Ecology of Changing Planet for Degrowth Movement- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theEcology of Changing Planet for Degrowth Movement. Answer: What does a donkey have to do with the concept of degrowth? Francois Schneider is associated with the degrowth movement since its inception. He travelled across France with a donkey in 2004 while raising awareness about degrowth concept. By doing this, he received attention from the public and the media and thus he used this opportunity to spread word on degrowth (Demaria, Schneider, Sekulova Martinez-Alier, 2013). After his donkey tour, he and others founded Research Degrowth which is an academic organization that also organizes international degrowth conferences. Degrowth has since grown in to a frame for social movement which allows the actors to engage in collective action for example in anti-car, cyclists or pedestrian rights campaigns (Della Porta and Diani 2006). Compare and contrast degrowth and sustainable development. Use a table to list and compare key points. The founder of the degrowth movement is Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen whose main theme is departure from economy as the central societal value. Degrowth refers to the change to a less economy with lower production and less consumption. Degrowth suggests that sustainable economic growth will result to social and environmental collapse and thus it must be downscaled. The only way to prevent resources from getting depleted is by decreasing their flows. The countries that have exceeded their allowable ecological foot print should decrease their consumption (European Commission, 2010). Sustainable degrowth seems like a suitable alternative to sustainable development but for it to succeed, adequate planning needs to take place. It will be difficult for this concept to be accepted by societies thus the need for adequate planning and preparation. For example, degrowth will mean a reduction in GDP for countries which might lead to increase in unemployment unless other initiatives have been put in place (Alier, 2009). Degrowth has the disadvantage of confronting current powers who may be unwilling to consider a no growth policy like governments and private sector leaders (European Commission, 2010). Sustainable growth pushes for an ecological transition where the use of energy and materials use is lowered and a decrease in human appropriation of net primary production. This is also an opportunity to restructure the social institutions. The world population also needs to be controlled to reduce pressure on the resources (Alier, 2009). Degrowth deals with the crisis not handled by sustainable development like loss of cultural diversity, the crisis of political representation, the crisis of meaning, the multidimensional movement of degrowth being successful in regenerating some debates that were stuck in the previous decades (Alier, 2009). Sustainable development on the other hand addresses environmental concerns while promoting economic growth. Sustainable development means economic growth that is environmentally sustainable (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). It involves meeting the current generation needs without affecting the future generations ability to meet theirs regarding use of the natural resources and waste. It is a balance where human beings meet their needs while taking care of the ecosystem and not destroying the diversity (Morelli, 2013). Meaningful sustainability focuses on balanced interaction between people and the environment they live in. Below is a comparison of sustainable development and degrowth. Figure 1: Sustainable development vs Degrowth Sustainable Development Degrowth 1 Opens up space for negotiation and discussions over relationship between the environment and development Challenges how this negotiation space is functioning 2 Promoting economic growth which addresses environmental concerns Less economy, lower production and less consumption. 3 Economic growth that is sustainable Downscale the economy as economic growth will lead to social and ecological collapse 4 Use resources to meet current needs without compromise of future generation to meet theirs Decrease resource flows as the only way to ensure they are not depleted 5 Sustainable use of resources Decrease consumption in countries that have exceeded their allowable ecological foot print 6 Sustainable means of production for example use of sustainable sources of energy like solar Change production and the consumption patterns 7 Nations are requested to commit to sustainable measures and is regulated It is democratic meaning it is voluntary and participatory Is ecosystem fragility a term that can be found in Folke et al. (2004)? If not, what terms would Folke use to describe a fragile ecosystem? (worth 10 points) A fragile ecosystem would be described as one that does not have resilience. The resilience of the environment can be eroded and its self repairing capacity should therefore not be taken for granted therefore the ecosystem needs to be actively strengthened in order to support social and economic development (Folke, et al., 2004). Ecosystem resilience can be described as the amount of disturbance that an ecosystem can experience before it changes its state. It can also be described as ability of the ecosystem to absorb disturbance and reorganize so that it retains similar functions or structure and identity. b) Apparently, Folke et al. (2004) believe that all ecosystems are potentially fragile when certain conditions exist. Explain what conditions should be measured/monitored over time in order to determine if an ecosystem is fragile. (worth 10 points) The conditions that need to be measured to determine if an ecosystem is fragile include vigor, resilience and organization. Vigor is measured from empirical measures that quantify the magnitude of input available to an ecosystem (GPP) or the economic activity of an ecosystem which is measured in dollars per unit time. Organization is more difficult to quantify as it requires measuring diversity and the magnitude of system components and their exchange pathways in between them. Resilience is measured using a ratio of magnitude of stress and recovery time (MS/RT) (Costanza Mageau, 1999). c) Sometimes ecosystems are described as being stable and healthy. What key variables need to be measured and over what timeframe must these things be assessed before we can conclude that an ecosystem of any type is stable and healthy? Provide examples. (worth 10 points) A healthy and stable ecosystem is one that is sustainable meaning it has the capacity to maintain its structure and function even when faced by external stress over time(Costanza Mageau, 1999). A healthy system possesses resilience to survive small disturbances and the time it takes to recover from that stress. Table 1 below shows the three components of system heath and concepts and measurements in different fields. Table 2: Components of vigor, organization and resilience measurements in various fields. Source: (Costanza Mageau, 1999). Measuring resilience is difficult as it means being able to predict the dynamics of a system under stress. Recovery time (RT) can be used to measure the time a system takes to recover from stress. Maximum magnitude of stress (MS) can be measure by steadily increasing the amount of simulated stress until the system changes to a new steady state and record the amount of stress that caused the change. The overall measure of stress will then be found from the ratio MS/RT. This is shown in the figure below, incorporating the two measures of resilience integrated in to one quantitative measure. Figure 3: Two components of resilience combined in to a quantitative measure Identify characteristics that make an ecosystem resilient. (worth 10 points) The characteristics of a resilient ecosystem include the ability to withstand disturbances before shifting to a different state. A resilient ecosystem is able to withstand disturbance and can reorganize and retain its function, identity and structure. It is that ability of the ecosystem to reorganize after disturbances and change and its renewal. Resilience shows the degree to which an ecosystem is able to self organize and to what extent the system will increase capacity to learn and adapt. A resilient system is able to maintain its structure and behavior pattern while faced with stress (Costanza Mageau, 1999). Question 4. Describe at least one modern agricultural practice that the authors claim has resulted in i, ii, iii as noted in the above quote. Clearly explain what the practice is and what it does that contributes to i, ii, iii. (worth 15 points) One modern agricultural practice is the use of chemical pesticides and insecticides which is used to control pests and thus reduce crop losses. However, this usually affects the organisms population and the species stability in the ecosystem. Their intensive use interferes with natural mechanisms thus loss of diversity of plants and insects and alters the composition of species (Mishra, et al., 2015). The use of pesticides excessively reduces the population of the pests and predators but will also lead to increase of other species of pests. It also affects other cross pollinator species like honey bees and wild bees. It also makes crops reliant on the artificial treatments thus making insects develop stronger resistance to the plant defense mechanisms. The number of insecticide resistant insects has increased which may threaten plants and other insect species and also their predators (Mishra, et al., 2015). References Alier, J. (2009). Socially Sustainable EconomicDe?growth. Development and Change 40(6): 10991119. Costanza, R. Mageau, M. (1999). What is a Healthy Ecosystem? M. Aquatic Ecology (1999) 33: 105. Della Porta, D. and Diani, M. (2006). Social Movements: An Introduction, 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell. Demaria, F., Schneider, F., Sekulova, F. Martinez-Alier, J. (2013). What isDegrowth? From an Activist Slogan to a Social Movement. Environmental Values 22 (2013): 191215 European Commission, (2010). Sustainable De-Growth: An Alternative to Sustainable Development? European Commission Dg Environment News Alert Service Folke, C. et al. (2004). Regime Shifts, Resilience, and Biodiversity in Ecosystem Management. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 35:557-581. Gheorghic?, A. (2012). The Emergence of La Dcroissanse. CES Working Papers, IV (1), Ia?i, Romania: Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University. Retrieved October 10 from: https://ceswp.uaic.ro/articles/CESWP2012_IV1_GHE.pdf Mishra, M. et al. (2015) Ecological Turmoil in Evolutionary Dynamics of Plantinsect Interactions: Defense to Offence. Planta 242: 761.Retrieved October 10, 2017 from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00425-015- 2364-7/fulltext.html Morelli, J. (2013). Environmental Sustainability: A Definition for Environmental Professionals.Journal of environmental sustainability,1(1), p.2. World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.