Biodiversity Lovers, Unite

Several months into the International Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY), American mass media coverage of this worldwide initiative is virtually nonexistent. Major publications for general audiences and high-impact scientific journals have not run news or feature articles about a collaboration that involves 45 major projects embracing numerous countries, habitats, and species. Why the silence? Comments by prominent biologists suggest that the answer lies, at least in part, in the very nature of biodiversity and in how it has been studied to date. IBOY, an assembly under one banner of worldwide projects in basic science, informatics, and education (see "Year of Biodiversity"), faces communication challenges. The problem is that the all-embracing nature of biodiversity makes appreciation of it more difficult to grasp than that of biodiversity's products, such as particular plants or animals. "We all recognize there's a major crisis in biodiversity," Princeton University associate professor of biology and IBOY steering committee member Andrew P. Dobson comments. Rather than belabor the current, rapid loss of species around the world, he offers comparisons between art and life forms. In both cases, he notes, rarity is an attribute that can confer value. Only about 60 works of the 17th century Dutch painter Jan Vermeer are known to exist, Dobson says. Each one is highly valued. Similarly, he continues, many of contemporary British artist Damien Hirst's works were purchased by collector Charles Saatchi, who then bid up other Hirst works at auction, to increase the value of those he owned. Dobson wonders how scientists might turn the reverence they feel for the products of biodiversity into ways to preserve their sources. "There are no great pictures of nematodes," he jokes, "but to me, it's nematodes that make the world go around." Humans Ignored Credit: James HakenA red-eyed treefrog, native to the Caribbean coast of Central America Despite the inclusiveness, by definition, of biodiversity, its study traditionally has tried to ignore the role of humans or has simply regarded their impact as detrimental, notes Arizona State University urban ecologist Ann Kinzig. She charges that information about human behaviors and decisions, both helpful and destructive, is rarely canvassed in studies of disappearing species in degraded habitats. The concerns of scientists and of other citizens must become part of the ecological framework, she urges. That which is valued by scientists is monitored and that which is valued by the public is perceived, Kinzig explains. Anything that receives attention from both factions can flourish, but when both groups ignore something, it can become a source of "future surprises." She declares, "To be effective, we have to understand why people do what they do, and give them palatable alternatives." Such options concern researchers as well as the public. "In the natural sciences, there's an increasing recognition that [biodiversity research] needs the involvement of the humanities and the social sciences, and not just more interdisciplinary work within the natural sciences." Kinzig and Dobson made their remarks at the American Institute of Biological Sciences' annual meeting March 24-26 in Washington, D.C. They participated in a panel session produced in association with IBOY that indirectly helped to explain why the biodiversity observation year has so far received sparse press coverage. "If we're going to save the world and save humanity in our present state of environmental crisis, it's really important that we develop a fundamental human ecology," muses University of New Mexico biology professor James A. Brown. A theorist in complex adaptive systems (CAS), Brown identifies the interface between the human domain and natural systems as a key area and major challenge of CAS research.1 Referring to the past 50 years of science as "reductionism's triumph," he believes the goal now is to fit together these pieces of learning. In biology, that endeavor is currently called biocomplexity,2 but it has been practiced for decades under different names. Biocomplexity is not a revolution, agrees Colorado State University biology professor Alan P. Covich, but it is a way to go forward. However, Dartmouth University assistant biology professor Kathryn Cottingham reports that interdisciplinary work at her institution is hampered by a "huge gulf" between the natural and social sciences. Uncertainty is the Rule Another challenge to addressing the varied field of biodiversity through CAS methodologies is that uncertainty is a rule. Princeton University biology professor Simon A. Levin stresses, "It's important to realize that in these systems, there are some features that are inherently unknowable." He points out that in biocomplexity studies, heterogeneity must be maintained and adaptability accounted for. That requires developing an awareness of feedback routes. For example, human decisions might affect an ecosystem and any changes could affect people. Another key factor adds Levin is that free movement of individuals carries risks and costs, such as the possible transformation of a confined disease into a pandemic. "This should be a paradigm by which we will relate to just about every environmental management problem," he notes. Credit: James HakenA tropical salamander regenerating a new tail University of Illinois plant biology department head John M. Cheeseman identifies yet another difficulty in communicating biocomplexity research. "We have to present a linear story," he notes, "but we don't think linearly." Concerning cooperation among scientists, Levin advises, "In moving into these interdisciplinary areas, it becomes clear that nobody has all the skills that are needed. I think we all have to learn how to choose our collaborators well." Steve Bunk (sbunk@uswest.net) is a contributing editor for The Scientist. References 1. See also, S. Bunk, "The institute different," The Scientist, 15[4]:1, Feb. 19, 2001. 2. See also, A. Emmett, "Biocomplexity: a new science for survival?" The Scientist, 14[9]:1, Oct. 2, 2000, and A. Emmett, "An interview with Rita Colwell," www.the-scientist.com/yr2000/oct/emmett_p0_001002.html. Year of Biodiversity You might not have heard much about it yet, but the International Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY) is here, and with it comes an ambitious array of research, informatics, and outreach projects. An initiative of DIVERSITAS--a biodiversity science program sponsored by six major international bodies, including the International Council for Science--IBOY is intended to serve as an umbrella under which all the biodiversity sciences can gather. A scientific panel has reviewed already funded projects around the world for inclusion in the IBOY portfolio, which ranges "from genes to landscapes," as secretariat chair Diana H. Wall puts it. Wall, director of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University, notes, "Everybody seems to see the need for integration, but where is the forum?" IBOY, she declares, fills that need. There are 45 core network projects, along with various satellite projects and national biodiversity events around the globe. Among the environments being explored are the deep sea, tropical dry forest and rain forest, flooded inland caves, soils, the ground litter of leaves and wood, sandy beaches, and coral reefs. Databases are being compiled on global biodiversity, plants and animals in the world's projected areas, prokaryotes, insects, amphibians, animal extinctions since 1500, migratory species, wild relatives of the world's crops, and DNA banks for endangered species. Also being developed are a web-based library of species and habitat imagery, worldwide land maps of vertebrates, a methodology for assessing the capacity of the world's ecosystems to continue to provide needed goods and services, and an index of the 1.7 million species of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms named by science. A four-part television series on biodiversity will be translated into 30 languages, reaching two billion people, while a series on voyages of natural discovery will be accompanied by both educational CD-ROMs and a traveling museum exhibit. Feature films are being produced on biodiversity, the Antarctic, and Baja California. An outreach program on biodiversity distributes educational materials via the mail and the Internet, especially to the poor in developing countries and rural areas. An international contest involves schools in compiling computerized insect databases. International meetings are scheduled on the tree of life, forests owned by world religions, impacts of biological invasions, and detecting environmental change. A biodiversity show featuring animated clay characters, actors, and interactive exhibits tours the United States. Even the World Music and Dance (WOMAD) global concert tour's theme this year is biodiversity. "I know that by December, we're going to have strings of network discoveries," Wall enthuses. The projects are intended to continue yielding results through 2002. She doesn't yet know how much funding and how many scientists are involved in all this work, but more information will be forthcoming when the first meeting of project leaders is held June 15-17 in Maryland. For further details, see www.nrel.colostate.edu/IBOY. --Steve Bunk

Biodiversity Lovers, Unite

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