As we get started with our series on the urban Anthropocene, I’d like to approach the topic as a biologist, and think of cities as places filled with various kinds of life.
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Author Archives: Ingo Schlupp
The Tragedy of Coral Bleaching
Coral bleaching of Lizard Island. Photo credit: Trond Amundsen
If you have ever been lucky enough to see a tropical reef, you will know what I mean: these are places of Continue reading
“Relative impacts of mitigation, temperature, and precipitation on 21st-century megadrought risk in the American Southwest”
CITATION:
Ault, T.R. et al. 2016. Science Advances, vol. 2, e1600873
ON-LINE AVAILABILITY:
ABSTRACT:
Megadroughts are comparable in severity to the worst droughts of the 20th century but are of much longer duration. A megadrought in the American Southwest would impose unprecedented stress on Continue reading
“How humans drive speciation as well as extinction”
CITATION:
Bull, J.W. and Maron, M. 2016. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 283: 20160600.
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ABSTRACT:
A central topic for conservation science is evaluating how human activities influence global species diversity. Humanity exacerbates extinction rates. But by what mechanisms does humanity drive the emergence of new species? Continue reading
Dispatch from London: Sunken Cities
Even on a quiet day the British Museum in London is full, but on a rainy day during the summer it is positively packed, with a long line of visitors winding around the corner. Adding to the popularity at the moment is Continue reading
The real inconvenient truth?
This will not be a very scientific post, but it is also not a rant. I am trying to understand something: why is there so little large scale planning and discussion about the inevitable and grave consequences of climate change?
There is a surprising amount of Continue reading
“Beyond DNA: integrating inclusive inheritance into an extended theory of evolution”
CITATION:
E. Danchin et al. 2011. Nature Reviews Genetics, vol. 12, pp. 475-486.
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ABSTRACT:
Many biologists are calling for an ‘extended evolutionary synthesis’ that would ‘modernize the modern synthesis’ of evolution. Biological information is typically considered as being transmitted across generations by the DNA sequence alone, but accumulating evidence indicates that Continue reading
“Early warning of climate tipping points”
CITATION:
Timothy M. Lenton. 2011. Nature Climate Change 1, pp. 201-209.
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DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1143
ABSTRACT:
A climate ‘tipping point’ occurs when a small change in forcing triggers a strongly nonlinear response in the internal dynamics of part of the climate system, qualitatively changing its future state. Human-induced climate change could Continue reading
“Species-specific responses of Late Quartenary megafauna to climate and humans”
CITATION:
E.D. Lorenzen, et al. 2011. Nature 479, pp. 359–364.
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10574
ABSTRACT:
Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to Continue reading
How do memes change how we live?
In a previous post I started speculating about memes and their potential role in cultural evolution. I believe that coming to a better understanding of the way memes operate is an important part of coming to a full conception of habitability. As I argued previously, we can’t fully understand Continue reading
Reframing landscape fragmentation’s effects on ecosystem services
CITATION:
Mitchell, M. G. E. et al. 2015. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 190-198.
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ABSTRACT:
Landscape structure and fragmentation have important effects on ecosystem services, with a common assumption being that fragmentation Continue reading
“Fifteen forms of biodiversity trend in the Anthropocene”
CITATION:
Brian J. McGill, et al. 2015. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 104-113.
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ABSTRACT:
Humans are transforming the biosphere in unprecedented ways, raising the important question of how these impacts are changing biodiversity. Here we argue that our understanding of biodiversity trends in the Anthropocene, and our ability to protect the natural world, is impeded by Continue reading
Memes as a dimension of the human niche
THIS POST IS PART OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ANTHROPOCENE PROJECT—SEE THIS DESCRIPTION OF OUR SUBMISSION.
Though human beings can be understood biologically, as one species among others, we have one particularly prominent, even defining, feature: Continue reading
“Concluding Remarks” on Animal Ecology and Demography
THIS POST IS PART OF THE SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE ANTHROPOCENE PROJECT—SEE THIS DESCRIPTION OF OUR SUBMISSION.
CITATION:
Hutchinson, G.E. 1957. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 22 (2): 415–427.
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ABSTRACT:
This paper reflects on a symposium that covered a wide range of topics; in it “a rather detailed analysis of one particular problem is given, partly because the question, namely, the nature of the ecological niche and the validity of the principle of niche specificity has raised and continues to raise difficulties, Continue reading
“The Anthropocene concept in ecology and conservation”
CITATION:
Corlett, R.T. 2015. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 30, pp. 36 – 41.
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ABSTRACT:
The term ‘Anthropocene’ was first used in the year 2000 to refer to the current time period in which human impacts are at least as important as natural processes. It is currently being considered as a potential geological epoch, following on from the Holocene. While most environmental scientists accept Continue reading
“What is ecological engineering?”
CITATION:
Mitsch, W.J. 2012. Ecological Engineering, Vol. 45, pp. 5-12.
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ABSTRACT:
Ecological engineering, defined as the design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both, has developed over the last 30 years, and rapidly over the last 10 years. Its goals include Continue reading
Novel ecosystems
Currently a very interesting and rather important debate is happening within the discipline of ecology. Scientific debates are usually not very public, not because anybody has anything to hide, but because they tend to be rather technical and difficult to follow. The debate over Continue reading
