The idea of 'nature' is at the very core of science, considered as its flagship and deepest link with human societies. However, while nature preservation has become a major social concern, the idea of nature remains elusive. We examine here the origins, etymology, and historical semantics of this word and its different meanings in contemporary European languages. It appears that this word aggregated successively different and sometimes conflicting meanings throughout its history. One of the main present occidental meanings of "nature", designating what is opposed to humans, currently used in public policies, conservation science, or environmental ethics, hence appears rare and recent, and contradictory with most other visions of nature, including former European representations and contemporary foreign ones. Nature preservation ought to take into account this semantic diversity when proposing policies, integrating the relativity and potential inaccuracy of the currently dominating occidental definition.
Protecting nature has become a global concern. However, the very idea of nature is problematic.We examined the etymological and semantic diversity of the word used to translate nature in a conservation context in 76 of the primary languages of the world to identify the different relationships between humankind and nature. Surprisingly, the number of morphemes (distinct etymological roots) used by 7 billion people was low. Different linguistic superfamilies shared the same etymon across large cultural areas that correlate with the distribution of major religions. However, we found large differences in etymological meanings among these words, echoing the semantic differences and historical ambiguity of the contemporary European concept of nature. The principal current Western meaning of nature in environmental public policy, conservation science, and environmental ethics-that which is not a human artifact-appears to be relatively rare and recent and to contradict the vision of nature in most other cultures, including those of pre-Christian Europe. To avoid implicit cultural bias and hegemony-and thus to be globally intelligible and effective-it behooves nature conservationists to take into account this semantic diversity when proposing conservation policies and implementing conservation practices.
There is global consensus that marine protected areas offer a plethora of benefits to the biodiversity within and around them. Nevertheless, many organisms threatened by human impacts also find shelter in unexpected or informally protected places. For coral reef organisms, refuges can be tourist resorts implementing local environment-friendly bottom-up management strategies. We used the coral reef ecosystem as a model to test whether such practices have positive effects on the biodiversity associated with de facto protected areas
The field of biodiversity conservation has recently been criticized as relying on a fixist view of the living world in which existing species constitute at the same time targets of conservation efforts and static states of reference, which is in apparent disagreement with evolutionary dynamics. We reviewed the prominent role of species as conservation units and the common benchmark approach to conservation that aims to use past biodiversity as a reference to conserve current biodiversity. We found that the species approach is justified by the discrepancy between the time scales of macroevolution and human influence and that biodiversity benchmarks are based on reference processes rather than fixed reference states. Overall, we argue that the ethical and theoretical frameworks underlying conservation research are based on macroevolutionary processes, such as extinction dynamics. Current species, phylogenetic, community, and functional conservation approaches constitute short-term responses to short-term human effects on these reference processes, and these approaches are consistent with evolutionary principles.
Conservation de la nature : quel rôle pour les sciences sociales ? Reconciliation ecology, from biological to social challenges L'écologie de la réconciliation, du défi biologique au défi social
Objective: Venomous invasive ants are rapidly dispersing throughout oceanic islands. Medics unfamiliar with envenomation or venom-induced anaphylaxis may be unprepared for the range of possible reactions and corresponding treatments. We detail the suboptimal treatment of a patient suffering anaphylaxis from an ant sting on a remote island and describe what treatment should have been provided. Methods: The patient experienced stings on his feet from an ant later identified as tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata. Clinical examination revealed throat swelling without obstruction of the airway or pharynx. Results: The patient was provided the following suboptimal treatment: intravenously-administered antihistamine and saline perfusion. Injected epinephrine should be the standard first line of treatment for anaphylaxis, even when not all symptoms are present. Conclusion: A rise in invasive hymenopteran stings on oceanic islands is inevitable, and proactively improving public awareness and medical training could save lives.
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