Mark Bittman on the ecological imperative of eating less meat
Posted 31 Jul 2012 / 0Marketplace “Worried about climate change? Eat less meat.“
A Minor Post, Climate Change, VegetarianismChanging rice from C3 to C4 in order to feed our growing population
Posted 29 Jun 2012 / 0Science “The Development of C4 Rice: Current Progress and Future Challenges” I will be amazed if this works. The C3/C4 pathway split is a major evolutionary event in plants, and apparently we are poised to horizontally transfer this adaptation across lineages using genetic engineering. If this works, it will be an unprecedented feat of cultural Read More
A Minor Post, Food, Genetic Engineering, Sustainability, Sustainable AgricultureMacroecologists weigh in on how well sustainability science considers ecological limits
Posted 29 Jun 2012 / 0PLoS Biology “The Limits to Sustainability Science: Ecological Constraints or Endless Innovation?” PLoS Biology “The Shifting Boundaries of Sustainability Science: Are We Doomed Yet?” PLoS Biology “The Macroecology of Sustainability“
A Minor Post, Macroecology, SustainabilityLeaving with empty hands, should Rio+20 participants nonetheless leave with a sense of optimism?
Posted 27 Jun 2012 / 0Nature Editorial “A First Step“
A Minor Post, Conservation Biology, Public Policy, SustainabilityEvolution may be too slow: British Columbia begins assisted migration of forests
Posted 26 Jun 2012 / 0Discover “The Transplanted Forest: A Bold Experiment in Preemptive Climate Adaptation” Given the chances that we will fail to prevent climate change, it seems like the Canadians have the right idea here. Ironic that industries that rely on stable climate are less apt to deny its reality.
A Minor Post, Adaptation, Anthropogenic Change, Articles, Climate Change, Extinction, Habitat Destruction, Public Policy, Resilience, Risk & Uncertainty, Taiga (Boreal Forest), Temperate ForestNational Geographic’s “If They Could Only Talk” considers Easter Island’s many mysteries
Posted 26 Jun 2012 / 0National Geographic “If They Could Only Talk” National Geographic Easter Island – Video: Testing a Walking Theory The business about moving the statues is fun to think about, but the more interesting issue discussed here has to do with the rapid decline of the island’s earliest human inhabitants. The article does a good job of Read More
A Minor Post, Articles, Sustainability, System StabilityWould you like a few red-listed species with that shrimp cocktail sir?
Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0PLoS ONE “Management Implications of the Biodiversity and Socio-Economic Impacts of Shrimp Trawler By-Catch in Bahía de Kino, Sonora, México” Anyone who cares about marine conservation and believes that they can ethically eat seafood is somewhat delusional. Further evidence that there is no such thing as industrial-scale “safe catch”.
A Minor Post, Biodiversity Loss, Marine Ecosystems, Resource Consumption, Sustainable HarvestingNorth Carolina legislators enact strict law limiting the rate of natural change
Posted 22 Jun 2012 / 0Science “Legislating Sea Level Rise” Well, I guess if North Carolina says that nature only changes in a linear manner, it must be true! Thank goodness for brave legislators who are not going to let nature get non-linear on us! We evolutionary biologists have seen this play out before, but this must come as a Read More
A Minor Post, Articles, Climate Change, Political Science, Public Policy, SustainabilityThere is no doubt that there are conservation trade-offs associated with the proliferation of wind power
Posted 21 Jun 2012 / 0Nature News “The trouble with turbines: An ill wind” What is particularly scary about this story is the targeted effect that wind turbines can have on particular species who gravitate to the very wind corridors that are ideal for efficient power generation.
A Minor Post, Articles, Biodiversity Loss, Birds, Sustainable EnergyBrian Czech warns ecologists against drinking the “sustainable growth Koolaid”
Posted 20 Jun 2012 / 0Steady State The Daly News “Real Dichotomies Are Not Made ‘False’ by Soft Science or Political Pandering” What’s really valuable here is the clarification of what is cultural construction (‘there does not have to be a conflict between economic growth and environmental protection’) and what is scientific reality (‘there is actually an empirically-demonstrable conflict between Read More
A Minor Post, Anthropogenic Change, Conservation Biology, Economics, Ethics, Sustainability, Web