Shifting Baselines

Shifting baselines is a concept involving our perception of things over time.  As time progresses, what we see as “normal” will continue to change.  If years go by without a thorough understanding of “baseline” conditions we may over look these drastic changes.  Some fish species have been driven to extinction due to lack of recording keeping.  Other evidence of the shifting baseline phenomenon is provided in McClenachan’s article Documenting Loss of Large Trophy Fish from the Florida Keys with Historical Photographs (McClenachan, 2008).  The results presented by McClenachan provide a tangible example of shifting baselines through current and historical photographs of trophy fish caught near the Florida Keys.  It was seen that over time the size of specific species of fish (and sharks) were declining.

Another group of species subjected to shifting baselines was studied by Baum and Myers.  Looking at the loss of habitat specific sharks in the Gulf of Mexico between the 1950s and 1990s,  it was found that the quantity and size of particular shark species have been gradually declining (Baum and Myers, 2004).  As with many declining species, harvesting seemed to have a role in the decline of these sharks, despite the fact that they were not the intended target fish, as acknowledged by the authors.  The results show that many of these shark species are no longer reaching the full physical size nor surviving as long.

Lastly, harvesting practices are not sustainable for populations of this size.  Management plans designed to sustain fish communities (such as the Maximum Sustainable Yield method) require meticulous attention from ecological scientists.  Without this supervision, models designed to forecas fish communities will not fully represent the impact of harvesting activities (Pauly, 1995).

In conclusion, there are many factors that influence shifting baselines.  Human influence from activities such as harvesting are further complicating this perceptive phenomenon (Pauly,1995).  The influence of human activity has even gotten to the point where some have claimed that even through reduced human impact, ecosystems may never recover (Durante et al. 2009).

Cited Literature:

Baum J. K., R. A. Myers. 2004. Shifting Baselines and the Decline of Pelagic Sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. Ecology Letters. 7 : 135 – 145

Durante C. M., D. J. Conley, J. Carstensen, M. Sanchez-Camacho. 2009. Return to Neverland: Shifting Baselines Affect Eutrophication Restoration Targets. Estuaries and Coast. 32: 29 – 36

McClenachan L. 2008. Documenting Loss of Large Trophy Fish from the Florida Keys with Historical Photographs. Conservation Biology. DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00152.x

Paully D. 1995. Anecdotes and the Shifting Baesline Syndrome of Fisheries.Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 10(10): 430.

 

Science and the Scientist: A Basic Understanding

So I have thought about how I want to start this blog, in terms of what I want to convey and how best to represent the scientific community.  While my ultimate goal is to bring a better understanding of our environment through basic scientific principles; I want to take  a small step back and explain exactly what science is, what qualities scientists share, and why we study science.  Please keep in mind that I am trying to best describe what I have learned through experience and much study.  While I will provide many links to help support my ideas, there is always room for skepticism.  If it were not for doubt in what we have been told in ages past, humankind would have never come this far.

From high tech instrumentation and laboratory analysis to observations documented with pencil and paper, scientific research spans multiple levels and has many faces.  In addition to this, there are many misconceptions about what science is and what it means.  To many, science is just a collection of facts, but really science is a dynamic and ever-changing body of knowledge(1).  To keep this post concise here is a link from the University of California Berkeley explaining some of the major misconceptions of science (http://undsci.berkeley.edu/teaching/misconceptions.php#b1).

While having a degree through higher education in science is the modern standard to claiming oneself to be a scientist, I believe that it is not necessary.  Anyone can contribute to the realm of science (although having a degree helps, but the higher education system is a topic for a different day) because it is how a scientist thinks that sets them apart.  To form objective ideas about relationships we observe, understanding the forces that guide them, testing these relationships, and understanding the results without bias are some of the key concepts that govern the thoughts of scientists.  Also, scientists must never accept ideas as final (don’t get too critical, gravity does exist) but rather, continue to question what we know.

Lastly, I want to leave you with some questions: why do we study science?  Are we learning just for knowledge sake?  Is it for personal gain and recognition?  Is it to benefit society?  What about old-fashioned curiosity?   For myself, it is a mix of all these issues.  I am passionate about science, specifically environmental sciences.  I feel that as a society we are turning a blind eye to our environment, but what is the true cause of this blind eye?  Are we knowingly blind or is there a true lack of knowledge?  Who can we trust?  I do not know the answers to these questions and may never, but if I can help inspire readers like you to form objective ideas and find dependable data to support your solutions, the pleasure would be all mine.

References:

(1)  http://undsci.berkeley.edu/teaching/misconceptions.php#b1

 

Understanding Our Environment

Everyday news outlets report stories involving environmental issues.  While these headlines do inform us about what is happening, I find that many times a lack of knowledge on the subject prevents us from truly understanding what is happening and what it means to us as a society.  Part of this disconnect between issues and understanding is in part due to the perception that science is a complicated subject and not meant for everyone; this is not true.  My goal is to bring to light the current topics related to science (particularly environmental science) and provide the background information necessary for all of us to be able to have a true understanding of what is happening.  The reason I want to do this is simply to educate others.  True understanding, uninhibited by political influence can allow us as a society to draw practical conclusions and help us find solutions that are not influenced  by the so-called “special interest.”  I do realize that many solutions will need to be initialized through political action, but that is to come after a basic understanding of the situation.  This is not a political blog, but an educational blog on topics that are likely to have a strong political component.  As stewards of the environment we must understand the science behind the issues first and then come together as a unified body to find solutions, which will then require political action to manifest itself.  This is the first step in the ladder, education.

My name is Nate Jessee and I am a Michigan native and still a proud citizen of my home town, Ypsilanti.  I have been fortunate enough to attend the University of Michigan-Dearborn and earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Earth Science and a Master’s of Science in Environmental Science.  I am currently an assistant research scientist at the Michigan Tech Research Institute, MTRI  (a research institute of Michigan Technological University).  While I am in the early stages of my career as a scientists I have the privilege of working with some  leading scientists in the Great Lakes region, which I learn from the everyday.   During my studies at U of M-Dearborn and work at MTRI I have primarily focused on water quality issues including watershed analysis, chemical water quality, Great Lakes water quality, ground water dynamics, and water pollution sources.  Aside from research on water quality I also have a working knowledge of air quality, geological phenomena, solar phenomena, climate change, soil characteristics and importance, agriculture, and transportation.

Other interest of mine (outside of science) include ideas of thought, pragmatism, principal-agent concepts, music, and cooking.

Feel free to contact me through email at nate.jessee@gmail.com