The Biosemiotic Concept of the Species

Any biological species of biparental organisms necessarily includes, and is fundamentally dependent on, sign processes between individuals. In this case, the natural category of the species is based on family resemblances (in the Wittgensteinian sense), which is why a species is not a natural kind. We describe the mechanism that generates the family resemblance. An individual recognition window and biparental reproduction almost suffice as conditions to produce species naturally. This is due to assortativity of mating which is not based on certain individual traits, but on the difference between individuals. The biosemiotic model described here explains what holds a species together. It also implies that boundaries of a species are fundamentally fuzzy, and that character displacement occurs in case of sympatry. Speciation is a special case of discretisation that is an inevitable result of any communication system in work. The biosemiotic mechanism provides the conditions and communicative restrictions for the origin and persistence of diversity in the realm of living (communicative and semiotic) systems.     

Increasing population and declining biological resources in the context of global change and globalization

In the context of over-consumption of natural resources in the name of development and rapid industrialization by a small section of the human population that is rapidly growing, the world is currently faced with a variety of environmental uncertainties. ‘Global change’ covering a whole variety of ecological issues, and ‘globalization’ in an economic sense, are two major phenomena that are responsible for these uncertainties. There is increasing evidence to suggest that the developing countries more than the developed, particularly the marginalized traditional (those living close to nature and natural resources) societies would be the worst sufferers. In order to cope with this problem in a situation where the traditional societies have to cope with rapidly depleting biodiversity on which they are dependant for their livelihood, there is an urgent need to explore additional pathways for sustainable management of natural resources and societal development. Such pathways should be based on a landscape management strategy, that takes into consideration the rich traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) that these societies have. This is critical because TEK is the connecting link between conservation and sustainable development. This paper explores the possibilities in this direction through a balanced approach to development, that links the ‘traditional’ with the ‘modern’, in a location-specific way.     

Behavioral ecology of conservation in traditional societies

A common exhortation by conservationists suggests that we can solve ecological problems by returning to the attitudes of traditional societies: reverence for resources, and willingness to assume short-term individual costs for long-term, group-beneficial sustainable management. This paper uses the 186-society Standard Cross-Cultural Sample to examine resource attitudes and practices. Two main findings emerge: (1) resource practices are ecologically driven and do not appear to correlate with attitude (including sacred prohibition) and (2) the low ecological impact of many traditional societies results not from conscious conservation efforts, but from various combinations of low population density, inefficient extraction technology, and lack of profitable markets for extracted resources. Professor Emilio Moran, Director of the Anthropological Center for Training and Research on Global Environmental Change, Indiana University, kindly shared Marcos Terena’s words. Bobbi Low is Professor of Resource Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan. Her research interests include sex differences in resource use, patterns in resource use and reproduction/family formation, and demographic transition patterns.     

Conservation of endangered species and the patterns and propensities of biodiversity

It is commonly asserted in the ecological and economic literature that habitat loss is the main cause of loss of imperiled species. The evidence clearly shows that habitat loss is a common contributing factor, but there is little evidence that it is the most important factor. Studies that have focused on the mechanisms of species loss have failed to produce models capable of predicting patterns of loss as a function of human activities. I propose that this is because ecologists have employed an unrealistic conceptual model of the functioning of natural systems. Karl Popper's construct of the propensities of natural systems provides a more realistic view, and better potential to yield predictive models. I provide two examples of patterns of biodiversity and species loss in Canada where mechanistic reasoning is inconsistent with the observed propensities of species loss.     

Impact assessment of abiotic resource consumption conceptual considerations

The impact assessment of the consumption of abiotic resources, such as fossil fuels or minerals, is usually part of the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) in LCA studies. The problem with the consumption of such resources is their decreasing availability for future generations. In currently available LCA methods (e.g. Eco-indicator’ 99/Goedkoop and Spriensma 1999, CML/Guinée 2001), the consumption of various abiotic resources is aggregated into one summarizing indicator within the characterization phase of the LCIA. This neglects that many resources are used for different purposes and are not equivalent to each other. Therefore, the depletion of reserves of functionally non-equivalent resources should be treated as separate environmental problems, i.e. as separate impact sub-categories. Consequently, this study proposes assigning the consumption of abiotic resources to separate impact sub-categories and, if possible, integrating them into indicators only according to their primary function (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil → consumption of fossil fuels; phosphate rock → consumption of phosphate). Since this approach has been developed in the context of LCA studies on agricultural production systems, the impact assessment of the consumption of fossil fuels, phosphate rock, potash salt and lime is of particular interest and serves as an example. Following the general LCA framework (Consoli et al. 1993, ISO 1998), a normalization step is proposed separately for each of the subcategories. Finally, specific weighting factors have been calculated for the sub-categories based on the ’distance-to-target’ principle. The weighting step allows for further interpretation and enables the aggregation of the consumption of different abiotic resources to one summarizing indicator, called the Resource Depletion Index (RDI). The proposed method has been applied to a wheat production system in order to illustrate the conceptual considerations and to compare the approach to an established impact assessment method for abiotic resources (CML method, Guinée 2001).     

Neuroecology and the need for broader synthesis

Neuroecology combines physiological and ecological principles toward understanding behavioral mechanisms and their roles in establishing patterns of organismal abundances and species distributions. This amalgamation of research approaches incorporates the strengths of neuroethology to determine the cellular basis of behavior. It, however, treads where neuroethology does not by establishing critical linkages between neural processes and the population- and community-level consequences of individual behavior. Neuroecology also promotes understanding of nervous systems within a strong environmental context by encouraging use of keystone and foundation species as critical "ecological models" for studies of electrically excitable cells. Previous investigations of environmental stress, metabolism, and energy relations have proven the value of a combined cellular biochemical and biophysical approach toward predicting natural patterns of organismal abundances and species distributions. Borrowing from this approach, neuroecology would coalesce neuroscience with population and community ecology to establish how individual behavior functions, and how such behavior acts to determine higher-order biological processes.     

产业生态系统资源代谢分析方法

产业生态系统是由企业群、资源及环境组成的社会-经济-环境复合生态系统。资源代谢是其功能运行的重要保障。资源代谢在时间和空间尺度上的耗竭及阻滞是造成严重生态环境问题的主要原因。根据生态学原理,运用物质流分析手段解析了产业生态系统的物质流、能流及资金流结构,构建了产业生态系统资源代谢分析模型,提出了资源输入-使用-输出-循环共生四方面的资源代谢分析指标体系和基于模糊综合分析的资源代谢问题树分析方法。在此基础上提出了基于循环共生网络结构模型的生态管理模式。以期为产业资源的生态管理提供方法支撑。     

Meaning Matters: The Biosemiotic Basis of Bioethics

If the central problem in philosophical ethics is determining and defining the scope of moral value, our normative ethical theories must be able to explain on what basis and to what extent entities have value. The scientific foundation of contemporary biosemiotic theory grounds a theory of moral value capable of addressing this problem. Namely, it suggests that what is morally relevant is semiosis. Within this framework, semiosis is a morally relevant and natural property of all living things thereby offering us an ecological, as opposed to merely environmental, ethic. A consequence of this semiotic theory is that living things are accorded inherent moral value based on their natural relational properties—their ability to signify. This consequence establishes a hierarchy of inherent moral value based on the scope of signification: the larger the Umwelten, the greater the value. This paper argues that a robust semiotic moral theory can take into account a much wider scope of inherent value.. These consequences have positive ramifications for environmental ethics in their recognition of the natural ecological networks in which each organism is bound. This presentation of a biosemiotic model of value offers a justificatory strategy for our contemporary moral intuitions concerning our semiotic/moral relationships with living things while also productively pushing our normative ethical boundaries.     

The Marriage of Psychoanalytic Methodology with the Biosemiotic Agenda

An overview of core phenomena and processes leading to Freud’s establishing his psycho-analytic method and early metatheoretical concepts is followed by the author’s revision of his topographical model into a seamless biosemiotic theory of mind and human communication. A careful methodological analysis of the semantic/referential scope; speech/listening processes, and semiotic features, of a dialogue designed to make the unconscious conscious, reveals an epistemological bridge between psychoanalytic methodology and the biosemiotic agenda within a unifying inter-penetrative paradigm.     

Importance of multi-dimensional analyses of resource partitioning in highly mobile species assemblages

Resource partitioning is an essential mechanism enabling species coexistence. The resources that are used by an animal are linked to its morphology and ecology. Therefore, similar species should use similar resources. The ecological niche of an individual summarizes all used resources and is therefore composed of several dimensions. Many methods are established to study different dimensions of an animal's niche. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that a combination of suitable methods is needed to study spatial and dietary resource partitioning of sympatric species in detail. We hypothesized that, while each individual method might identify differences between species, the combined results of several methods will lead to a more complete picture of spatial and dietary resource partitioning. As model organisms we chose the sympatric insectivorous bat species Myotis bechsteinii, M. nattereri, and P. auritus. We examined horizontal habitat use by telemetry, vertical habitat use by measuring δ¹³C, trophic position by measuring δ¹⁵N in wing membrane, and diet composition by molecular fecal analysis. Our results show that each method is able to provide information about spatial/dietary resource partitioning. However, considering further dimensions by combining several methods allows a more comprehensive assessment of dietary and spatial resource partitioning in bats.     

Arsenic in drinking water: sources,occurrence and health effects (a review)

Because dramatic cases of arsenic contamination of water resources, soils, vegetables, humans and animals increase, this review has focussed on the fate and behaviour of this element and what kind of health impacts are related with its release in surface or ground waters. In a first part, we point out how the primary minerals can lead to As mobilization and exportation by surface waters and suspended matter. We also emphasize the particular key role for As retention through both adsorption onto natural Fe(III) (hydr)oxides, Mn oxides and/or precipitation as Fe(III) arsenates. Nowadays, numerous and efficient systems for arsenic removal from any natural resources are available to produce good quality drinking water (with <10 μg/l As); however it is not within the scope of the present review. In a second part we focus on recent knowledge about the human toxicity of the various arsenic species. Chronic exposure to As in drinking water lead to many health diseases and, although the mechanisms of toxification/detoxification are not well identified, the role of methylated species is discussed. Some epidemiologic studies are cited, but the exact relationship between past chronic As exposure and present health diseases has been questioned.     

生态基因组学研究进展

生态基因组学是一个整合生态学、分子遗传学和进化基因组学的新兴交叉学科。生态基因组学将基因组学的研究手段和方法引入生态学领域,通过将群体基因组学、转录组学、蛋白质组学等手段与方法将个体、种群及群落、生态系统不同层次的生态学相互作用整合起来,确定在生态学响应及相互作用中具有重要意义的关键的基因和遗传途径,阐明这些基因及遗传途径变异的程度及其生态和进化后果的特征,从基因水平探索有机体响应天然环境(包括生物与非生物的环境因子)的遗传学机制。生态基因组学的研究对象可以分为模式生物与非模式生物两大类。拟南芥、酿酒酵母等模式生物在生态基因组学领域发挥了重要作用。随着越来越多基因组学技术的开发与完善,越来越多的非模式生物生态基因组学的研究将为生态学的发展提供重要的理论与实践依据。生态基因组学最核心的方法包括寻找序列变异、研究基因差异表达和分析基因功能等方法。生态基因组学已广泛渗透到生态学的相关领域中,将会在生物对环境的响应、物种间的相互作用、进化生态学、全球变化生态学、入侵生态学、群落生态学等研究领域发挥更大的作用。     

The resource regulation hypothesis and positive feedback loops in plant–herbivore interactions

Resource regulation occurs when herbivory maintains or increases plant susceptibility to further herbivory by the same species. A review of the literature indicates it is a widespread plant–animal interaction involving a diverse array of herbivores. At least three mechanisms can produce this positive feedback cycle. First, phytophagous insect and mammalian herbivore damage can stimulate dormant buds to produce vigorous juvenile growth, which is preferred for further attack. Juvenilization cycles may have repeatedly evolved because herbivores are able to take advantage of a generalized plant compensatory response to any type of damage. Second, herbivores can manipulate plant source–sink relationships to attain more resources, and this alteration of plant growth may benefit subsequent herbivore generations. Third, herbivory can alter plant nutrition or defensive chemistry in a way that makes a plant susceptible to more herbivory. Resource regulation probably occurs because damage to resources preferred by the herbivores induces a generalized plant response that produces more preferred resources. Alternatively, manipulation of plant resources to induce resource regulation may have evolved in herbivores with a high degree of philopatry due to selection to alter plant resources to benefit their offspring. Resource regulation can stabilize insect population dynamics by maintaining a supply of high-quality plant resources. It can also increase the heterogeneity of host-plant resources for herbivores by altering the physiological age structure and the distribution of resources within plants. Resource regulation may have strong plant-mediated effects on other organisms that use that host plant, but these effects have not yet been explored.     

Strategies for Protecting and Restoring Rhode Island's Watersheds on Multiple Scales

The Clean Water Act has traditionally preserved the quality and quantity of a region's water by focusing resources on areas with known or anticipated problems. USEPA Region 1 is taking the supplemental, longer-range approach of protecting areas of New England where natural resources are still healthy. As part of Region 1 's “New England Resource Protection” approach, stakeholders participate in an open process that identifies healthy ecosystems and characterizes how well they support aquatic life and human health. Since the concerns of stakeholders are usually local, the process also displays areas of nonattainment within individual watersheds and determines their likely causes. One of the most powerful ways to display these types of information on multiple scales is to use a geographic information system (GIS). The case of phosphorus in southern Rhode Island's Tucker Pond illustrates how a GIS can help integrate concerns from the public, data from Clean Water Act monitoring, and information from the New England Resource Protection Project to identify types of environmental assessment questions on scales ranging from states to subwatersheds. By involving the public at all stages of the process and better informing them about their watersheds, this new approach makes them better stewards of their environment.     

动物个性研究进展

"个性"是指不同时空条件下动物种群个体间行为的稳定差异。大量的理论和实验性研究表明,个性差异在动物界普遍存在,其是种群多度和分布、物种共存及群落构建的重要驱动因子。介绍了动物个性的概念、分类及衡量指标,将前人测量个性类型的方法加以总结;随后介绍了动物个性的生态学意义,尤其是个性对动物生活史策略、种群分布与多度、群落结构和动态、生态系统功能和过程以及疾病与信息传播等的影响。在此基础上,进一步分析了在人类活动增加等全球变化背景下,动物个性如何调控动物个体行为、种群和群落动态对这些环境变化的响应。阐述了动物个性的形成与维持机制,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

Scientific and societal considerations in selecting assessment endpoints for environmental decision making

It is sometimes argued that, from an ecological point of view, population-, community-, and ecosystem-level endpoints are more relevant than individual-level endpoints for assessing the risks posed by human activities to the sustainability of natural resources. Yet society values amenities provided by natural resources that are not necessarily evaluated or protected by assessment tools that focus on higher levels of biological organization. For example, human-caused stressors can adversely affect recreational opportunities that are valued by society even in the absence of detectable population-level reductions in biota. If protective measures are not initiated until effects at higher levels of biological organization are apparent, natural resources that are ecologically important or highly valued by the public may not be adequately protected. Thus, environmental decision makers should consider both scientific and societal factors in selecting endpoints for ecological risk assessments. At the same time, it is important to clearly distinguish the role of scientists, which is to evaluate ecological effects, from the role of policy makers, which is to determine how to address the uncertainty in scientific assessment in making environmental decisions and to judge what effects are adverse based on societal values and policy goals.     

菌物生物多样性及其资源研发前景——献给《菌物研究》创刊10周年

文中首先给予菌物,即泛真菌(Pan-Fungi)以明确定义,它是地球生物圈中一切真核菌类生物的总称,是地球生物圈中生物多样性的重要组成部分,也是具有实现大规模工业化开发潜力的重要资源生物类群。在对物种和基因之间的关系进行分析之后认为,所谓生物多样性,实际上是指生存于地球生物圈中多种多样生态系统中的、含有多种多样基因的物种多样性。文中指出,地球生物圈中生存的真菌至少有250万种。然而,已被人类所认识和命名的真菌仅为9.786 1万种,占估计种数的3.9%,尚有96.1%的真菌有待于人类去发现。人类的平均寿命由1796年以前的18岁提高到60岁经历了2个里程碑,由18岁至40岁借助于牛痘的发明;由40岁至60岁则借助于来自真菌的抗菌素——青霉素的应用。人类的平均寿命正在面临癌症发病和死亡的威胁,如何才能使人类的平均寿命跨越第三个里程碑,从而进入更加健康长寿的新生活阶段?除了进行环境和食品安全治理以及保持健康生活习惯外,丰富的菌物资源的发掘与利用也许正是人类所期待的。文中对提到的304种具有抑制肿瘤活性的药用真菌为基础,系统地进行抗癌活性物质的筛选,从而构建健康人群的抗癌"防火墙",同时制定癌症患者的康复计划,使药用真菌在提高人类平均寿命、使人类进入更加健康长寿的第三个里程碑中发挥应有的作用。迄今包括新药开发在内的菌物资源研发中鲜有成效的原因之一,也许与菌物分类学及其成果未受到足够重视不无关系。其结果便导致该研发项目的菌物多样性基础先天不足,从而难以发挥我国菌物多样性在资源开发中的优势。面对如此丰富的菌物资源宝库,为了研究和开发菌物资源,创建我国自己创新产品的知识产权,与菌物资源研发的上游和中游专业人员紧密合作,共担责任,共享成果,在加强菌物分类学三大存取系统并重的前提下,结合菌物活性物质筛选平台,作为菌物资源研发的新途径与新模式,进行包括创新药物在内的菌物资源研发项目的立项,实在势在必行。此外,从产于极端环境的菌物中进行抗逆基因筛选及其功能分析与应用对于人类环境的改善具有巨大的潜力。