Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
to pry apart the 'natural' and the 'cultural' as separate spheres of activity and analy-
sis (Castree, 2005). Human social dynamics, which are pervasive in everyday dis-
courses as well as disciplinary divisions within the academy, have tended to separate
'nature' and 'culture', contrary to the realities that are represented in most types of
biodiversity issues.
Ultimately the rapid and successful rise of biodiversity - both as an infl uential
multi-faceted concept crossing the sciences and humanities and, at the same time,
as one of the most pressing and urgent present-day environmental issues - must be
seen as rooted in still larger historical and geographic scales. One persistently pow-
erful force is the centuries-old and still vigorous legacy of natural history, which
offers an important deep-time precursor to present-day biodiversity science and
ideas. Natural history has typically combined scientifi c and emotive interests in the
variety of the natural world, similar to some of the main threads of contemporary
biodiversity-centred activities. Moreover, natural history is drawn from fi eld studies
and international milieus at the global scale, which are similarly a signature of bio-
diversity science and conservation. Persistence of the deep cultural premium placed
on the value of natural diversity may be traced to Enlightenment and Romantic
views of nature, as evidenced for example in the works of Alexander von Humboldt.
Indeed, Humboldt's scientifi c and human-environmental legacy has offered specifi c
precursors to current interests in biodiversity, along with its general infl uences on
contemporary environmental geography (Zimmerer, 2006).
Social studies of science and technology can be used to refl ect also on current
trends and interest in biodiversity. These studies suggest that the power of scientifi c
ideas and concerns typically emanate from immediate circumstance as well as wider
social, ideological, and environmental contexts and currents. Rapidly expanding
interest in biodiversity must be evaluated, therefore, within the matrix of the enor-
mous scientifi c and economic growth of biotechnology and the emergence of a
'bioeconomy' (including 'biofuels' and 'bioenergy'). Genomics and bioinformatics,
for example, are fueling a new wave of advances that bring into play an unprece-
dented emphasis on the role of the spatial and geographical dimension of biodiver-
sity dynamics.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful for the expert editorial feedback and comments of David Demeritt.
This research is carried out in conjunction with the Geo-Genetics research group
and the colloquium series (2008-2010) of the Huck Institutes of the Biological Sci-
ences at Pennsylvania State University. It has benefi tted from interactions with
Geo-Genetics colleagues from several departments. Funding is provided through
Peter Hudson and the Huck Institutes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adams, W. M., Aveling, R. and D. Brockington (2004). Biodiversity conservation and the
eradication of poverty.
Science
, 306(5699), 1146-49.
Bakker, K. and Bridge, G. (2006) Material worlds? Resource geographies and the 'matter of
nature'.
Progress in Human Geography
, 30, 5-27.
Balée, W. (2006) The research program of historical ecology.
Annual Review of Anthropol-
ogy
, 35, 75-98.
