Mathematical Advances Towards Sustainable Environmental Systems

355 Pages·2017·7.34 MB·English

by  James N. Furze

James N. Furze
Kelly Swing
Anil K. Gupta
Richard H. McClatchey
Darren M. Reynolds
Editors
Mathematical
Advances Towards
Sustainable
Environmental
Systems
Mathematical Advances Towards Sustainable
Environmental Systems
James N. Furze (cid:129) Kelly Swing (cid:129) Anil K. Gupta
Richard H. McClatchey (cid:129) Darren M. Reynolds
Editors
Mathematical Advances
Towards Sustainable
Environmental Systems
Editors
JamesN.Furze KellySwing
FacultyofEnvironmentandTechnology FoundingDirector,Tiputini
UniversityoftheWestofEngland BiodiversityStation
Bristol,UK CollegeofBiologicalandEnvironmental
Sciences
AnilK.Gupta UniversityofSanFranciscodeQuito
IndianInstituteofManagement Quito,Ecuador
Coordinator,SocietyforResearchand
InitiativesforSustainableTechnologies RichardH.McClatchey
andInstitutions CentreforComplexCooperativeSystems
Ahmedabad,Gujarat UniversityoftheWestofEngland
India Bristol,UK
DarrenM.Reynolds
CentreforResearchinBiosciences
UniversityoftheWestofEngland
Bristol,UK
ISBN978-3-319-43900-6 ISBN978-3-319-43901-3 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-43901-3
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016955374
©SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2017
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This volume is dedicated...
To all who have contributed in the past, to
thosewhoseeandareyettoseethebeautywe
rely on and can collectively renew—
environmental systems hold bounty and
sustenance for us all
(James N. Furze)
Toallwhodependuponbiodiversity,whether
they know it or not—with hopes of acting
before it’s too late
(Kelly Swing)
To all those creative, compassionate, and
collaborative communities whose coping
strategies with climatic risk require models
that deal with their vulnerability, and yet
don’tunderestimatetheirresourcefulnessina
given socio-ecological and institutional
context
(Anil K. Gupta)
To a future that binds us all
(Darren M. Reynolds)
To all who are concerned by, and driven to
help guarantee, the sustainability of our
wonderful worldwide ecosystem
(Richard H. McClatchey)
Foreword: The Vocabulary of Nature
Natureexpressesherselfthroughabroadarrayofoptions.Herimmensevocabulary
includesthemajestyofruggedsnow-cappedmountainranges,theterrifyingpower
oftornados,theprofoundserenityofagoldensunsetalongtheocean’sshore,orthe
countless species, animal and vegetable, great and small, assigned to every bit of
land and sea imaginable. It is precisely this vocabulary that we wish to catalog,
categorize,understand,exploit,andmanageonalong-termbasis.Hertremendous
richnessispreciselywhatpresentsthechallenge,theopportunity,andthedutywe
haveasthethinkingagentsofEarth.
Asawriterhitcheswordstogether,oneafteranother,tomasterfullyconstructa
story,sonatureweavesspecies,alongwiththeirterrestrialandaquaticarenasintoa
tapestry of infinite functionality. When an author searches for just the right word,
thereexistsonlyonerealoptionduetoitsparticularmeaning,itssound,itshistory,
and its connotations. Nature has likewise produced combinations of species
meshing poetically together to compose the wondrous and seamless ecosystems
thatmakeourplanetliveandbreathe.
And now, humankind is beset upon the task of eradicating the vocabulary of
Nature herself by extinguishing species upon species and even entire panoramas
from arctic extremes to the expanses of the sea, from the cloud forests of the
cordilleras and the wettest of lowland rainforests to the driest of deserts, selfish,
oblivious, and merciless in our advance. All for some “greater good,” we push
aheadneverunderstandingthatNature’spoetrycanneverbesurpassed,andcannot
besustainedwithoutallherwords,alltherightwords,alltheintegralelementsof
thefabricoflife.Withoutallthefibersintheirproperplaces,thetapestrybecomes
threadbare and begins to fall into tatters, becoming irreparable even for the most
capableweaver,thelastremnantsservingessentiallynofunctionwhatsoever.
Imagine the cruel punishment for the sculptor, the removal of an implement
from his studio every day until left with no capacity to go on uncovering the
spectacle within the material before him. Imagine eliminating pigmented oils
from the painter’s palette along with brushes and trowels to apply them. What
could the carpenter accomplish if each day we took another tool from his
vii
viii Foreword:TheVocabularyofNature
workbench—hammerandsaw,drill,chisel,andplane?Andastothenovelist,the
removal of a word from her treasure chest of emotive terms each day might
eventually still her pen altogether. Such losses would not only affect the creators,
but all those who might have appreciated their wonderful ideas as they are left
intangible. Fortunately, true creativity, nevertheless, will ultimately triumph over
such an onslaught. In spite of all the challenges, the driven artist or artisan will
deviseawaytoovercomeadversity;historyconfirmsthatevolutioncanalsobegin
anewafteracataclysm,albeitwithverydifferentresults.
Every culture has invented distinct words to represent each kind of place and
resource,everysortofplantandanimal. Whenwedon’thaveawordofourown,
usually because the phenomenon or species doesn’t exist in places where people
speakourlanguage,weborrowthenamesfromothertongues,becausethestandard
humanperspectiveisthateverysinglethingsimplymusthaveauniquename.Part
ofbasichumannatureistheutilitariandesiretobothquantifyandqualifythethings
aroundus.Acrosstheglobe,ineveryethnicity,wewantaword,orcombinationof
words, to match each and every thing we see, including every species. As an
illustration, a basic repertoire of common names makes up an important portion
ofthefirstwordslearnedbyallchildreneverywhere.Andtoavoidbeingconfused
by multiple common names of various origins, science has stepped in to apply a
standard, universal name to every recognizable sort of organism, in the form of a
genuscombinedwithaqualifyingspecificepithet.
Asspeciesaredriventoextinction,theirwordcounterpartswillbeleftorphans
without any sense to their existence, or with only a perverse meaning parallel to
current usage of “dodo,” a species deemed too stupid to be allowed to share the
planetwithusanylongerbyafewmyopicindividualsblindedbyhunger.Wemust
riseaboveouroverwhelmingcapacitytojustifyalmostanylossortrade-offgiven
momentarydesperationsituations.Ifwearetosurvive,thereisnochoicebuttoput
ourbrainstoearnestlyresolvingunsustainablescenarios.
HowmanyorganismsliveinplaceswhereEnglishisn’tspoken?Allthosehave
namesinotherlanguagesthatweborrowtobeabletotalkorwriteaboutthem.The
enrichment of languages through incorporation from other languages is immense
and enlightening. Just think of the marvelous examples like gorilla, narwhal and
boomslang, chimpanzee, aye-aye and orang, panda, puma and piranha, take
matamata, koala and kangaroo, condor, anaconda and caribou, wombat,
wobbegong andwahoo.And there aresomanymorethatleaveuswith nochoice
but to make use of their scientific names as common names. Boa constrictor and
Tyrannosaurusrexaretwoofthefewutteredeverydayintheircompleteforms.But
it’smuchmoretypical touse the genus namealone;hardlyanyone notices where
theycamefrom.Howaboutallthoseornamentalplantsandflowers?Geraniumand
chrysanthemum, ficus and philodendron, dieffenbachia and rhododendron just to
nameafew.Andamongtheanimals,wemustconsiderrhinocerosandoctopus,and
alsohippopotamus; contemplatealligatorandpython,iguanaaswellasmastodon
neveroverlookingarchaeopteryxandstegosaurus,triceratops,andbrontosaurus!
The richness of language depends upon the richness of our surroundings—
always has, always will. How many words exist in the English language?
Foreword:TheVocabularyofNature ix
Whatproportionofthemdoweuseonaregularbasis?Orever?Dowehavetouse
them frequently for them to have value? How many do we utilize in a lifetime?
Does their disuse imply they’re useless? If we don’t use them, does that mean
they’redispensable?Iftheyhavelimitedusage,say,byonepeculiarerudite,does
that indicate some potential for isolation or even discrimination or exclusion? In
such a case, would we expect social pressure to avoid them? If such words
disappear,wouldanyonenoticeorcare?
How many languages exist? And how many species exist? How many species
are useful? How many species are directly useful on a daily basis? What do we
mean by “useful”? Who decides? Words come and go as far as popular usage is
concerned,buttheydon’tsimplydisappear.Theycontinue toexistindictionaries
and in past publications and recordings no matter their most recent occurrences.
And they can instantly be retrieved at any moment. But that cannot happen for
species if every individual has been pushed off its proper habitat or immersed in
sealed jars of embalming fluid on the dusty shelves of a museum. Words don’t
multiplywhenweignorethem,butpopulationsoforganisms,iftheyhavesufficient
numbers, can recover from neglect, abuse, or overuse and increase on their own,
giventhechance.
Can we only understand our planet and its biota, and consequently manage its
resources, by cataloging all its actors and amassing information about their func-
tioning?Howmuchinformationisnecessaryforustobeabletoeffectivelyapply
modellingstrategiessothatarationalbalancebetweenourwantsandneedsandthe
requirementsforaplanetinequilibriummaybestruck?
“Noteverythingthatcanbecountedcounts,andnoteverythingthatcountscan
becounted.”OftenattributedtoAlbertEinsteinbutactuallythewordsofWilliam
BruceCameron.
Themorespeciesandhabitatswelose,themoreIamleftwithoutwords.
TiputiniBiodiversityStation,Yasun´ı, KellySwing
UNESCOBiosphereReserve
Quito,Ecuador
6April2016
Preface: From the Coordinating Editor
Thisvolumefocusesondiversesystemsandsustainability.Includedarecomponent
subjectsofrelevancewithcoverageoffrontierresearchfromsubjectspecialistsin
13 different areas. Following a coauthored introduction to establish balance and
context, indication of the current state of research in each of the chapters will be
marked. The volume unites multiple subject areas within sustainability, enabling
thetechniquesappliedineachchaptertobeappliedtootherchapterareasinfuture
research,givingasynergisticfunctionforknowledgeadvancement,interdisciplin-
arycooperation,policyformation/governance,andsubsequentareas.
Thebookisnotofparticularpoliticalfocus;itisthescientificbasisonwhichwe
canprotectandenhanceenvironmentalsustainabilitywithin EarthSystems,faced
withchangesandpressuresimposedbyourexpansiveneeds.
Thetargetaudienceincludesthe“layman,”graduate,postgraduate,doctoral,and
postdoctoralresearchers.Benefitsarefornationalorganizationalstructures,policy
formation teams, and regional management bodies as well as the general public.
Thisisamaturelywrittenvolumeforthesameaudience.
(cid:129) Each chapter describes frontier research which may be applied in different
locationsandgroupsaswellasthosethattheauthorsquote.
(cid:129) Togetherthechaptersexplainhowwemayproceedandprogressinthesubject
disciplineswiththeuseofsystematicapproaches.
(cid:129) Each chapter provides a unique perspective of leading international authors,
giving advancement and enrichment of knowledge and understanding of sus-
tainability within diverse systems, while managing subject knowledge, devel-
opment,andapplicationforthebenefitofmultiple,expansivepopulations.
Thisbookis anedited volume; themain purposeofthecoordinatingandother
editors’workhasbeentolocateandbringtogetherthesubjectspecialists,manyof
whomareeditorsandjournalfoundersintheirowndisciplines.
xi
xii Preface:FromtheCoordinatingEditor
Uniquesellingpointsofthevolumeareasfollows:
(cid:129) Thevolumegivespertinentmentionofkeyareaswhichshouldbeemployedfor
generationofsubjectsynergies,previouslyunpublished.
(cid:129) Therangeofsubjectsconsideredhasnotbeenincludedinonecompletevolume
before.
(cid:129) Cooperationbetweenhigh-standingauthorsacrosstherangeofsubjectscovered
has value for policy makers and the general public, enhancing our progress
withindevelopmentalpressures.
The book has a strong multidisciplinary nature at its core. This holds a wide
range of interest to both generalist readers and to future subject specialists in
information, mathematics, biology, physics, and chemistry as well as readers of
the arts, history and political sciences. Upon reading the chapters together, the
expressionsofhopeofferedbyeachshouldallowgreatexpansioninbothseparate
chapters and the whole subject of sustainability/complex thinking. As knowledge
expandsinmoredescriptivechaptersandcontractsinmorescientificchapters,great
synergy may result; in mathematical thinking, the residual error between the
approachesofeachchapteroffersa“functionalresonance”whichenablessynergy
beyondthevolume.Thisstatementbecomesphilosophicalintermsofthinkingand
concrete knowledge advancement which we all keep in mind through modelling
and societies; to create the abstract, one must have encountered the concrete and
becomeabletoignorepartsofitonpurpose,andreachingratherthanlessoningthe
very presentation of the concrete. What and if we should ignore of course is
determined by our own individual, collective visions and perspectives of
sustainability.
In addition to the 27 leading authors across 10 countries (including the United
Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, India, China, Canada, and Ecuador),
the editorial team was built of 5 leading members firmly uniting Eastern and
Western ideologies in the name of knowledge advancement and sustainability for
bothnaturalandsocioeconomicsystems.Weextendourgratitudetothepublishers
and authors who allowed the use of some figures/material in the volume, many
reviewers(inadditionalcountriesincludingsomeinuniversitiesinJapan,Switzer-
land, Spain, Germany, Morocco, and Greece), and organizational units (including
membersoftheFoodandAgriculturalOrganization;UnitedNationsDevelopment
ProgramandUnitedNationsEnvironmentProgram)whogavesupportandassisted
in the preparation of the volume. Finally, I appreciate all the authors and editors
whosacrificedtheirtimeandefforttowritethebook.
Thecoordinationofasustainabilityeffortrepresentsalifelongjourneyforallof
us. It is hoped that this volume will represent a marker in the journey of the
advancementofmathematicsandindividualresearchareaswhichwillbefollowed