Plants, animals and humans, are colonized by microorganisms (microbiota) and transiently exposed to countless others. The microbiota affects the development and function of essentially all organ ...systems, and contributes to adaptation and evolution, while protecting against pathogenic microorganisms and toxins. Genetics and lifestyle factors, including diet, antibiotics and other drugs, and exposure to the natural environment, affect the composition of the microbiota, which influences host health through modulation of interrelated physiological systems. These include immune system development and regulation, metabolic and endocrine pathways, brain function and epigenetic modification of the genome. Importantly, parental microbiotas have transgenerational impacts on the health of progeny.
Humans, animals and plants share similar relationships with microbes. Research paradigms from humans and other mammals, amphibians, insects, planktonic crustaceans and plants demonstrate the influence of environmental microbial ecosystems on the microbiota and health of organisms, and indicate links between environmental and internal microbial diversity and good health. Therefore, overlapping compositions, and interconnected roles of microbes in human, animal and plant health should be considered within the broader context of terrestrial and aquatic microbial ecosystems that are challenged by the human lifestyle and by agricultural and industrial activities.
Here, we propose research priorities and organizational, educational and administrative measures that will help to identify safe microbe-associated health-promoting modalities and practices. In the spirit of an expanding version of “One health” that includes environmental health and its relation to human cultures and habits (EcoHealth), we urge that the lifestyle-microbiota-human health nexus be taken into account in societal decision making.
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•Microbiotas of humans, animals and plants influence the hosts' physiology and health.•Microbe biodiversity is linked to health and to transgenerational benefit to progeny.•Humans, animals, plants and the environment continuously exchange microbiota.•Microbiotas can be damaged by antibiotics, agri/industrial chemicals, and lifestyle.•The lifestyle-microbiota-human health nexus must influence societal decision making.
Agenda 2030 and sustainable development goals (SDG) are key formulations of sustainability policies, consisting of 17 general-level goals and 169 more detailed targets. The target setting is based on ...tedious international policy negotiations and compromises addressing myriad of different and sometimes incompatible interests. Identification of key trade-offs and synergies between the targets can help the efficient implementation of SDGs by improving the opportunities to focus policy attention and actions on the most relevant issues. This article focuses on trade-offs and synergies of nationally relevant targets in the context of an industrialised and affluent nation state. Results from a cross-matrix examination of targets in Finland show that most of the selected targets are characterised by synergistic interactions with other nationally relevant targets. However, policies aimed at advancing economic growth and the use of renewable energy risk a number of serious trade-offs. Methodological advances are required to make the assessment of interactions more transparent and reliable, manageable within the limited resources and capable of producing results relevant to decision-making. A recommendation for the use of cross-matrix examination as a tool of collaborative ex ante sustainability assessment is put forward, also acknowledging the risk of “paralysis by analysis” related to the wide-ranging SDG framework.
•Understanding ecosystem services is only a curiosity unless this understanding helps us govern better.•To analyze ecosystem services governance research during 10 years, we review articles from 2013 ...to today.•The review shows that much of the research addressing governance does it in relatively distanced ways.•Governance needs knowledge integrating locally adapted tools and engaging transparent policy processes.•Governance research should be put on par with research highlighting ecosystem status and trends.
In 2012 we sought to operationalize ecosystem services for governance, and asked in our Ecosystem Services paper (Primmer and Furman, 2012): “Do measuring, mapping and valuing integrate sector-specific knowledge systems?” Since our paper, much operationalization and innovation work has been done toward integration. In this paper, we analyze articles addressing governance of ecosystem services and measuring, mapping and valuation from 2013 to today. Our review shows that much of the research addressing governance does it in relatively distanced ways, suggesting analytical and operational tools and improvements, rather than analyzing governance in-depth. Yet, it is apparent that over the ten years, inventorying of ecosystem services has given way to meaningfully integrated assessments and trade-off analyses as well as to in-depth analyses of stakeholder perceptions and argumentation. Participatory approaches, stakeholder mapping and actors’ roles have been integrated with more technical mapping, grounding analyses in decision-making. Valuation has become routine, yet also more explorative and in-depth, feeding to specific decision-making situations and general policy discussions. Based on the still existing gaps, we suggest that while measuring, mapping and governance should continue to be integrated into governance processes, also the political and administrative processes driving governance need a strong message from the scientific community analyzing ecosystem services governance; so strong that it is on par with the alarming messages about the state and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Governance research has already produced the core message: Securing sustainability of ecosystem service provision, together with safeguarding ecosystem functions and the biodiversity that those functions rely on, requires knowledge integrating locally adapted tools and engaging transparent policy processes.
The scientific community is working on ways to identify different ecosystem services and to bring them on par to allow tradeoff analysis and inform targeting of policies. However, those ultimately ...governing ecosystem services continue to base their decisions on traditional knowledge production segregated to specific habitats, ecosystems, geographical areas and sectors. The aim of our paper is to tackle the challenges of the transition from sector governance to a more integrated model of ecosystem service governance by building on existing governance arrangements geared towards sustainability. To examine the uptake of ecosystem service approaches, we review published material and conduct secondary analysis of how ecosystem services are identified, measured, mapped and valued in three Finnish real-world governance settings. The governance settings of voluntary biodiversity conservation, urban planning and natural resource strategies show that, at a qualitative level, identifying a broad range of ecosystem services is easy and appealing but cross-comparison and tradeoff analysis face challenges. The analysis demonstrates that measuring all services is impossible and faces difficulties where the services fall between traditional sectoral boundaries. Measuring and valuing services does not directly lead to increased use of this knowledge. We conclude that the mismatch between the governance needs and the ecosystem service paradigm can be closed only if the tools are developed so that they build on existing knowledge systems and governance arrangements but aim at communicating across ecosystem and sector boundaries.
► Reports ecosystem service identification, measuring, mapping and valuing in voluntary biodiversity conservation, urban planning and natural resource strategies. ► Identifying a range of ecosystem services is easy and appealing. ► Cross-comparison and tradeoff analysis face challenges.
From LTER to LTSER Haberl, Helmut; Winiwarter, Verena; Andersson, Krister ...
Ecology and society,
12/2006, Letnik:
11, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Concerns about global environmental change challenge long term ecological research (LTER) to go beyond traditional disciplinary scientific research to produce knowledge that can guide society toward ...more sustainable development. Reporting the outcomes of a 2 d interdisciplinary workshop, this article proposes novel concepts to substantially expand LTER by including the human dimension. We feel that such an integration warrants the insertion of a new letter in the acronym, changing it from LTER to LTSER, “Long-Term Socioecological Research,” with a focus on coupled socioecological systems. We discuss scientific challenges such as the necessity to link biophysical processes to governance and communication, the need to consider patterns and processes across several spatial and temporal scales, and the difficulties of combining data from in-situ measurements with statistical data, cadastral surveys, and soft knowledge from the humanities. We stress the importance of including prefossil fuel system baseline data as well as maintaining the often delicate balance between monitoring and predictive or explanatory modeling. Moreover, it is challenging to organize a continuous process of cross-fertilization between rich descriptive and causal-analytic local case studies and theory/modeling-oriented generalizations. Conceptual insights are used to derive conclusions for the design of infrastructures needed for long-term socioecological research.
In this article, I tell about the key findings and action points from the Global sustainable development report 2019 – Future is Now (GSDR2019) - and raise, based on the report, messages and ...recommendations for the academic publishing community for consideration and action. The Agenda2030 for sustainable development was signed by all UN member countries in 2015. It is an ambitious political framework to transform the world into a safe and just place. Based on the GSDR2019, only little progress had taken place until 2019. To speed up the progress in a way that makes durable changes towards sustainable development, there is a need to identify the interlinkages between the various goals and targets and push transformation in six key societal systems side by side. To make this happen, four types of levers need to work in an integrated manner. To ensure this, universal science capacity is required, with an emphasis on sustainability science. The academic publishers play an important role here. Open access, searchable databases and syntheses are highly needed.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The critical role of everyday practices in climate change mitigation has placed experimental approaches at the top of the environmental policy agenda. In this paper we discuss the value of ...behavioural approaches, practice theories, pragmatic tinkering and speculative thinking with respect to experimentation. Whereas the first two have been much discussed within sustainability science and transition research, the notions of pragmatic tinkering and speculative thinking radically broaden the scope of experimental research and its contribution to sustainable everyday practices. Pragmatism brings to the fore the need to coordinate multiple practices and understandings of good eating, as these may clash in practice. Through this lens, the value of experimental research lies in revealing frictions that need to be resolved, or tinkered, in practice. Speculative experimentation, in turn, refers to the power of experiments to challenge the experimental setting itself and force thinking about new possibilities and avenues. We investigate the value of all four approaches in relation to our experiments with sustainable eating in the Finnish and Nordic context. Our elaboration justifies the need to broaden the conception of experimental research in order to capture the multiplicity of sustainable eating. Hence, we call for attentive, speculative experimental research aimed not only at testing solutions for sustainable everyday practice, but also at reflecting on the practice of experimentation itself.
•Key role of everyday practices in sustainability transition calls for experimentation.•We explore and test four approaches to experimentation in sustainable eating.•Sustainable eating calls for attentive, speculative experimental research.•Attentiveness to tensions raised by experiments force new questions and solutions.•Reflecting on the practice of experimentation is fundamental to ethical transition.
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