Total human ecosystem(THE) is aneco-centricconcept initially proposed byecologyprofessors Zeev Naveh and Arthur S. Lieberman in 1994.[1]
History of the concept
editNaveh and Lieberman (1994)[1]proposed theholistic,eco-centric concept of the Total Human Ecosystem in order to study theanthropoceneecology and improve land use planning and environmental management, within an integrated and interdisciplinary approach. In Naveh's own words, the Total Human Ecosystem is "the highestco-evolutionaryecological entity on earth with landscapes as its concrete three-dimensional ‘Gestalt’ systems, forming the spatial and functional matrix for all organisms ".[2]This concept (or meta-concept) integrates human systems (the technosphere, but also in the conceptual space of humannoosphere) and natural systems (thegeophysicaleco-space of theEarthbiosphere).[2]
Zev Naveh (1919-2011), the major contributor to this concept, was Professor in landscape ecology at the Technion,Israel Institute of Technology,Haifa.Until 1965 he worked as a range and pasture specialist in Israel and Tanzania. His research at the Technion was devoted to human impacts on Mediterranean landscapes,fire ecologyand dynamic conservation management, and the introduction ofdrought resistantplants for multi-beneficial landscape restoration and beautification.[3]
Almo Farina, who also developed the concept from 2000 onwards, is also a professor of ecology at theUrbino University,Faculty of Environmental Sciences, inItaly.
Concepts and epistemology
editThe interaction and co-evolution of the human and naturalecosysteminteractions are the driving forces for the currentEarth system.The Total Human Ecosystem meta-conceptional approach aims to integrate the bio-and geo-centric approaches, derived from thenatural sciences,and the approaches derived from thesocial sciencesand thehumanitiesin order to prevent furtherenvironmental degradationand drive natural and human systems towards a sustainable future.
A natural ecosystem within this concept issolar energy powered,self-organizingandself-creating.The human ecosystem isfossil energypowered by high input and throughput, and can be divided into two sub-ecosystems: urban-industrial and agro-industrial. The ecosystem is realised in space as anecotopeand the system of ecotopes is thelandscape:natural, semi-natural, urban-industrial are the tangible, three-dimensional physical systems. These form the Total Human Ecosystem. The THE also consists of the domain of information, perceptions (in landscape ecology this is the ecofield concept),[4][5]knowledge, feeling and consciousness, enabling human (but also biological) self-awareness.
A special case of landscapes inside of the Total Human Ecosystem are the cultural landscapes[4]in which the relationships between human activity (as an effective, ecology-based, land or sea stewardship) have created ecological, socioeconomic and culturalpatternsandfeedbackmechanisms that preserve biological and cultural diversity and maintain or even improve the ecosystem'sresilienceandresistance.
See also
editReferences
edit- Farina, A., 2006. Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology: Towards a Science of the Landscape, Springer, Dordrecht, 412 p.
- ^Naveh, Z. Transdisciplinary challenges in landscape ecology and restoration ecology - An Anthology. (Springer 2007)
- ^abFarina, A. (2000)."The Cultural Landscape as a Model for the Integration of Ecology and Economics".BioScience.50(4): 313–320.doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0313:tclaam]2.3.co;2.
- ^Farina, A., and A. Belgrano, 2004. The eco-field: a new paradigm for landscape ecology. Ecol. Res. 19, 107–110.