a little searching and you'll find a surprising amount of ecologists working in the agricultural venue - a few hundred are registered in the ESA Agroecology section. However, I would say that people researching more sustainable meat production are underrepresented and this field presents a lot of potential with both consumer preferences and the price of fuel in flux. It deserves to be said that in places where grazing animals is one of the sole sources of local food for humans (e.g. areas of Africa), the approach to and importance of both raising and sustaining animals is very different. There are many reports recently out that calculate the toll of raising meat that appear to be much more objective than interest-group led efforts. FAO's recent Livestock in a changing landscape may be of interest. Julie Cotton Academic Specialist Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Michigan State University
