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"CONCEPTS AND QUESTIONS"
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\"Follows a little boy traveling alone in an open landscape, asking questions about loss, love, friendship, language, magic, and what it means to be a human being\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Assessing data quality in citizen science
Ecological and environmental citizen-science projects have enormous potential to advance scientific knowledge, influence policy, and guide resource management by producing datasets that would otherwise be infeasible to generate. However, this potential can only be realized if the datasets are of high quality. While scientists are often skeptical of the ability of unpaid volunteers to produce accurate datasets, a growing body of publications clearly shows that diverse types of citizen-science projects can produce data with accuracy equal to or surpassing that of professionals. Successful projects rely on a suite of methods to boost data accuracy and account for bias, including iterative project development, volunteer training and testing, expert validation, replication across volunteers, and statistical modeling of systematic error. Each citizen-science dataset should therefore be judged individually, according to project design and application, and not assumed to be substandard simply because volunteers generated it.
Journal Article
The island before no
\"On Walrus Island, every simple question had just one simple answer: YES. That is until The Kid showed up!\"--Provided by publisher.
Book
Wildfire risk as a socioecological pathology
Wildfire risk in temperate forests has become a nearly intractable problem that can be characterized as a socioecological âpathologyâ: that is, a set of complex and problematic interactions among social and ecological systems across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Assessments of wildfire risk could benefit from recognizing and accounting for these interactions in terms of socioecological systems, also known as coupled natural and human systems (CNHS). We characterize the primary social and ecological dimensions of the wildfire risk pathology, paying particular attention to the governance system around wildfire risk, and suggest strategies to mitigate the pathology through innovative planning approaches, analytical tools, and policies. We caution that even with a clear understanding of the problem and possible solutions, the system by which human actors govern fireâprone forests may evolve incrementally in imperfect ways and can be expected to resist change even as we learn better ways to manage CNHS.
Journal Article
Wildfires as an ecosystem service
Wildfires are often perceived as destructive disturbances, but we propose that when integrating evolutionary and socioecological factors, fires in most ecosystems can be understood as natural processes that provide a variety of benefits to humankind. Wildfires generate open habitats that enable the evolution of a diversity of shade-intolerant plants and animals that have long benefited humans. There are many provisioning, regulating, and cultural services that people obtain from wildfires, and prescribed fires and wildfire management are tools for mimicking the ancestral role of wildfires in an increasingly populated world.
Journal Article
The role of species charisma in biological invasions
Commonly used in the literature to refer to the “attractiveness”, “appeal”, or “beauty” of a species, charisma can be defined as a set of characteristics – and the perception thereof – that affect people’s attitudes and behaviors toward a species. It is a highly relevant concept for invasion science, with implications across all stages of the invasion process. However, the concept of invasive alien species (IAS) charisma has not yet been systematically investigated. We discuss this concept in detail, provide a set of recommendations for further research, and highlight management implications. We review how charisma affects the processes associated with biological invasions and IAS management, including species introductions and spread, media portrayals, public perceptions of species management, research attention, and active public involvement in research and management. Explicit consideration of IAS charisma is critical for understanding the factors that shape people’s attitudes toward particular species, planning management measures and strategies, and implementing a combination of education programs, awareness raising, and public involvement campaigns.
Journal Article
Urban evolution of invasive species
Urban areas can drive rapid evolution of species and are hotspots for entry and establishment of invasive species, but it is unclear how urban evolution is impacting the process and risk of invasion by non-native species. Using a synthesis of current research as a basis, we contend that urban evolution of non-native species can enhance invader establishment, spread, and ecological impact, which can facilitate invader success under future global change conditions. In addition, we highlight that ecological opportunity in urban areas is a potentially important but unexplored mechanism that could accelerate invader evolution. Urban evolution of invaders is a critical new area of research that could reveal novel pathways and mechanisms in the invasion process, and improve predictions and management of invasive species around the world.
Journal Article
The global rise of crustacean fisheries
Globally, wild decapod crustacean fisheries are growing faster than fisheries of any other major group, yet little attention has been given to the benefits, costs, and risks of this shift. We examined more than 60 years of global fisheries landings data to evaluate the socioeconomic and ecological implications of the compositional change in global fisheries, and propose that direct and indirect anthropogenic alterations and enhancements to ecosystems continue to benefit crustaceans. Crustaceans are among the most valuable seafood, but provide low nutritional yields and drive 94% of the projected increase of global fishery carbon emissions, due to low capture efficiency. Unequivocally, the increasing global demand for luxury seafood comes with serious environmental costs, but also appears to offer lucrative fishing opportunities. The potential for more prosperous fisheries carries unevaluated risks, highlighting the need for a nuanced perspective on global fisheries trade-offs. Addressing this unique suite of trade-offs will require substantive changes in both science and management.
Journal Article
Synthetic chemicals as agents of global change
Though concerns about the proliferation of synthetic chemicals – including pesticides – gave rise to the modem environmental movement in the early 1960s, synthetic chemical pollution has not been included in most analyses of global change. We examined the rate of change in the production and variety of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and other synthetic chemicals over the past four decades. We compared these rates to those for well-recognized drivers of global change such as rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, nutrient pollution, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss. Our analysis showed that increases in synthetic chemical production and diversification, particularly within the developing world, outpaced these other agents of global change. Despite these trends, mainstream ecological journals, ecological meetings, and ecological funding through the US National Science Foundation devote less than 2% of their journal pages, meeting talks, and science funding, respectively, to the study of synthetic chemicals.
Journal Article
Big data and the future of ecology
The need for sound ecological science has escalated alongside the rise of the information age and \"big data\" across all sectors of society. Big data generally refer to massive volumes of data not readily handled by the usual data tools and practices and present unprecedented opportunities for advancing science and informing resource management through data-intensive approaches. The era of big data need not be propelled only by \"big science\" - the term used to describe large-scale efforts that have had mixed success in the individual-driven culture of ecology. Collectively, ecologists already have big data to bolster the scientific effort - a large volume of distributed, high-value information - but many simply fail to contribute. We encourage ecologists to join the larger scientific community in global initiatives to address major scientific and societal problems by bringing their distributed data to the table and harnessing its collective power. The scientists who contribute such information will be at the forefront of socially relevant science - but will they be ecologists?
Journal Article