Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5. What are the population level consequences of species' life-history
adaptations?
6. How does fragmentation of the landscape affect the persistence of
species on the landscape?
7. How does biological diversity influence ecosystem process?
8. What ecological principles need to be considered in the design of
strategies to protect biological diversity?
My aim here is to address these big research questions by structuring the
narrative around example environmental problems.At the same time I will
show how the questions posed in the Sustainable Biosphere Initiative doc-
ument have lead to fresh ways of thinking about ecosystems that are directly
relevant to solving problems, including the link between biodiversity and
ecosystem functioning, valuing ecosystem services, interconnections of
ecosystems across geographic scales, and emergence of ecosystem proper-
ties consequent to species sorting processes on landscapes.
I deal with each of the questions in individual chapters.The chapters
highlight the latest concepts aimed at answering the big research questions.
The topic then closes with a final chapter that addresses the need, not only
to understand ecological science, but to put that science into an ecosystem
ethics perspective. It also returns to and answers the question: Is it wise for
policy makers to dismiss environmental problems when their cause is un-
certain?
In answering this question, I recognize that society must reconcile sig-
nificant trade-offs between human health and economic welfare and the pro-
tection of natural ecosystem function. One role of ecological science, as I see
it, is not to judge, but rather to illuminate the ecological consequences of dif-
ferent potential choices that might be made. Another role, which I also try
to convey, is to engender new thinking and awareness of the looming spa-
tial and temporal scales of our impact on nature as globalization of market
economies increases the human footprint on the environment.
