"Nature's contributions to people" and peoples' moral obligations to nature

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has become influential in biodiversity conservation. Its research is published widely and has been adopted by the United Nations and the Convention for Biological Diversity. This platform includes discussion about how values relate to biodiversity conservation. The IPBES emphasizes "relational values", connecting these with living a "good life," and "nature's contributions to people" (NCP); building upon ecosystem services (ES), which have dominated nature valuation for 15+ years. Although the IPBES acknowledges instrumental and intrinsic natural values, they purport that by adopting relational values, conservation will become more socially- and culturally-inclusive, moving beyond the "unhelpful dichotomy" between instrumental and intrinsic values. We wholeheartedly agree that conservation should become more inclusive - it should, in fact, morally include nonhuman nature. We argue that far from being half of an unhelpful dichotomy, intrinsic natural values are incontrovertible elements of any honest effort to sustain Earth's biodiversity. We find NCP to be mainly anthropocentric, and relational values to be largely instrumental. The "good life" they support is a good life for humans, and not for nonhuman beings or collectives. While passingly acknowledging intrinsic natural values, the current IPBES platform gives little attention to these, and to corresponding ecocentric worldviews. In this paper we demonstrate the important practical implications of operationalizing intrinsic values for conservation, such as ecological justice, i.e., "peoples' obligations to nature". We urge the IPBES platform, in their future values work, to become much more inclusive of intrinsic values and ecocentrism

Theology, News and Notes - Vol. 28, No. 01

Theology News & Notes was a theological journal published by Fuller Theological Seminary from 1954 through 2014.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/tnn/1073/thumbnail.jp

Reservoir hosts for Gyrodactylus salaris may play a more significant role in epidemics than previously thought

Background: Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957 has had a devastating impact on wild Norwegian stocks of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L., and it is the only Office International des Epizooties (OIE) listed parasitic pathogen of fish. The UK is presently recognised as G. salaris-free, and management plans for its containment and control are currently based on Scandinavian studies. The current study investigates the susceptibility of British salmonids to G. salaris, and determines whether, given the host isolation since the last glaciation and potential genetic differences, the populations under test would exhibit different levels of susceptibility, as illustrated by the parasite infection trajectory over time, from their Scandinavian counterparts. Methods: Populations of S. salar, brown trout Salmo trutta L., and grayling Thymallus thymallus (L.), raised from wild stock in UK government hatcheries, were flown to Norway and experimentally challenged with a known pathogenic strain of G. salaris. Each fish was lightly anaesthetised and marked with a unique tattoo for individual parasite counting. A single Norwegian population of S. salar from the River Lærdalselva was used as a control. Parasite numbers were assessed every seven days until day 48 and then every 14 days. Results: Gyrodactylus salaris regularly leads to high mortalities on infected juveniles S. salar. The number of G. salaris on British S. salar rose exponentially until the experiment was terminated at 33 days due to fish welfare concerns. The numbers of parasites on S. trutta and T. thymallus increased sharply, reaching a peak of infection on days 12 and 19 post-infection respectively, before declining to a constant low level of infection until the termination of the experiment at 110 days. Conclusions: The ability of S. trutta and T. thymallus to carry an infection for long periods increases the window of exposure for these two hosts and the potential transfer of G. salaris to other susceptible hosts. This study demonstrates that G. salaris can persist on S. trutta for longer periods than previously thought, and that the role that S. trutta could play in disseminating G. salaris needs to be considered carefully and factored into management plans and epidemics across Europe

Geographical distribution of Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957 (Monogenea, Gyrodactylidae)

Background Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957 is an OIE (Office International des Epizooties)-listed parasitic pathogen and had until the current study been reported from 19 countries across Europe, although many of these records require confirmation. The last comprehensive evaluation regarding the distribution of G. salaris, however, was made in 2007, although some of the states identified as being G. salaris-positive were ascribed this status based on misidentifications, on partial data resulting from either morphological or molecular tests, or from records that have not been revisited since their early reporting. It is thus important to go through the reports on G. salaris to obtain a status for each country. Methods To provide a revised update of the G. salaris distribution, a literature review was necessary. This literature, however, was not always readily accessible and, in certain cases, the article only made superficial reference to the parasite without providing details or data to support the identification. In most cases, the original specimens were not deposited in a national collection. Additional Gyrodactylus material for the current study was obtained from selected salmonid populations with the aim to contribute to current understanding regarding the distribution of G. salaris. Additional parasite material collected for this study was processed following standard procedures for species identification in Gyrodactylus [1]. Results From the work conducted in the current study, G. salaris is reported from a further three regions in Italy, alongside three other species, and appears to occur extensively throughout central Italy without causing significant mortalities to its rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), host. The analysis of archive material from G. salaris-positive farms would suggest that G. salaris has been in this country since at least 2000. Material obtained from rainbow trout from Finland and Germany are confirmed as G. salaris, supporting existing data for these countries. No specimens of G. salaris, however, were found in the additional Gyrodactylus material obtained from rainbow trout reared in Portugal and Spain. A morphologically similar species, Gyrodactylus teuchis Lautraite, Blanc, Thiery, Daniel et Vigneulle, 1999, however, was found. Conclusions Following the present review, Gyrodactylus salaris is reported from 23 out of 50 recognised states throughout Europe; only records from 14 of these states have been confirmed by either morphology and/or by an appropriate molecular test and are considered valid, while only nine of these records have been confirmed by a combination of both methods

Impact of Salmonid alphavirus infection in diploid and triploid Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fry

With increasing interest in the use of triploid salmon in commercial aquaculture, gaining an understanding of how economically important pathogens affect triploid stocks is important. To compare the susceptibility of diploid and triploid Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) to viral pathogens, fry were experimentally infected with Salmonid alphavirus sub-type 1 (SAV1), the aetiological agent of pancreas disease (PD) affecting Atlantic salmon aquaculture in Europe. Three groups of fry were exposed to the virus via different routes of infection: intraperitoneal injection (IP), bath immersion, or cohabitation (co-hab) and untreated fry were used as a control group. Mortalities commenced in the co-hab challenged diploid and triploid fish from 11 days post infection (dpi), and the experiment was terminated at 17 dpi. Both diploid and triploid IP challenged groups had similar levels of cumulative mortality at the end of the experimental period (41.1 % and 38.9 % respectively), and these were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than for the other challenge routes. A TaqMan-based quantitative PCR was used to assess SAV load in the heart, a main target organ of the virus, and also liver, which does not normally display any pathological changes during clinical infections, but exhibited severe degenerative lesions in the present study. The median viral RNA copy number was higher in diploid fish compared to triploid fish in both the heart and the liver of all three challenged groups. However, a significant statistical difference (p < 0.05) was only apparent in the liver of the co-hab groups. Diploid fry also displayed significantly higher levels of pancreatic and myocardial degeneration than triploids. This study showed that both diploid and triploid fry are susceptible to experimental SAV1 infection. The lower virus load seen in the triploids compared to the diploids may possibly be related to differences in cell metabolism between the two groups, however, further investigation is necessary to confirm this and also to assess the outcome of PD outbreaks in other developmental stages of the fish when maintained in commercial production systems

“Nature's contributions to people” and peoples' moral obligations to nature

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has become influential in biodiversity conservation. Its research is published widely and has been adopted by the United Nations and the Convention for Biological Diversity. This platform includes discussion about how values relate to biodiversity conservation. The IPBES emphasizes “relational values”, connecting these with living a “good life,” and “nature's contributions to people” (NCP); building upon ecosystem services (ES), which have dominated nature valuation for 15+ years. Although the IPBES acknowledges instrumental and intrinsic natural values, they purport that by adopting relational values, conservation will become more socially- and culturally- inclusive, moving beyond the “unhelpful dichotomy” between instrumental and intrinsic values. We wholeheartedly agree that conservation should become more inclusive – it should, in fact, morally include nonhuman nature. We argue that far from being half of an unhelpful dichotomy, intrinsic natural values are incontrovertible elements of any honest effort to sustain Earth's biodiversity. We find NCP to be mainly anthropocentric, and relational values to be largely instrumental. The “good life” they support is a good life for humans, and not for nonhuman beings or collectives. While passingly acknowledging intrinsic natural values, the current IPBES platform gives little attention to these, and to corresponding ecocentric worldviews. In this paper we demonstrate the important practical implications of operationalizing intrinsic values for conservation, such as ecological justice, i.e., “peoples' obligations to nature”. We urge the IPBES platform, in their future values work, to become much more inclusive of intrinsic values and ecocentrism

Towards an ecology of participation: Process philosophy and co-creation of higher education curricula

This article brings together the authors' previous work on co-created curricula (Bovill et al., 2011; Bovill, 2013a; Bovill, 2014) and on partnership and ethics (Taylor and Robinson, 2014; Taylor, 2015), to develop the concept of co-created curricula as an ecology of participation. In doing so, it deploys Alfred North Whitehead’s process philosophy to formulate a new way of considering co-creation in the curriculum and co-creation of the curriculum in higher education. Two empirical examples are used to illuminate what such an approach offers. From this, we outline three dimensions of an ecology of participation: a process of becoming which recasts subjectivity; acting well in relation which enacts concern; and an orientation to harmony in which difference in equality is valued. The contribution of the article is twofold: first, the concept of an ecology of participation takes forward current thinking on higher education curricula and partnership ethics; second, its use of process philosophy provides a new lens to consider co-creation in the curriculum and co-creation of the curriculum