Transboundary Natures

2019 ◽  
pp. 159-200
Author(s):  
Astrid M. Eckert
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Change ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Iron Curtain ◽  
Green Belt ◽  
Conservation Project ◽  
East German ◽  
Over Time

This chapter investigates the consequences of the border regime for landscape and wildlife. The ecological impact of the inter-German border has become widely known through the work of a postunification conservation project, the Green Belt. The chapter not only looks at the final ecological footprint of the Iron Curtain as evident in 1989–1990 but considers the effects of the East German border regime on landscape over time. It argues that these effects were neither purely detrimental to nor exclusively beneficial for nature and wildlife; hence neither a narrative of declension nor a narrative of creation adequately captures the dynamic influence of the border regime. This chapter introduces the term “transboundary natures” to refer to the landscapes shaped by the border, a concept that highlights the role of the border in landscape change, regardless of whether such change was embraced by contemporaries as advantageous for or rejected as deleterious to nature.

scholarly journals How to consider history in landscape ecology: patterns, processes, and pathways

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Tappeiner ◽  
Georg Leitinger ◽  
Anita Zariņa ◽  
Matthias Bürgi
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Ecology ◽  
Landscape Change ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Complete Analysis ◽  
The Past ◽  
Natural Landscapes ◽  
Patterns And Processes ◽  
Event Chains ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Context Landscape ecology early on developed the awareness that central objects of investigation are not stable over time and therefore the historical dimension must be included, or at least considered. Objectives This paper considers the importance of history in landscape ecology in terms of its impact on patterns and processes and proposes to complement these with the notion of pathways in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of landscape change. Methods We develop a conceptual framework distinguishing between legacy effects, which include pattern and processes, and path dependence, with a focus of development pathways and we illustrate these perspectives by empirical examples. Results Combined short- to long-lasting imprints and legacies of historical patterns and processes reveal how present patterns and processes are in various ways influenced by legacies of the past. The focus on inherent dynamics of development pathways sheds light on the process of change itself, and its trajectories, and reveals the role of event chains and institutional reproduction. Conclusions Understanding patterns, processes, and pathways over time, allows a more complete analysis of landscape change, and forms the base to preserve vital ecosystem services of both human-made and natural landscapes for the future.

scholarly journals Hidden Behind the Wall: West German State Building and the Emergence of the Iron Curtain

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 506-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sagi Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
German Economy ◽  
State Building ◽  
West Germany ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Iron Curtain ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
German State ◽  
East And West Germany ◽  
East German

It is widely accepted that the inter-German border was constructed by East German authorities to halt the emigration to the west, which had damaged the East German economy and undermined the East German state agencies' power. This article argues that this is an inaccurate understanding, which mistakenly treats perceptions and insights gained from studying the Berlin Wall as representative of the mostly rural border between East and West Germany. It emphasizes crucial transformations of frontier society during the 1950s, highlighting the important role of western as well as eastern policy in shaping them.

Rhetorical imaginings and multimodal arguments at the European Green Belt

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-382
Author(s):  
Marcia Allison ◽  
Emma Frances Bloomfield
Keyword(s):  
Rhetorical Criticism ◽  
Iron Curtain ◽  
Human Relationship ◽  
History And Memory ◽  
Green Belt ◽  
Conservation Project ◽  
Digital Representations ◽  
Preservation And Restoration ◽  
Argumentative Structure ◽  
Peace And War

Abstract We analyze the visual, verbal, and material arguments present at the European Green Belt (EGB), a contemporary conservation project built from the former Iron Curtain. The EGB presents itself as a “living memorial” that fuses together former warring countries and thus makes an argument for the unity of Europe. To analyze this incredibly diverse and rhetorically significant project, we put the digital representations of the site and the discourse around the EGB into conversation with situated, rhetorical criticism performed along the EGB site itself. We analyze the EGB’s different argumentative juxtapositions regarding history and memory, nonhuman nature and technology, peace and war, memorial and tourism, and preservation and restoration. Overall, we find that the transformation of the Iron Curtain from divisive border into a European-wide, transboundary biodiversity conservation project uses transcendence as a key argumentative structure, which has implications for how we understand the human relationship with the environment, history, and memory

Raza, ciencia, sociedad

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Wade
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Discourse ◽  
Human Biology ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
Race Science ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Over Time

<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Resumen </strong></span>| En este trabajo quiero presentar una cronología convencional del concepto raza que marca un movimiento en el cual raza cambia de ser una idea basada en la cultura y el medio ambiente, a ser algo biológico, inflexible y determinante, para luego volver a ser una noción que habla de la cultura<span class="s2"><strong>.</strong></span>Resumo cómo la idea de raza ha cambiado a través del tiempo, mirando necesariamente el rol que ha desempeñado la ciencia, y enfocando los diferentes discursos de índole <em>natural-cultural </em>sobre los cuerpos, el medio ambiente y el comportamiento, en los cuales las dimensiones culturales y naturales siempre coexisten<span class="s2"><strong>.</strong></span>“La naturaleza” no puede ser entendida solamente como “la biología” y ni la naturaleza ni la biología necesariamente implican sólo el determinismo, la fijeza y la inmutabilidad Estar abiertos a la coexistencia de la cultura y la naturaleza y a la mutabilidad de la naturaleza nos permite ver mejor el ámbito de acción del pensamiento racial.</p><p class="p1"><strong><em>Race, Science and Society</em></strong></p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2"><span class="s1"><strong>Abstract </strong></span>| In this article I present and critique a standard chronology of race as, first, a concept rooted in culture and environment, and later in human biology and determinism, and finally back to culture alone<span class="s2"><strong><em>.</em></strong></span>I will outline changing understandings of race over time, with some attention to the role of science, broadly understood, and on the continuing but changing character of race as a natural-cultural discourse about organic bodies, environments and behavior, in which both cultural and natural dimensions always co-exist<span class="s2"><strong><em>.</em></strong></span>“Nature” is not to be understood simply as “biology,” and neither nature nor biology necessarily imply the fixity and determination that they are often assumed nowadays to involve<span class="s2"><strong><em>.</em></strong></span>Being open to the co-existence of culture and nature and the mutability of the latter allows us to better comprehend the whole range of action of racial thinking.</p>

Biopsychosocial Patterning of Multimorbidity and Its Consequences

2018 ◽  
pp. 220-236
Author(s):  
Elliot Friedman ◽  
Beth LeBreton ◽  
Lindsay Fuzzell ◽  
Elizabeth Wehrpsann
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Outcomes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chronic Medical Conditions ◽  
Quality Of Life Research ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Over Time

By many estimates the majority of adults over age 65 have two or more chronic medical conditions (multimorbidity) and are consequently at increased risk of adverse functional outcomes. Nonetheless, many older adults with multimorbidity are able to maintain high levels of function and retain good quality of life. Research presented here is designed to understand the influences that help ensure better functional outcomes in these older adults. This chapter presents findings that draw on data from the Midlife in the United States study. The independent and interactive contributions of diverse factors to multimorbidity and changes in multimorbidity over time are reviewed. The degree that multimorbidity increases risk of cognitive impairment and disability is examined. The role of inflammation as a mediator is considered. Multimorbidity is increasingly the norm for older adults, so better understanding of factors contributing to variability in multimorbidity-related outcomes can lead to improved quality of life.

scholarly journals Learning by Doing: The Use of Distance, Corners and Length in Rewarded Geometric Tasks by Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2001
Author(s):  
Greta Baratti ◽  
Angelo Rizzo ◽  
Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini ◽  
Valeria Anna Sovrano
Keyword(s):  
Danio Rerio ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Reference Memory ◽  
Spatial Abilities ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Surface Distance ◽  
Extended Surfaces ◽  
Unequal Length ◽  
Over Time

Zebrafish spontaneously use distance and directional relationships among three-dimensional extended surfaces to reorient within a rectangular arena. However, they fail to take advantage of either an array of freestanding corners or an array of unequal-length surfaces to search for a no-longer-present goal under a spontaneous cued memory procedure, being unable to use the information supplied by corners and length without some kind of rewarded training. The present study aimed to tease apart the geometric components characterizing a rectangular enclosure under a procedure recruiting the reference memory, thus training zebrafish in fragmented layouts that provided differences in surface distance, corners, and length. Results showed that fish, besides the distance, easily learned to use both corners and length if subjected to a rewarded exit task over time, suggesting that they can represent all the geometrically informative parts of a rectangular arena when consistently exposed to them. Altogether, these findings highlight crucially important issues apropos the employment of different behavioral protocols (spontaneous choice versus training over time) to assess spatial abilities of zebrafish, further paving the way to deepen the role of visual and nonvisual encodings of isolated geometric components in relation to macrostructural boundaries.

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