Conclusion: New Directions Through Extending Deliberative Democracy to Enhance Representation and Accountability

Two way, systemic dialogue enables new ideas to emerge. Rorty (1989) in ‘Contingency, irony and solidarity’ argues that we need to ask questions that acknowledge solidarity with other human beings who suffer. He asks us to consider the consequences for humanity by widening our sense of solidarity or links with others. Considering their pain should be our starting point for drawing ever widening circles of solidarity. The issue is not idealism versus pragmatism as Rorty argues; it is about widening our understanding of the consequences of our thinking and our practice. We need to understand that the environment of which we are part has been shaped by our social, cultural, political and economic decisions and that it will in turn shape our thinking and practice. This is the principle of co-determination that has been developed by systems thinkers such as Maturana and Varela and understood by recent thinkers such as Tim Flannery (2007) and Ulrich Beck (1992, 1997).

Avian use of desert wildlife water developments as determined by remote videography

In the desert Southwest, migrating birds have been documented using upland habitat and xeroriparian washes as well as riparian areas. Yet aside from the river corridors, natural water sources (e.g., natural rock tanks [tinajas], springs, and ephemeral washes) in upland areas are scarce. Because of this scarcity, state and federal resource managers augmented water sources throughout the Southwest by constructing permanent wildlife water developments with the intention of enhancing game populations. However, despite these increases in free-standing water, there is a paucity of information on the use of water by birds during migration. Our objectives were to document use of these wildlife water developments by resident and migratory songbirds and assess the effectiveness of monitoring these species using remote color videography. We placed color video cameras at 2 wildlife water developments in southwestern Arizona during the spring and fall of 2004. Although we observed more use by migrants during spring than fall, overall use by migratory birds was low. However, the wildlife water developments were frequently used by resident birds. Remote videography provided continuous information on daily and seasonal patterns of bird use at wildlife water catchments with negligible disturbance by observers, yet for passerines, we felt that the benefits of remote videography did not justify the high cost of equipment purchase, installation, maintenance, and data processing.     

Population density, biomass, and age-class structure of an invasive clam Corbicula fluminea in rivers of the lower San Joaquin River watershed

Corbicula fluminea is well known as an invasive filter-feeding freshwater bivalve with a variety of effects on ecosystem processes. However, C. fluminea has been relatively unstudied in the rivers of the western United States. In June 2003, we sampled C. fluminea at 16 sites in the San Joaquin River watershed of California, which was invaded by C. fluminea in the 1940s. Corbicula fluminea was common in 2 tributaries to the San Joaquin River, reaching densities of 200 clams ? m –2 , but was rare in the San Joaquin River. Biomass followed a similar pattern. Clams of the same age were shorter in the San Joaquin River than in the tributaries. Distribution of clams was different in the 2 tributaries, but the causes of the difference are unknown. The low density and biomass of clams in the San Joaquin River was likely due to stressful habitat or to water quality, because food was abundant. The success of C. fluminea invasions and subsequent effects on trophic processes likely depends on multiple factors. As C. fluminea continues to expand its range around the world, questions regarding invasion success and effects on ecosystems will become important in a wide array of environmental settings.     

‘The Deepest and Most Rewarding Hole Ever Drilled’: Ice Cores and the Cold War in Greenland

The recovery of the Camp Century deep ice core in 1966 – the first ice core to reach all the way through a polar ice sheet to bedrock – marked a shift from an era of United States military dominated glaciological research in Greenland to an era of climate oriented research on the island. This paper aims to provide an understanding of this shift. I show that the Camp Century ice core was at the heart of a complex blend of environmental, military and scientific interests. By deconstructing these interests, I ultimately show that the island of Greenland underwent two reimaginings during the early Cold War. First, the island was reimagined as part of the US Cold War military sphere: driven by the need to secure the North American continent, the US established a hegemonic military colonization of Greenland. In the second reimagining of the island, environmental geography led the way: the scientific results of the Camp Century ice core and political concern about climatic change converged in the early 1970s to build Greenland into a unique location for pursuing research on climate questions. This paper adds to the literature by contextualizing the Camp Century ice core at the interface between the history of science, environmental history and Cold War history, and thereby illuminating Greenland as a dual geopolitical entity and environmental space. By highlighting the interaction of climatic change, geophysical sciences and national security narratives, it responds to recent historiographic calls to unite a set of narratives which, too often, talk past one another.