Managing for Virtue

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-151
Author(s):  
Andrew R.H. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Human Impacts ◽  
Novel Ecosystems ◽  
Moral Pluralism ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Environmental Pragmatism ◽  
A Site

A debate has emerged among ecologists regarding the designation of novel ecosystems, systems so altered by human impacts that restoration to historic conditions is practically impossible. This article considers this debate from the perspective of environmental pragmatism, viewing it as a site where fundamental views about the proper relationships of humans to their environments are being negotiated, albeit implicitly. The challenge, then, is to bring these negotiations to the fore, seeing human relationships as among the relevant characteristics considered in restoration decisions. It is argued that this need not lead to further confrontation; rather, the goal may be a workable moral pluralism, according to which different objectives are appropriate for different systems, but some shared fundamental orientation is assumed. Moreover, such an approach may be useful for a broad range of ecological decisions, beyond the debate over novel ecosystems.

scholarly journals Island Biodiversity in the Anthropocene

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Russell ◽  
Christoph Kueffer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Novel Ecosystems ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Habitat Transformation ◽  
Human Contact ◽  
Island Biodiversity ◽  
New Strategies

Biodiversity on marine islands is characterized by unique biogeographic, phylogenetic and functional characteristics. Islands hold a disproportionate amount of the world's biodiversity, and they have also experienced a disproportionate loss of it. Following human contact, island biodiversity has sustained negative human impacts increasing in rate and magnitude as islands transitioned from primary through secondary to tertiary economies. On islands, habitat transformation and invasive non-native species have historically been the major threats to biodiversity, and although these threats will continue in new forms, new impacts such as human-induced climate change and sea-level rise are emerging. Island biodiversity is changing with some species going extinct, others changing in abundance, non-native species becoming a part of many ecosystems, and humans shaping many ecological processes. Islands thus are microcosms for the emerging biodiversity and socioecological landscapes of the Anthropocene. Islands will require new strategies for the protection and restoration of their biodiversity, including maintaining biological and cultural heritage through regenerative practices, mainstreaming biodiversity in cultural and production landscapes, and engaging with the reality of novel ecosystems.

scholarly journals Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities?

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Plumptre ◽  
Daniele Baisero ◽  
R. Travis Belote ◽  
Ella Vázquez-Domínguez ◽  
Soren Faurby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Surface ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
Initial Assessment ◽  
Distribution Data ◽  
Species Loss ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Human Footprint ◽  
The World ◽  
A Site

Conservation efforts should target the few remaining areas of the world that represent outstanding examples of ecological integrity and aim to restore ecological integrity to a much broader area of the world with intact habitat and minimal species loss while this is still possible. There have been many assessments of “intactness” in recent years but most of these use measures of anthropogenic impact at a site, rather than faunal intactness or ecological integrity. This paper makes the first assessment of faunal intactness for the global terrestrial land surface and assesses how many ecoregions have sites that could qualify as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs – sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity) based on their outstanding ecological integrity (under KBA Criterion C). Three datasets are combined on species loss at sites to create a new spatially explicit map of numbers of species extirpated. Based on this map it is estimated that no more than 2.9% of the land surface can be considered to be faunally intact. Additionally, using habitat/density distribution data for 15 large mammals we also make an initial assessment of areas where mammal densities are reduced, showing a further decrease in surface area to 2.8% of the land surface that could be considered functionally intact. Only 11% of the functionally intact areas that were identified are included within existing protected areas, and only 4% within existing KBAs triggered by other criteria. Our findings show that the number of ecoregions that could qualify as Criterion C KBAs could potentially increase land area up to 20% if their faunal composition was restored with the reintroduction of 1–5 species. Hence, if all necessary requirements are met in order to reintroduce species and regain faunal integrity, this will increase ecological integrity across much of the area where human impacts are low (human footprint ≤4). Focusing restoration efforts in these areas could significantly increase the area of the planet with full ecological integrity.

Justificatory Moral Pluralism: A Novel Form of Environmental Pragmatism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Santos Campos ◽  
Sofia Guedes Vaz
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Traditional Method ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Moral Pluralism ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Environmental Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Decisions ◽  
Viable Solution ◽  
Environmental Pragmatism

Moral reasoning typically informs environmental decision-making by measuring the possible outcomes of policies or actions in light of a preferred ethical theory. This method is subject to many problems. Environmental pragmatism tries to overcome them, but it suffers also from some pitfalls. This paper proposes a new method of environmental pragmatism that avoids the problems of both the traditional method of environmental moral reasoning and of the general versions of environmental pragmatism. We call it ‘justificatory moral pluralism’ – it develops the intuition that normative ethical theories need not be mutually exclusive. This leaves room for important forms of pluralist environmental ethics that do not require a once-and-for-all prior commitment to an ethical theory when deciding about policies or courses of action related to the protection of the environment. Justificatory moral pluralism offers a viable solution to the recurrent conflicts between efficient environmental decisions and the need for moral reasoning.

The HydroEcoSedimentary Tool: an integrated approach to characterise interstitial processes in freshwater systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roser Casas-Mulet ◽  
Joachim Pander ◽  
Maximilian Prietzel ◽  
Juergen Geist
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Habitat Degradation ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Sediment Accumulation ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Fine Sediment ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Gravel Beds ◽  
Fine Sediments ◽  
A Site

<p>Increased deposition of fine sediments in streams affects a range of key ecosystem processes across the sediment-water interface, and it is a critical aspect of river habitat degradation and restoration. Understanding the mechanisms leading to fine sediment accumulation along and across streambeds, and their affectation to ecological processes is therefore essential for comprehending human impacts on river ecosystems and inform river restoration. Here, we introduce the HydroEcoSedimentary Tool (HEST) as an integrated approach to assess hydro-sedimentary and ecologically relevant processes together. The HEST integrates the estimation of a range of processes occurring in the interstitial zone, including sedimentary (fine sediment accumulation and fine sediment loss upon retrieval), hydraulic (hydraulic conductivity), geochemical (water quality and temperature) and ecological (with a focus on brown trout early life stages).</p><p>We tested the HEST application in two rivers with different degrees of morphological degradation in Germany. The HEST was successful in recording the set of key hydrosedimentary and ecologically relevant factors, and in providing a mechanistic linkage between and biological effect in a site-specific context. The HEST data confirmed that salmonid embryo mortality could be linked to high fine deposition in gravel beds. In addition, the HEST illustrated that such mortality could be linked explicitly to interstitial depths and to different infiltration pathways for fines (e.g. vertical vs. horizontal). Although interstitial water quality and temperature were within ecological thresholds and did not show significant differences with surface water, it was still useful to monitor such variables and to rule out any effect on mortality. Water temperature, for example, could be extremely important to detect local groundwater inputs, which has been demonstrated to have a significant effect on embryo salmonids elsewhere. The HEST also allowed accounting for the loss of fines during retrieval failure and estimating hydrological factors with the HEST illustrates its additional usefulness and reliability.</p><p>Compared to other methods, the HEST expands the possibilities to monitor and quantify fine sediment deposition in streambeds by differentiating between vertical, lateral and longitudinal infiltration pathways, and distinguishing between the depth (upper vs. lower layers) at which interstitial processes occur along the streambed column.</p>

The Architecture of Benefaction: The Last Will and Testament of a Grain Merchant

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Jakobiec
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Material Goods ◽  
Religious Importance ◽  
Early Modern Era ◽  
A Site ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
Last Will And Testament

A close analysis and interpretation of the last will and testament of a grain merchant written in 1616 Kazimierz Dolny, Poland, sheds light on the process by which possessions were bequeathed and assigned meaning. Material goods were deeply embedded in human relationships and heavily invested with religious importance, especially concerning the attainment of salvation. Testaments disclose ideas about ownership, the built environment as a site of exchange, and the power that goods could accumulate over time. In revealing the significance of material culture during the early modern era, they yield crucial insights about the interconnection between society, culture, and economy.

Eels Under Standing Wave Conditions

1982 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 492-495
Author(s):  
O.L. Krivanek ◽  
J. TaftØ
Keyword(s):  
Standing Wave ◽  
Wave Conditions ◽  
Set Up ◽  
A Site ◽  
Complex Crystal

It is well known that a standing electron wavefield can be set up in a crystal such that its intensity peaks at the atomic sites or between the sites or in the case of more complex crystal, at one or another type of a site. The effect is usually referred to as channelling but this term is not entirely appropriate; by analogy with the more established particle channelling, electrons would have to be described as channelling either through the channels or through the channel walls, depending on the diffraction conditions.

Head Size and DNA Content in Bacteriophage T4

1972 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 200-201
Author(s):  
Fred Eiserling ◽  
A. H. Doermann ◽  
Linde Boehner
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Dna Content ◽  
Bacteriophage T4 ◽  
Head Size ◽  
Virus Particles ◽  
Altered Protein ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Bacterial Viruses ◽  
A Site ◽  
Protein Shell

The control of form or shape inheritance can be approached by studying the morphogenesis of bacterial viruses. Shape variants of bacteriophage T4 with altered protein shell (capsid) size and nucleic acid (DNA) content have been found by electron microscopy, and a mutant (E920g in gene 66) controlling head size has been described. This mutant produces short-headed particles which contain 2/3 the normal DNA content and which are non-viable when only one particle infects a cell (Fig. 1).We report here the isolation of a new mutant (191c) which also appears to be in gene 66 but at a site distinct from E920g. The most striking phenotype of the mutant is the production of about 10% of the phage yield as “giant” virus particles, from 3 to 8 times longer than normal phage (Fig. 2).

Exploration-Stage Implementation Variation

2014 ◽  
Vol 222 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Romney ◽  
Nathaniel Israel ◽  
Danijela Zlatevski
Keyword(s):  
Parent Training ◽  
Average Cost ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Training Group ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Triple P ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Parent Training Program ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Cost

The present study examines the effect of agency-level implementation variation on the cost-effectiveness of an evidence-based parent training program (Positive Parenting Program: “Triple P”). Staff from six community-based agencies participated in a five-day training to prepare them to deliver a 12-week Triple P parent training group to caregivers. Prior to the training, administrators and staff from four of the agencies completed a site readiness process intended to prepare them for the implementation demands of successfully delivering the group, while the other two agencies did not complete the process. Following the delivery of each agency’s first Triple P group, the graduation rate and average cost per class graduate were calculated. The average cost-per-graduate was over seven times higher for the two agencies that had not completed the readiness process than for the four completing agencies ($7,811 vs. $1,052). The contrast in costs was due to high participant attrition in the Triple P groups delivered by the two agencies that did not complete the readiness process. The odds of Triple P participants graduating were 12.2 times greater for those in groups run by sites that had completed the readiness process. This differential attrition was not accounted for by between-group differences in participant characteristics at pretest. While the natural design of this study limits the ability to empirically test all alternative explanations, these findings indicate a striking cost savings for sites completing the readiness process and support the thoughtful application of readiness procedures in the early stages of an implementation initiative.

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