Search

The term biodiversity was introduced in the 1980s as a novel framing for the human dependence on the Earth's biosphere. 'Biodiversity loss' became the way to capture a major dimension of global environmental problems. The chapter describes stages of this process. The first phase of the spread of the term was its enthusiastic reception among environmentalists. Second, concern was integrated into international environmental policy at the Rio Conference in 1992 through the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Efforts to implement the convention have created an environmental regime both internationally and within different countries. However, due to its broad coverage of processes of living nature and its huge ambition to regulate human modification of nature and exploitation of natural resources, there have been major difficulties with implementation. In particular, how to integrate specific issues manifested in local contexts, and the global concern, has proved problematic.

There are many techniques to deal with uncertainty when modeling data. However, there are many forms of uncertainty that cannot be dealt with mathematically that have to be taken into account when designing a biodiversity monitoring system. Some of these can be minimized by careful planning and quality control, but others have to be investigated during monitoring, and the scale and methods adjusted when necessary to meet objectives. Sources of uncertainty include uncertainty about stakeholders, who will monitor, what to sample, where to sample, causal relationships, species identifications, detectability, distributions, relationships with remote sensing, biotic concordance, complementarity, validity of stratification, and data quality and management. Failure to take into account any of these sources of uncertainty about how the data will be used can make monitoring nothing more than monitoring for the sake of monitoring, and I make recommendations as to how to reduce uncertainties. Some form of standardization is necessary, despite the multiple sources of uncertainty, and experience from RAPELD and other monitoring schemes indicates that spatial standardization is viable and helps reduce many sources of uncertainty. Copyright William E Magnusson.

Kirjoitus kasittelee Tuula Narhisen kuvataiteen tohtorin tutkinnon opinnaytteen (Taideopiston kuvataideakatemia, 2016) kirjallista osaa.

Modern nature conservation is a product of post-Enlightenment modernity; I explore the heterogeneity of its conceptual and ideological background. The 19th century legacy comprises concern over human-caused extinctions; protests against excessive hunting and cruelty toward animals; utilitarian care for natural resources; and romantic sensibility concerning the value of nature for human health and spirituality. The 20th century added into conservation thinking increasing consciousness about human biospheric dependence; efforts to identify appropriate conservation targets; and most recently concern over the loss of biodiversity. The politics of nature conservation has taken shape within the framework of politics of nature, that is, choices vis-á-vis nature that have been made either as deliberate decisions on resource use or as side-effects of subsistence practices of various types. Because of tensions and conflicts with alternative ways of using nature, formulating realistic conservation policies has been a complicated task. Problems and uncertainties emerge: pursuing material aspirations of the current world society will necessarily bring about damage to ecological systems of the Earth. The way forward is to identify feasible alternatives in the midst of the tensions and ambiguities that arise, and to open up space for carrying through conservation initiatives.

We explored the importance of habitats preferred by the endangered White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) for threatened, saproxylic beetles (Coleoptera). We sampled 16 potential breeding forests of the White-backed Woodpecker in Finland and Russian Karelia. Our surveys yielded 16 threatened species from a total of 39,485 identified beetle individuals. All 16 species and the woodpecker are dependent on the same resource, decaying wood, and at least some of the beetles even prefer successional deciduous habitats, as does the woodpecker. Based on 6 years of data, we conclude that the number of threatened beetle species in each of these forests is considerable (6 or more), although samples from one season included only 0–4 such species. These inconspicuous threatened species might be protected through use of the White-backed Woodpecker as an umbrella species to define suitable habitats. The woodpeckers require approximately 50–100 ha of suitable habitat for breeding, suggesting that every woodpecker territory may include local populations of a number of threatened beetle species. If the White-backed Woodpecker can be saved in Finland, a suite of threatened saproxylic beetles will most likely be saved as well. We also need more information on the minimum requirements of the threatened beetles, which can be obtained only by continued study of the beetles themselves. Escarabajos Amenazados en Habitats del Pajaro Carpintro de Espalda Blanca Exploramos la importancia de los habitats preferidos por el pajaro carpintero de espalda blanca, en peligro de extincion (Dendrocopos leucotos) para los escarabajos saproxilicos (Coleoptera) amenazados. Muestreamos 16 bosques con potencial para la reproduccion del pajaro carpintero en Finlandia y la Karelia Rusa. Nuestros muestreos arrojaron 16 especies amenazadas de un total de 39,485 individous de coleopteros identificados. Las 16 especies y el pajaro carpintero dependen del mismo recurso, madera en descomposicion y al menos algunos de los escarabajos prefieren habitats deciduos sucesionales al igualque el pajaro carpintero. Basados en 6 anos de datos, concluimos que el numero de especies de escarabajos amenazadas en cada uno de estos bosques es considerable (6 o mas), aunque las muestras de una estacion incluyeron solo 0–4 de estas especies. Estas especies amenazadas inconspicuas pueden ser protegidas utilizando al pajaro carpintero como especie sombrilla para definir habitats aptos. El pajaro carpintero requiere de aproximadamente 50–100 ha de habitat adecuado para reproduccion, sugiriendo que cada territorio de pajaro carpintero podria incluir problaciones locales de un numero de especies de escarabajo amenazados. Si el pajaro carpintero de espalda blanca pudiera ser salvado en Finlandia, un espacio para los escarabajos saproxilicos amenazados seria salvado tambien. Sin embargo, necesitamos aun mas informacion sobre los requerimientos minimos de los escarabajos amenazados, los cuales pueden ser solo obtenidos mediante la continuacion de estudios especificos sobre los escarabajos.

Ympäristöhuolen tuottama moraalinen protesti on asettanut epäilyksenalaiseksi teollistuneissa länsimaissa aiempina vuosisatoina vakiintuneen käsityksen yhteiskunnan ja luonnon suhteesta. Aiemman käsityksen olennaisesta taustaolettamuksesta Georg Henrig von Wright (1989) käytti nimitystä ”edistyksen myytti”. Sen mukaan historian kulku synnyttää vääjäämättä yhä kehittyneempiä yhteiskuntamuodostumia, joissa tiede ja tekniikka turvaavat ihmisten aineellisen ja henkisen hyvinvoinnin kasvun. Ympäristöhuoli on varsin uusi asia. Se on synnyttänyt myös kansanliikkeitä. Niiden käyttövoima ei ole kulttuurin ulkopuoliseksi kuvitellun luonnon puolustaminen, vaan päinvastoin vaatimus, että kulttuurin ja luonnon välille on luotava uudenlainen yhteys, kirjoittaa professori Yrjö Haila artikkelissaan.

This paper introduces the theme of this special issue, “scaling and environmental understanding”. Environmental problems are scale-specific. Consequently, environmental policy should be scale-specific, too. The scaling of environmental problems and policies is difficult because the processes creating environmental problems are non-linear. Therefore, scaling is not similar to merely choosing an appropriate magnification, as it were. Scaling requires understanding of the dynamics of the processes. I discuss two heuristic perspectives toward scaling, hierarchy and self-similarity, and suggest the use of analog models as a methodological perspective to identify fruitful similarities between physical and socio-cultural processes. A common denominator among many of the papers included in this issue is to construct analog models for particular dynamic features of environmental issues.

The concept of habitat fragmentation has become an important theme in conservation research, and it is often used as if fragmentation were a unitary phenomenon. However, the concept is ambiguous, and empirical studies demonstrate a wide variety of direct and indirect effects, sometimes with mutually opposing implications. The effects of fragmentation vary across organisms, habitat types, and geographic regions. Such a contrast between a schematic concept and multifaceted empirical reality is counterproductive. I analyzed the stabilization of the schematic view of fragmentation by the early 1980s, using a genealogical narrative as a methodological approach. The main assumptions behind the schematic view were: (1) fragments are comparable to oceanic islands; (2) habitats surrounding fragments are hostile to a majority of the organisms; and (3) natural pre-fragmentation conditions were uniform. The stabilization loop of this view was supported by the reduction of empirical research to species–area curve fitt...

A key challenge in conceptualizing ecological complexity is to allow simultaneously for particularity, contingency, and structure, and for such structure to be internally differentiated,dynamically tied to its context, and subject torestructuring. Because all organisms live insuch dynamic ecological circumstances, philosophy of ecology could become the leading site for addressing difficult conceptual questions concerning the situatedness or positionality of organisms –humans included – in their changing and intersecting worlds.

Ecology has had a lower profile in Biology & Philosophy than one might expect on the basis of the attention ecology is given in public discussions in relation to environmental issues. Our tentative explanation is that ecology appears theoretically redundant within biology and, consequently, philosophically challenging problemsrelated to biology are commonly supposed to be somewhere else, particularly in the molecular sphere. Richard Levins has recognized the genuine challenges posed by ecology for theoretical and philosophical thinking in biology. This essay sets the stage for appreciating his work; it was preceded by four articles published in Biology & Philosophy 15(2),and is followed by a personal reminiscent.

It is commonly accepted that the western view of humanity’s place in nature is dominated by a dualistic opposition between nature and culture. Historically this has arisen from externalization of nature in both productive and cognitive practices; instances of such externalization have become generalized. I think the dualism can be decomposed by identifying dominant elements in each particular instantiation and showing that their strict separation evaporates under close scrutiny. The philosophical challenge this perspective presents is to substitute concrete socioecological analysis for foundational metaphysics. A review of major interpretations of the history of the dualism in Western thought indicates that the legacy is more multistranded than is usually admitted. Modern science is often assumed to lie squarely within the dualism, but this is unfounded. In contrast, science provides tools for contextual analysis on how human activities and natural processes merge. The dualism thus evaporates in actual research practice. Nevertheless, the foundational metaphysics needs to be challenged, primarily because of its paralyzing effect on environmental philosophy.

The term biodiversity may help us to reach beyond the nature–culture dualism that has a debilitating effect on conservation thinking. This, however, depends on how the term is actually used. The opportunity is that the term connects dialectically together biological entities and their conditions of reproduction and may, consequently, facilitate a shift from atomistic to processual thinking in ecology and conservation. Analogously, the term offers resources for analyzing the dynamic dependence of human activities on natural processes. Health offers a fruitful metaphor for evaluating the resilience and conditions of reproduction of ecosocial systems. On the other hand, problems and contradictions in the application of the term arise from too schematic a perception of the relationship between scientific knowledge and human, social agency. Science influences human agency primarily on the long term, by helping to form new perspectives on what it means to lead a human life. Conservation concerns have a great influence on such perspectives. However, an emphasis on ‘crisis’ may be counterproductive: scientific arguments perform poorly in a crisis situation in which, instead, short-term interests of powerful social actors such as corporations, state agencies or professional groups may gain the upper hand.

(1998). Guest editorial natural contradictions: Links between ecological science and environmental politics. Science as Culture: Vol. 7, Natural Contradictions, pp. 445-448.

(1998). Political undercurrents of modern ecology. Science as Culture: Vol. 7, Natural Contradictions, pp. 465-491.

'Wilderness' has become a widely used term in environmentalist discussion as a symbol for caring about nature. I review first the historical background: the term was adopted by US environmentalists in the 19th century to describe a nostalgic striving to get into contact with pure, unspoiled nature outside of human influence, in a sanctuary of genuineness and originality; this ideal was strengthened by its adoption by American nationalists. The background, however, lies in European Romanticism. Adoration of supposedly untouched nature arose as a counterpart to the depiction of nature as a unified system obeying eternal laws, amenable to human, rational exploitation. This idea of 'wilderness' cannot, however, be given any accurate empirical meaning and it rests on an assumption that a boundary can be drawn between 'natural' and 'unnatural' human activity, but this is impossible; furthermore, all assumed 'wilderness' areas have actually been inhabited by aboriginal people for millenia. The idea of 'wilderness' thus brings forth one example of how nature has been constituted as the 'other' of the western society. In this constitution, 'nature' and 'natural culture' have always belonged together. As an alternative, I discuss the possibility of recognising an element of 'wildness' inside human everyday existence. Henry David Thoreau was a pioneer of this view. Wildness everywhere present is a totally different idea from a wilderness having a concrete reference somewhere 'outside of' human influence. Thus, the fact of ecological crisis actually means rediscovery of nature rather than 'end of nature' as suggested by the famous slogan of Bill McKibben. I finish by suggesting that Thoreau's ever-present 'wildness' might be used as a building block along the path toward a 'nature contract', that is, a changed relationship to nature such that the prevailing attitude of domination and exploitation would be substituted with respect and care. This requires that the radical contextuality of human existence be recognised, and uncontrollable, 'wild' elements in this position be respected.

Heterogeneity in species assemblages of forest-floor arthropods m carabid beetles, ants and spiders m within and between different forest age classes was studied in the southern Finnish taiga. The importance of processes operating on the local scale (within the movement radius of the species) vs on the regional scale (among forest stands) in determining the observed variation was assessed. Four data sets with different spatial resolutions in mesic forests in the same general study area were used. The material consists of 18 283 carabids of 51 species, 48 769 spiders of 212 species, and 126 718 worker ants of 23 species. Analyses of abundance variation and species complementarity among successional stages revealed that in all the three taxa species occurring in the mature forest were prevalent in the younger successional stages as well, constituting more than half of the catch in any age class. A great majority of carabid and spider species were widely distributed across the forest age classes, whereas ants include a higher proportion of species with a narrower amplitude across the succession gradient. Comparisons of similarity between samples at increasing distance from one another on the local scale within forest stands (a few tens of meters to a few hundreds of meters) showed a quite consistent pattern in carabids and spiders: there was more variation between sampling sites in young successional forests than in the mature forest. Furthermore, only in the mature forest a slight, albeit statistically not significant, negative relationship between similarity of samples and distance between sampling sites was detected. In carabids and spiders, comparisons between samples located at a distance of 10n15 m from each other showed considerable heterogeneity, the mean percentage similarity being c. 0.6 (in ants c. 0.8). On the regional scale, systematic variation between young and mature forest stands is a major element increasing the total diversity (species turnover c. 50% in carabids and spiders; compositional similarity c. 0.3n0.4 in carabids, 0.2n0.3 in spiders), but variation within forest stands on a spatial scale of 10n15 meters is another important component in the total heterogeneity. The results suggest that regional abundance variation is a primary factor influencing the composition of local assemblages; a set of hypotheses elaborating this conclusion is formulated. The result implies that maintenance of habitat heterogeneity on a small scale (10n15 m) is needed to preserve biodiversity in managed forests.

We present systematic arguments for the necessity of field survey in conservation biology. Preservation of biological diversity has become a major challenge in conservation biology, but to comprehend diversity, ecologists have to obtain information on what units the ‘diversity’ of different parts of the world consists of, where these units are, and how they respond to natural and human-induced environmental change. To reach this end, systematic survey procedures need to be developed that incorporate data collecting, data analysis and conclusions about distributional patterns as well as management recommendations into an iterative process that is corrected as experience accumulates. The appropriate survey design depends on the task and needs to be fixed separately in each case; developing long-term observational systems is no less challenging a task than developing experimental systems in laboratory research, or modeling systems in theoretical research. We conclude the paper with five principles of ecological survey. A common denominator of these principles is the need to make explicit decisions at each step so that errors and insufficiency can be corrected later.

We studied the structure of spider assemblages in fragments of old coniferous forest in the southern Finnish taiga. We sampled spiders with pitfall traps in the interiors and in the edges of the old-forest patches and in the surrounding managed forests. We surveyed assemblages of ground-dwelling spiders and the relation of species to formerly mentioned three forest-habitat categories. We analysed spider assemblages in relation to vegetation structure as well. As in forest spiders there are no habitat specialists, no strict old-forest species were found. However, the spider assemblages of old forests were different from those in the surrounding managed forests. The difference was attributable to habitat differences, mainly to reduced tree-canopy cover in managed forests. Large hunting-spider species (Gnaphosidae, Lycosidae) benefitted from clearcutting and other management measures, whereas the catches of small forest-living species (Linyphiidae) decreased in plantations and open forests. The hunters colonized the edges of old-forest fragments, and were seldom found in the interior of old forest. Size of old-forest fragment did not affect significantly the spider assemblage. The results indicate that a buffer zone of mature forest with closed canopy should be left to surround the old-growth reserves in order to minimize the edge effect in the fragments

This Editorial presents the focus, scope and policies of the inaugural issue of Nature Conservation, a new open access, peer-reviewed journal bridging natural sciences, social sciences and hands-on applications in conservation management. The journal covers all aspects of nature conservation and aims particularly at facilitating better interaction between scientists and practitioners. The journal will impose no restrictions on manuscript size or the use of colour. We will use an XML-based editorial workflow and several cutting-edge innovations in publishing and information dissemination. These include semantic mark-up of, and enhancements to published text, data, and extensive cross-linking within the journal and to external sources. We believe the journal will make an important contribution to better linking science and practice, offers rapid, peer-reviewed and flexible publication for authors and unrestricted access to content. The journal Nature Conservation was established within the framework of the European Union's Framework Program 7 large-integrated project SCALES: Securing the Conservation of biodiversity across Administrative Levels and spatial, temporal, and Ecological Scales, www.scales-project.net (grant 226852; Henle et al. 2010).

Ecological thinking has evolved in close interaction with human subsistence practices. This is evident for two broad reasons. First, human subsistence depends ultimately on the utilization of ecological processes, whether through hunting and gathering, the breeding of domesticated animals and cultivation of plants, or through production based on other biological resources. Second, we humans ourselves are biological organisms and, like all other organisms, we lead our lives enmeshed in networks of ecological relationships.

A sampling view of the colonization of small habitat fragments by birds is based on the assumption that individual birds acquire territories in the fragments randomly, and their occurrence frequencies follow from abundances in the regional species pool. We tested the following predictions of this view using bird census data from a fragment "ar- chipelago" in the southern Finnish taiga: (1) the location of breeding pairs varies randomly among the fragments from year to year, and (2) the pattern of species accrual with increasing sample size is similar to random sampling. The data agreed with the predictions. For most species the distribution of pairs in the fragments agreed with the Poisson prediction. The pattern of species turnover in single fragments agreed with the sampling view so that an average fragment had about 10 pairs of 7 species in a single breeding season, and about 40 pairs of 13 species over the 4-yr period. The sampling model is a "null" assumption that should be considered when assessing the occurrence of birds in small habitat fragments. This requirement defines methodological imperatives that have often been violated in ornithological studies; we discuss such methodological problems. The sampling model implies that local turnover in small fragments may be a mechanical reflection of change in territory location from year to year and disconnected from population dynamics. In such a case, apparent "extinctions" and "recolonizations" in single fragments are ecolog- ically trivial. Assessing the interface between sampling colonization and genuine meta- population dynamics is an urgent challenge for conservation ecology, particularly in tem- perate and boreal areas.