The Human Place in Ecological Systems
1 : University of Western Ontario
2 : Université de Montréal
3 : University of Lethbridge
The idea that humans importantly affect the distribution and dynamics of life on Earth is certainly not new. Yet the science of ecology has been slow to fully embrace this fact. For most of its history, scientific ecology has undertaken the study of the relationship of non-human organisms and their natural environments. Human societies have thus for the most part been left out of ecological theories and models. The presentations in this symposium will offer reflections on how ecological sciences can put humans back into nature, both theoretically by taking account of human activities in ecological models, and practically, by investigating how human communities can seek to live sustainably. This will raise questions on the relationships between natural fact and human values, and between ethics and science in environmental thinking. The first of the four contributions looks at conceptual and practical implications of conceiving of ecosystems as Social-Ecological Systems. The second pursues further questions about adaptive ecological management and the place of humans, investigating the issues of what counts as a good ecosystem outcome and whether this is determined by nature or by human judgments or social processes. The third contribution addresses the issue of defining good ecosystem functioning by investigating the normative notion of “ecosystem health.” And the fourth contribution examines the notion of symbiosis between humans and ecosystems to fill out another way of thinking about the place for humans in a well-functioning social-ecological system, bringing out more explicit links between environmental issues and ethical thought.
