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Research Program (ILTER) that began in 1993 is documenting ecosystem changes
over daily, annual, and decadal time scales, and from micro to macro spatial scales,
across 37 national networks (Maass and Equihua 2015 this volume [Chap. 14 ]).
Another example is the National Climate Assessment that periodically summarizes
changes in the climate impacts on a wide range of ecosystems (Melillo et al. 2014 ).
Planning by the UN Environment Program's Intergovernmental Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) can help create some consensus on
methods and uses of economic valuations, especially as related to climate change
(Larigauderie and Mooney 2010 ; Granjou et al. 2013 ). Agreements among the 118
national representatives will be useful and access to the online reports in six
languages can enhance communication. The role of the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other non-governmental agencies will be
essential to provide reliable information on biodiversity. Other recognized needs
include more transparency and inclusiveness in the IPBES discussions (Hotes and
Opgenoorth 2014 ).
29.4
Environmental Ethics: Practice What You Teach
During most of the twentieth century, the widespread intellectual fragmentation in
universities prevented most biologists from dealing comprehensively with envi-
ronmental ethics. The defi nitions of intrinsic, instrumental, and systemic values
used by philosophers such as Holmes Rolston ( 1988 , 1994 ), Baird Callicott
( 1984 ), and Bryan Norton ( 1986 ) stimulated discussions of environmental values
among social and natural scientists (De Laplante 2004 ; Taylor 2005 ; Reiners and
Lockwood 2010 ).
Today, the integration of social and ecological disciplines has grown, but creative
tension often centers on the appropriate use of economic valuation methods for
comparing complex, adaptive systems and inter-generational responsibilities (Daily
et al. 2000 ; Farley and Costanza 2010 ; Dendoncker et al. 2014 ). There remains
an urgent need for innovative studies of environmental ethics and intrinsic values
of species and ecosystems that relate to Earth stewardship (see Fu et al. 2011 ;
Aguirre Sala 2015 this volume [Chap. 15 ]).
Early in his career, Golley developed his philosophy of inclusive values that
had long-lasting impacts on many students as he engaged them in discussions of
“nature-centered thinking.” For example, he explored environmental ethics in his
seminars at the Mediterranean Institute of Agronomy in Zaragoza, Spain, where
he emphasized the importance of humans in the water cycle. In other seminars
around the world, he connected ethical concerns with loss of biodiversity and
cultural diversity in tropical forests. Golley also contributed much to teaching
ecosystem concepts as chair of the Education Committee of the Ecological Society
of America during 1962-1963. Golley, inspired by a suggestion from Peter Raven,
was instrumental in fostering the University of Georgia's requirement that all
freshmen enroll in an environmental literacy course. Golley concluded that the
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