Abstract
If we are going to protect ecosystems against adverse effects emanating from human activities, we need to be able to distinguish between what is “normal” and “abnormal” for them. By analogy with humans, this is increasingly referred to as ecosystem health. The analogy can be intended in a variety of ways: for example, that there is a direct similarity between the health states of humans and ecosystems (strong sense of the analogy); that there are sufficient similarities to justify drawing a parallel (weaker sense of the analogy); that there is a similarity in the way that medical practitioners and ecologists approach diagnosis and treatment. In terms of the general promulgation of environmental protection, the use of imagery drawing an analogy with the human condition is likely to have more impact than more abstract concepts.
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Calow, P. (1995). Ecosystem Health — A Critical Analysis of Concepts. In: Rapport, D.J., Gaudet, C.L., Calow, P. (eds) Evaluating and Monitoring the Health of Large-Scale Ecosystems. NATO ASI Series, vol 28. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79464-3_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79464-3_2
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