A New Ecology

Systems Perspective

Soeren Nors Nielsen, Brian D. Fath, Simone Bastianoni, Joao C. Marques, Felix Muller, Bernard D. Patten, Robert E. Ulanowicz, Enzo Tiezzi, Sven Erik Jørgensen

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780444637642
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

A New Ecology: Systems Perspective, Second Edition, gives an overview of the commonalities of all ecosystems from a variety of properties, including physical openness, ontic openness, directionality, connectivity, a complex dynamic for growth and development, and a complex dynamic response to disturbances. Each chapter details basic and characteristic properties that help the reader understand how they can be applied to explain a wide spectrum of current ecological research and environmental management applications.- Contains revised, updated or redeveloped chapters that include the most current research and technology- Reviews universal traits of ecosystems from multiple perspectives, giving the reader a complete overview of the systems perspective of ecology- Offers broad examples of ecology as a systems science, from the history of science, to philosophy and the arts- Brings together the systems perspective in a framework of four columns for greater understanding, including thermodynamics, network theory, hierarchy theory and biochemistry- Contains new chapter on the application of the theory to environmental management

Chapter 1

Introduction

A New Ecology Is Needed

Abstract

This chapter introduces the need for a new ecology that is both grounded in first principles of good science and also is applicable for environmental management. Advances such as the United Nations Rio Declaration on Sustainable Development in 1992 and the more recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (2015) have put on notice the need to understand and protect the health and integrity of the earth's ecosystems in order to ensure our future existence. Drawing on decades of work from systems ecology that includes inspiration from a variety of adjacent research areas such as thermodynamics, self-organization, complexity, networks, and dynamics, we present nine core principles for ecosystem function and development. This includes material constraints, ontological properties as well as phenomenological properties that together direct the growth and development of ecological systems.

Keywords

Ecosystem principles; Environmental management; Sustainable development goals

1.1. Environmental Management has Changed

The political agenda imposed on ecologists and environmental managers has changed since the early 1990s. Since the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 in 1992, the focus has been on sustainability, which inevitably has made ecosystem functioning a core issue. Sustainable Development is, according to the Rio Declaration, defined as follows: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” And, the contrasting parties are invited to “act in a way that is economically profitable, socially acceptable, and environmentally compatible.” Already the Rio Declaration emphasized the importance of ecosystems in Principle 7: States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystems.

In view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation, states have common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the technologies and financial resources they command.

The changing climate represents one of the largest threats to ecosystems of the Earth, which poses a threat to stable life conditions of all species including humans all over the world. Considering globalization, there is no region where human population can ignore this and consider themselves not to be affected by any of the scenarios presented in an increasing number of reports. We are already seeing the impacts today in increased hurricane strength and activity, heat waves, flooding, and temperature anomalies that are beyond the “normal” historical trends. Since 1995, the United Nations has been responsible for a series of conferences on climate change known as Conference of Parties (COPs), of which the third led to an important milestone with the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, COP 3, which was ratified by 191 states. Unfortunately, the strategies proposed were not sufficient to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases. However, it did demonstrate the need to come together as a global community to address the topic and change the dialogue toward emission reduction pathways. Already, before it ended, there was discussion of post-Kyoto (it sunsetted in 2012) and a new agreement that would more aggressively address the issue. The financial crisis of the late 2000s made countries less collaborative; even though the economic collapse resulted in lowering emissions, the efforts of most countries was to turn that around as soon as possible, without new regulations that the business community felt would be hamstringing. After some gaps and compromise, a more bottom-up approach (nationally determined contributions (NDCs)) emerged at the COP21 meeting in Paris in 2015. The Paris Agreement came into force in early November 2016. The adopting countries have agreed to implement reduction measures from 2020. A recent, fall 2018, IPPC report indicates that warming will reach a critical 1.5°C threshold by 2030 unless substantial and urgent actions are taken in the near term. While the science is clear, are humans capable of managing such a massive, international, multidimensional issue? Can we use our knowledge of ecological systems and practices—how they balance biogeochemical cycles? Can a new ecology help point the way?

Another major international effort at cooperation for the environment was the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), adopted in 2000. The CBD, with 12 principles, explicitly called for an Ecosystem Approach—that placed the ecosystem concept centrally into environmental management considerations. It is particularly clear from the last 10 of the 12 principles:

• 1) The objectives of management of land, water, and living resources are a matter of societal choice.
• 2) Management should be decentralized to the lowest appropriate level.
• 3) Ecosystem managers should consider the effects (actual or potential) of their activities on adjacent and other ecosystems.
• 4) Recognizing potential gains from management, there is usually a need to understand and manage the ecosystem in an economic context. Any such ecosystem management program should:
• • a. reduce those market distortions that adversely affect biological diversity;
  • b. align incentives to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use;
  • c. internalize costs and benefits in the given ecosystem to the extent feasible.
• 5) Conservation of ecosystem structure and functioning, in order to maintain ecosystem services, should be a priority target of the ecosystem approach.
• 6) Ecosystems must be managed within the limits of their functioning.
• 7) The ecosystem approach should be undertaken at the appropriate spatial and temporal scales.
• 8) Recognizing the varying temporal scales and lag effects that characterize ecosystem processes, objectives for ecosystem management should be set for the long term.
• 9) Management must recognize that change is inevitable.
• 10) The ecosystem approach should seek the appropriate balance between, and integration of, conservation and use of biological diversity.
• 11) The ecosystem approach should consider all forms of relevant information, including scientific and indigenous and local knowledge, innovations and practices.
• 12) The ecosystem approach should involve all relevant sectors of society and scientific disciplines.

In addition, in the book Ecosystems and Human Well-being, a Report of the Conceptual Framework Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment from 2003, ecosystems are the core topic. In Chapter 2 of the book, it is emphasized that an assessment of the ecosystem condition, the provision of services, and their relation to human well-being requires an integrated approach. This enables a decision process to determine which service or set of services is valued most highly and how to develop approaches to maintain services by managing the system sustainably. Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from nature. These include provisioning services such as food and water; regulating services such as flood and disease control; cultural services such as spiritual, recreational, and educational benefits; and supporting services such as nutrient cycling that maintain the conditions for life on Earth.

Today, environmental managers have realized that maintenance of ecosystem structure and functioning (see Principle 5 above) by an integrated approach is a prerequisite for a successful environmental management strategy, which is able to optimize the ecosystem services for the benefit of humans and nature. Another question is whether we have sufficient knowledge in ecology and systems ecology to give adequate and appropriate information about ecosystem structure, function, and response to disturbance to pursue the presented environmental management strategy and ecosystem sustainability with a scientific basis. In any way, the political demands provide a daunting challenge for ecosystem ecology.

This development in turn has been accentuated by the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 194 countries. The SDGs describe 17 issues that need to be addressed and considered for humanity to achieve a sustainable state of our societies and eventually the whole Earth. Although, only three of the goals (13, 14, 15) are directly or very closely linked to the environment, clearly our societies are embedded in and therefore dependent on the state of the ecosystems adjacent to us in our everyday life. The goals are addressed in 169 targets believed to assist in reaching the goals, the SDGs. The targets share some concerns with the previously mentioned report from the Rio Summit in 1992, which also included some indication of possible actions to be taken. Actions and targets are not enough if they do not clearly indicate what priorities to give or in which direction to go. This book carries the idea that such lessons may be learned from nature and that true sustainability may only be achieved from increasing our understanding of nature's function and learning to work with rather than at odds with nature.

Recently, a new important player has entered the scene—the Catholic church—with the Vatican's release of the Papal ecclesial named “Laudate Si” (2015), which clearly addresses the connection between poverty and environmental quality and the fact that there is a strong bias between developed and developing countries. Developed countries' industries are continuously searching for and exploiting resources from the rest of the world, with increasing impact on the viability of local populations but also their activities play an important role in the decrease of global diversity. Sustainable development is a social justice issue as well. All the more, a reason to take the courage and action to address the issue.

1.2. Ecology Is Changing

As a consequence of the changing paradigm direction of environmental management, we need to focus on ecosystem ecology. An ecosystem according to the Millennium Report (2003) is defined as “a dynamic complex of plants, animals, and microorganism communities and the nonliving environment, i...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Chapter 1. Introduction: A New Ecology Is Needed
• Chapter 2. Ecosystems Have Thermodynamic Openness
• Chapter 3. Ecosystems Have Ontic Openness
• Chapter 4. Ecosystems Have Connectivity
• Chapter 5. Ecosystems as Self-organizing Hierarchies
• Chapter 6. Ecosystems Have Directionality
• Chapter 7. Ecosystems Have Complex Dynamics—Growth and Development
• Chapter 8. Ecosystems Have Complex Dynamics—Disturbance and Decay
• Chapter 9. Ecosystem Principles Have Broad Explanatory Power in Ecology
• Chapter 10. Ecosystem Principles Have Ecological Applications
• Chapter 11. Ecosystems Carry Important Messages to Managers and Policy Makers
• Chapter 12. Conclusions and Final Remarks
• Index