Our impact on earth history

1. THE ANTHROPOCENE
HISTORY OF NATURE

2. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
WILDERNESS, ECO-SYSTEMS AND
THEIR CONSERVATION
▸ Wilderness as virtue
▸ Ecosystems deserve conservation
▸ Should they be best left untouched?
▸ Biodiversity conservation: Working against natural selection?
▸ “Genetic conservation as our evolutionary responsibility”
(Otto Frankel & Michael Soulé, 1981)

3. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
CONSERVATIONBIOLOGY
▸ Originated in 1978
▸ Grew out of resource conservation movements of late 19th century:
The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental
problem.
Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all
others.
Theodore Roosevelt, 1907
▸ Management of timber,
fi
sh, game, topsoil, pastureland, and minerals
▸ Came to include forests, wildlife, parkland, wilderness, and watersheds

4. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
ALDO LEOPOLD, A SAND COUNTY
ALMANAC (1949)
A thing is right when it tends to preserve the
integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic
community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. …
The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an
animal or plant: “What good is it?” If the land
mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is
good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in
the course of aeons, has built something we like but
do not understand, then who but a fool would discard
seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and
wheel is the
fi
rst precaution of intelligent tinkering.

5. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
THE ENVIRONMENT
Literally: that which is around something
Words in other languages denote similar
(ambiente, omverden/Umwelt, milieu)
Biotic and abiotic surroundings of an
organism or a population
Individual and collective
Social and natural environments
Jakob von Uexküll, an Estonian biologist:
http://www.joostrekveld.net/?p=1126

6. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
BIOSEMIOTICS:ORGANISMS
AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT
‣ Semiotic interpretation oforganisms
‣ Organisms react to outside signals and reshape their
environment accordingly
‣ Functional cycles
‣ Internal representation of the environment in the neural
system of the organism
‣ Romantic individuals as feedback mechanisms?
Funktionskreis or functional cycle with German and English terms
(Uexküll 1928, page 105, translated terms by Urmas Sutrop)

7. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
ECOSYSTEMS (OR BIOTIC COMMUNITIES)
▸ De
fi
ned as community of organisms and abiotic components
▸ Functional relations between elements
▸ By default open and dynamic systems
▸ Boundaries not unambiguous
▸ Various methods of identi
fi
cation
▸ Ecosystems constantly changing
▸ Resistance and resilience as systemic mechanisms
▸ Biodiversity as marker of stability

8. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
ECO- AND OTHERSYSTEMS
▸ [T]here exist models, principles, and laws that apply to
generalised systems or their subclasses, irrespective of their
particular kind, the nature of their component elements, and
the relationships or “forces” between them. It seems
legitimate to ask for a theory, not of systems of a more or less
special kind, but of universal principles applying to systems in
general.
Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Theory of General Systems (1968)
▸ What is a “system”?
▸ von Bertalanffy de
fi
nes it as “sets of elements standing in interaction”
▸ Ecosystems are elements (organisms) that are in interactive
relationships (in “climax” equilibria)

9. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
LIFE IS BASEDON OPEN SYSTEMS
Biologically, life is not
maintenance or restoration of
equilibrium but is essentially
maintenance of disequilibria,
as the doctrine of the
organism as open system
reveals. Reaching
equilibrium means death and
consequent decay.
von Bertalanffy,1968

10. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
HUMANS IN ECOSYSTEMS
▸ Humans (as any form of organism) have always been part of
ecosystems
▸ With neolithic revolution humans began changing ecosystems
▸ Farming
▸ Later frequent interventions in ecosystems (often, but not always to
the detriment of the system)
▸ When does “frequent intervention” in a system become part of a
system?
▸ Example: Dingo as introduced species in Australia
▸ Where are ecosystems without frequent human intervention?

11. https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/3000/3254/human_footprint_lrg.gif
HUMAN FOOTPRINT INDEX V 2 (2003)

12. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
URBANLANDSCAPES
Global situation: Fifty-four percent of the world’s population
lived in urban areas in 2015. The percentage of the world’s
population living in urban areas is projected to increase from
54% in 2015 to 60% in 2030 and to 66% by 2050. This is
particularly signi
fi
cant when considering that until the start of
the 20th century only one in 10 people lived in urban areas. In
absolute terms, more than 1 billion people were added to urban
areas between 2000 and 2014. The United Nations estimates
that more than 90% of future urban population growth will be
in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
World Health Organisation
http://www.who.int/gho/urban_health/situation_trends/urban_population_growth_text/en/

13. THE MEANINGS OF NATURE
NOVEL ECOSYSTEMS
▸ Acceptance of human intervention in ecosystems
▸ Conscious design/change of ecosystems
▸ Species introduction
▸ Abiotic changes
▸ Revision of conservationist norms
▸ From damage control to ‘designer ecosystems’
▸ Building ecological niches

14. THE ANTHROPOCENE
FUTURE NATURE(S)
https://paulmullins.wordpress.com/tag/future-archaeology/
(image
courtesy
Jonas
DeRo)

15. THE ANTHROPOCENE
FROM NOVEL ECOSYSTEMS TO
DESIGNER ECOSYSTEMS
http://www.extravaganzi.com/vincent-callebauts-plans-paris-smart-city-future/

16. THE ANTHROPOCENE

17. THE ANTHROPOCENE
BRINGING NATURE INTO CITIES (BY DESIGN)
Source: http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au
Vertical Garden designed
by French botanist Patrick
Blanc
35,000 plants
350 different species

18. http://eco-publicart.org/one-central-park-vertical-gardens/

19. HUMAN RESPONSES TO
ECOLOGY
THE PHILOSOPHIES OF NATURE

20. THE PHILOSOPHIES OF NATURE
ETHICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
‣ Why should we care about the environment?
‣ Is it for us?
‣ Is it for nature?
‣ Is it for something sacred?
‣ Albert Schweitzer, Reverence for Life (1915)
‣ Theological argument for extending ethical considerations to all
creation
‣ Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (1949)
‣ Land ethic
‣ Arne Naess, Deep Ecology (1974)

21. THE PHILOSOPHIES OF NATURE
DEEP ECOLOGY
▸ Also called ecosophy, based on the writings of Arne Naess
(1912– 2009)
▸ Contrasted with “shallow” ecology – preventing pollution and
resource depletion
▸ Based on Daoism, Vedanta and some forms of radical Christianity
▸ Living beings have intrinsic value, separate from human interests
– distinction between comprehensive Self and ego
▸ Accused of underpinning “ecofascism” (e.g., Heidegger) in
animal rights movements

22. THE PHILOSOPHIES OF NATURE
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
▸ Deep ecology is “dead” post 9/11
▸ Replaced by “social ecology”, which de
fi
nes value based on
social interests: “enlightened human self-interest rather than a
belief in the intrinsic value of nature” – Schlosberg 2007
▸ “Ecofascism” is a term used by anti-environmental movements
▸ Strong ecofeminist trend – opposing masculinisation of nature
▸ “Broad ecology” – “recognition—the ‘cultural’ dimension of justice
that concerns respect and social relations—and participation (or
representation), the ‘political’ dimension” (Kortetmäki 2016)

23. THE PHILOSOPHIES OF NATURE
REFERENCES
▸ Crutzen P. J., and Stoermer E. F. “The ‘Anthropocene.’” Global Change Newsletter, 2000, 41:17–18.
▸ Dyke, Charles. 1988. The evolutionary dynamics of complex systems: a study in biosocial complexity, Monographs on the history and philosophy of
biology. New York: Oxford University Press.
▸ Hobbs, Richard J., Eric Higgs, and James A. Harris. 2009. "Novel ecosystems: implications for conservation and restoration." Trends in Ecology &
Evolution 24 (11):599-605. doi: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.05.012.
▸ Kortetmaki, Teea. 2016. "Is broad the new deep in environmental ethics? A comparison of broad ecological justice and deep ecology." Ethics & the
Environment (1):89. https://doi.org/10.2979/ethicsenviro.21.1.04.
▸ Lewis, Simon L., and Mark A. Maslin. “De
fi
ning the Anthropocene.” Nature 519, no. 7542 (2015): 171–180. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14258.
▸ Lovejoy, Arthur O., and George Boas. Primitivism and Related Ideas in Antiquity. Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1935.
▸ Santana, Carlos. “Waiting for the Anthropocene.” The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 70, no. 4 (2018): 1073–96. https://doi.org/
10.1093/bjps/axy022.
▸ Schlosberg, David. 2007. De
fi
ning Environmental Justice: Theories, Movements, and Nature. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press
▸ Smith, Bruce D., and Melinda A. Zeder. “The Onset of the Anthropocene.” Anthropocene 4 (2013): 8–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.ancene.2013.05.001.
▸ Steffen, Will, Jacques Grinevald, Paul Crutzen, and John McNeill. 2011. "The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives." Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 369 (1938):842.
▸ Uexküll, Jakob von. Theoretical Biology. International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scienti
fi
c Method. London: Kegan Paul, Trench,
Trubner, 1926.
▸ Jan Zalasiewicz, Mark Williams, Alan Smith, Tiffany L. Barry, Angela L. Coe, Paul R. Bown, Patrick Brenchley, et al. “Are We Now Living in the
Anthropocene?” GSA Today 18, no. 2 (February 1, 2008): 4–8. https://doi.org/doi: 10.1130/GSAT01802A.1.