Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent NRC
publication "Twenty-First Century Ecosystems: Managing the Living
World Two Centuries After Darwin - Report of a Symposium" [Crane et
al. (2011)].
The description reads:
"The two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin,
February 12, 2009, occurred at a critical time for the United States
and the world. In honor of Darwin's birthday, the National Research
Council appointed a committee under the auspices of the U.S. National
Committee (USNC) for DIVERSITAS to plan a Symposium on Twenty-first
Century Ecosystems. The purpose of the symposium was to capture some
of the current excitement and recent progress in scientific
understanding of ecosystems, from the microbial to the global level,
while also highlighting how improved understanding can be applied to
important policy issues that have broad biodiversity and ecosystem
effects. The aim was to help inform new policy approaches that could
satisfy human needs while also maintaining the integrity of the goods
and services provided by biodiversity and ecosystems over both the
short and the long terms.
This report summarizes the views expressed by symposium participants;
however, it does not provide a session-by-session summary of the
presentations at the symposium. Instead, the symposium steering
committee identified eight key themes . . . .[[see below]]. . . .
that emerged from the lectures, which were addressed in different
contexts by different speakers. The focus here is on general
principles rather than specifics. These eight themes provide a sharp
focus on a few concepts that enable scientists, environmental NGOs,
and policy makers to engage more effectively around issues of central
importance for biodiversity and ecosystem management."
EIGHT THEMES FOR MANAGING THE LIVING WORLD
1. Learning What We Have
2. Learning How Ecosystems Are Working and Changing
3. Saving What We Can
4. Managing Ecosystem Services as Complex Adaptive Systems
5. Increasing Capacity to Inform Policy Through Integrated Science
6. Increasing Societal Capacity to Manage and Adapt to Environmental Change
7. Strengthening International Institutions and U.S. Engagement and Leadership
8. Accounting for the Value of Nature
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands
President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References
which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII)
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
Links to SDI Labs: <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
Academia: <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake>
"It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many
plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various
insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp
earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, SO
DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER, AND DEPENDENT UPON EACH OTHER IN SO
COMPLEX A MANNER, have all been produced by laws acting around us."
Charles Darwin (1859), quoted on page viii of "Twenty-First
Century Ecosystems. . . " with
EMPHASIS added.
"Transformative action in our economies to deal with climate change,
and to ultimately stop global warming and reverse it, is inextricably
linked to the biodiversity and ecosystem sphere. Indeed, global
warming has most of its impact in the context of our biosphere."
Achim Steiner, February 11, 2009, one of the Symposium speakers
- see p. 69 of
"Twenty-First Century Ecosystems. . . " quoted on p. 31.
REFERENCES
Crane, P.R., A.P. Kinzig, T.E. Lovejoy, H.A. Mooney, & C.A. Perrings.
2011. NRC Committee For Biodiversity And Ecosystem Services,
"Twenty-First Century Ecosystems: Managing the Living World Two
Centuries After Darwin - Report of a Symposium," prepublication copy,
online at <http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13109>.