The next generation of action ecology : novel approaches towards global ecological research

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dc.contributor.author White, Rachel L.
dc.contributor.author Sutton, Alexandra E.
dc.contributor.author Salguero-Gomez, Roberto
dc.contributor.author Bray, Timothy C
dc.contributor.author Campbell, Heather
dc.contributor.author Cieraad, Ellen
dc.contributor.author Geekiyanage, Nalaka
dc.contributor.author Gherardi, Laureano
dc.contributor.author Hughes, Alice C.
dc.contributor.author Jorgensen, Peter Sogaard
dc.contributor.author Poisot, Timothee
dc.contributor.author DeSoto, Lucia
dc.contributor.author Zimmerman, Naupaka
dc.date.accessioned 2016-03-15T11:46:53Z
dc.date.available 2016-03-15T11:46:53Z
dc.date.issued 2015-08-07
dc.description This paper was commissioned by the members of the Ecosphere Editorial Board to commemorate the ESA Centennial celebration. en_ZA
dc.description.abstract Advances in the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge over the last decade have dramatically reshaped the way that ecological research is conducted. The advent of large, technologybased resources such as iNaturalist, Genbank, or the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) allow ecologists to work at spatio-temporal scales previously unimaginable. This has generated a new approach in ecological research: one that relies on large datasets and rapid synthesis for theory testing and development, and findings that provide specific recommendations to policymakers and managers. This new approach has been termed action ecology, and here we aim to expand on earlier definitions to delineate its characteristics so as to distinguish it from related subfields in applied ecology and ecological management. Our new, more nuanced definition describes action ecology as ecological research that is (1) explicitly motivated by the need for immediate insights into current, pressing problems, (2) collaborative and transdisciplinary, incorporating sociological in addition to ecological considerations throughout all steps of the research, (3) technology-mediated, innovative, and aggregative (i.e., reliant on ‘big data’), and (4) designed and disseminated with the intention to inform policy and management. We provide tangible examples of existing work in the domain of action ecology, and offer suggestions for its implementation and future growth, with explicit recommendations for individuals, research institutions, and ecological societies. en_ZA
dc.description.librarian am2015 en_ZA
dc.description.uri http://www.esajournals.org/loi/ecsp en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation White, R. L., A. E. Sutton, R. Salguero-Gomez, T. C. Bray, H. Campbell, E. Cieraad, N. Geekiyanage, L. Gherardi, A. C. Hughes, P. Søgaard Jørgensen, T. Poisot, Lucıa DeSoto, and N. Zimmerman. 2015. The next generation of action ecology: novel approaches towards global ecological research. Ecosphere 6(8):134. http://dx.DOI.org/ 10.1890/ES14-00485.1. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 2150-8925
dc.identifier.other 10.1890/ES14-00485.1
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/51884
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher Ecological Society of America en_ZA
dc.rights © 2015 White et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. en_ZA
dc.subject Action ecology en_ZA
dc.subject Applied ecology en_ZA
dc.subject Big data en_ZA
dc.subject Citizen science en_ZA
dc.subject Environmental leadership en_ZA
dc.subject Environmental management en_ZA
dc.subject ESA Centennial Paper en_ZA
dc.subject Planetary stewardship en_ZA
dc.subject Training en_ZA
dc.subject Transdisciplinary en_ZA
dc.subject Translational ecology en_ZA
dc.title The next generation of action ecology : novel approaches towards global ecological research en_ZA
dc.type Article en_ZA


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