How ecological indicators construction reveals social changes—The case of lakes and rivers in France |
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Authors: | Gabrielle Bouleau, Christine Argillier, Yves Souchon, Carole Barth l my,Marc Babut |
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Affiliation: | aCemagref, UMR G-EAU, 361 rue Jean-François Breton, F-34196 Montpellier, France;bLAEP, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA;cCemagref, UR HYAX, F-13182 Aix en Provence, France;dCemagref, UR BELY, F-69336 Lyon, France;eLPED, UMR 151 Université de Provence/IRD, Marseille, France |
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Abstract: | Social and scientific factors are deeply enmeshed in each other within the development and the use of ecological indicators (EI). Yet low research has assessed which factors contribute to selecting ecological indicators on the long-term. This article proposes to study the historical construction of EI by examining ecological, political, and social background of specific places where EI were developed, in France on lakes and rivers. Our major findings in France were that ecological indicators were never optimised for the present market or political arena. Instead EI development was typically recycling previous tools that were elaborated for other purposes by environmentally committed outsiders, without regular funding. We found that regular funding for monitoring an EI was only provided when it matched an institution's goal. Beyond the geographically limited relevance of the case studies, these results therefore improve the theoretical framework we deploy when constructing or relying on indicators. |
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Keywords: | Science and technology studies History Social studies Ecological indicator Freshwater France |
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