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Why protect nature? Rethinking values and the environment
Fil: Diaz, Sandra Myrna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina
Journal Article
Where are Cultural and Social in Ecosystem Services? A Framework for Constructive Engagement
A focus on ecosystem services (ES) is seen as a means for improving decisionmaking. In the research to date, the valuation of the material contributions of ecosystems to human well-being has been emphasized, with less attention to important cultural ES and nonmaterial values. This gap persists because there is no commonly accepted framework for eliciting less tangible values, characterizing their changes, and including them alongside other services in decisionmaking. Here, we develop such a framework for ES research and practice, addressing three challenges: (1) Nonmaterial values are ill suited to characterization using monetary methods; (2) it is difficult to unequivocally link particular changes in socioecological systems to particular changes in cultural benefits; and (3) cultural benefits are associated with many services, not just cultural ES. There is no magic bullet, but our framework may facilitate fuller and more socially acceptable integrations of ES information into planning and management.
Journal Article
Ecosystem Services and Beyond: Using Multiple Metaphors to Understand Human-Environment Relationships
Ecosystem services research has been focused on the ways that humans directly benefit from goods and services, and economic valuation techniques have been used to measure those benefits. We argue that, although it is appropriate in some cases, this focus on direct use and economic quantification is often limiting and can detract from environmental research and effective management, in part by crowding out other understandings of human—environment relationships. Instead, we make the case that the systematic consideration of multiple metaphors of such relationships in assessing social—ecological systems will foster better understanding of the many ways in which humans relate to, care for, and value ecosystems. Where it is possible, we encourage a deliberative approach to ecosystem management whereby ecosystem researchers actively engage conservationists and local resource users to make explicit, through open deliberation, the types of metaphors salient to their conservation problem.
Journal Article
An optical system to detect, surveil, and kill flying insect vectors of human and crop pathogens
Sustainable and effective means to control flying insect vectors are critically needed, especially with widespread insecticide resistance and global climate change. Understanding and controlling vectors requires accurate information about their movement and activity, which is often lacking. The Photonic Fence (PF) is an optical system that uses machine vision, infrared light, and lasers to identify, track, and interdict vectors in flight. The PF examines an insect’s outline, flight speed, and other flight parameters and if these match those of a targeted vector species, then a low-power, retina-safe laser kills it. We report on proof-of-concept tests of a large, field-sized PF (30 mL × 3 mH) conducted with
Aedes aegypti
, a mosquito that transmits dangerous arboviruses, and
Diaphorina citri
, a psyllid which transmits the fatal huanglongbing disease of citrus. In tests with the laser engaged, < 1% and 3% of
A
.
aegypti
and
D
.
citri
, respectfully, were recovered versus a 38% and 19% recovery when the lacer was silenced. The PF tracked, but did not intercept the orchid bee,
Euglossa dilemma
. The system effectively intercepted flying vectors, but not bees, at a distance of 30 m, heralding the use of photonic energy, rather than chemicals, to control flying vectors.
Journal Article
Optical tracking and laser-induced mortality of insects during flight
Addressing the need for novel insect observation and control tools, the Photonic Fence detects and tracks mosquitoes and other flying insects and can apply lethal doses of laser light to them. Previously, we determined lethal exposure levels for a variety of lasers and pulse conditions on anesthetized
Anopheles stephensi
mosquitoes. In this work, similar studies were performed while the subjects were freely flying within transparent cages two meters from the optical system; a proof-of-principle demonstration of a 30 m system was also performed. From the dose–response curves of mortality data created as a function of various beam diameter, pulse width, and power conditions at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, the visible wavelengths required significantly lower laser exposure than near infrared wavelengths to disable subjects, though near infrared sources remain attractive given their cost and retina safety. The flight behavior of the subjects and the performance of the tracking system were found to have no impact on the mortality outcomes for pulse durations up to 25 ms, which appears to be the ideal duration to minimize required laser power. The results of this study affirm the practicality of using optical approaches to protect people and crops from pestilent flying insects.
Journal Article
Ways of Wickedness: Analyzing Messiness with Messy Tools
The revelatory paper, “Dilemmas in the General Theory of Planning,” by Rittel and Webber (Policy Sci 4:155–169, 1973) has had great impact because it provides one example of an emergent consensus across many disciplines. Many “problems,” as addressed in real-world situations, involve elements that exceed the complexity of any known or hoped-for model, or are “wicked.” Many who encounter this work for the first time find that their concept of wicked problems aptly describes many environmental disputes. For those frustrated with the lack of progress in many areas of environmental protection, Rittel and Webber’s work suggested a powerful explanatory hypothesis: Complex environmental problems cannot be comprehended within any of the accepted disciplinary models available in the academy or in discourses on public interest and policy. What should we conclude about the future of social improvements, and about the possibilities for rational discourse leading to cooperative action, with respect to this huge number of pressing public, environmental problems? Can we find ways to address environmental problems that improves the ability of communities to respond creatively and rationally to them? I will argue that, while the Rittel-Webber critique requires us to abandon many of the assumptions associated with a positivistic view of science and its applications to policy analysis, it also points to a more productive direction for the future of policy analysis. I will introduce “boundary critique,” developed within Critical Systems Theory (CST), an approach that offers some reason for optimism in dealing with some aspects of wickedness.
Journal Article
Ethical Considerations in On-Ground Applications of the Ecosystem Services Concept
The ecosystem services (ES) concept is one of the main avenues for conveying society's dependence on natural ecosystems. On-ground applications of the concept are now widespread and diverse and include its use as a communication tool, for policy guidance and priority setting, and for designing economic instruments for conservation. Each application raises ethical considerations beyond traditional controversies related to the monetary valuation of nature. We review ethical considerations across major on-ground applications and group them into the following categories: anthropocentric framing, economic metaphor, monetary valuation, commodification, sociocultural impact, changes in motivations, and equity implications. Different applications of the ES concept raise different suites of ethical issues, and we propose methods to address the issues most relevant to each application. We conclude that the ES concept should be considered as only one among various alternative approaches to valuing nature and that reliance on economic metaphors can exclude other motivations for protecting ecosystems.
Journal Article
Simondon and Novalis: Notes for a Romantic Mechanology
German Romanticism plays a central role in Gilbert Simondon's writings. In Mode of Existence , Simondon draws on Goethe and E. T. A. Hoffmann to illustrate the tragic consequences of failing to attend to the individuated relationship between landscape and tool. While Novalis is only mentioned in passing, his work presents the most radical form of what might be called Romantic mechanology. With the stated aim of achieving the ideal of perpetual motion, Novalis's poetics highlight the central role literary experimentation plays in technological thinking, revealing how Simondon may shed new light on several key aspects of romantic poetry and philosophy.
Journal Article