ESA Position Statement

Ecosystems are already responding to climate change. Continued warming—some of which is now unavoidable—may impair the ability of many such systems to provide critical resources and services like food, clean water, and carbon sequestration. Buffering against the impacts of climate change will require new strategies to both mitigate the extent of change and adapt to changes that are inevitable. The…

Healthy ecosystems are the foundation for sound economies, sustaining and enhancing human life with services ranging from food and fuel to clean air and water. As such, ecology has an important role to play in society’s efforts to improve the quality of life throughout the world. Although ecological scientists have neither the remit nor the capacity to judge the right…

Much attention is currently focused on the use of biofuels as an alternative energy source, both to decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil supplies, and as a means of addressing one facet of global climate change.  Supplying the emerging biofuels industry with enough biomass to meet the U.S. biofuel energy target – replacing 30 percent of the current U.S. petroleum…

The Ecological Society of America ( ESA ), the nation’s premier organization of 10,000 ecological scientists, is promoting “No Child Left Indoors” week as part of Earth Week, 2007, to encourage adults to connect a child with nature.   The locally begun “No Child Left Indoors” concept has grown into a national movement that encourages students, families, and adults to experience…

Peer review is an integral component of scientific research and publishing. It allows the scientific community to maintain quality control of research through the review of research proposals, journal manuscripts and other reports. Academic peer review, although far from perfect, is the best tool scientists have to ensure high standards for their professional work. This idea has been translated into…

Forest Fire Management Considerable public and media attention has focused on the causes and consequences of recent forest fires on public lands in the western United States. These fires caused significant harm and upheaval in some communities and, in some of these areas, increased fire intensity was linked to unnatural fuel accumulations. Because past land use management and policies have…

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Summary The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is an area rich in plants, animals, and commercial oil potential. The vast diversity of wildlife within ANWR includes more than 160 bird species, 36 kinds of land mammals, 9 marine mammal species, and 36 types of fish. ANWR is one of the least disturbed ecosystems on Earth,…

Evolution The Ecological Society of America notes with serious concern the Kansas State Board of Education ruling and similar efforts in other states regarding the teaching of evolution and the teaching of religion in science classes. Efforts to weaken the quality of science education should be resisted. Science education is more important than ever before as we prepare students for…

Endorsement of AAAS Evolution Statement The Ecological Society of America endorses the AAAS Statement on the Kansas State Board of Education Decision on the Education of Students in the Science of Evolution and Cosmology. The American Association for the Advancement of Science deplores the recent decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to remove references to evolution and cosmology…

The Ecological Society of America endorses the following statement: What Is Science? Science extends and enriches our lives, expands our imagination and liberates us from the bonds of ignorance and superstition. The Ecological Society of America wishes to affirm the precepts of modern science that are responsible for its success.  Science is the systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about the universe…