Description: In this article, the authors discuss the idea that non-philosophers should judge philosophers. As universities face growing demands for academic accountability, philosophers ought to take the lead in exploring what accountability means. Otherwise we may be stuck with Dickens's Mr. Gradgrind. ("Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts along are wanted in life.") But a philosophical account of accountability will also require redefining the boundaries of what counts as philosophy.

Description: This article discusses biocultural ethics. Abstract: Biocultural homogenization involves three major drivers: (a) the physical barrier to everyday contact with biodiversity derived from the rapid growth of urban population, (b) the conceptual barrier derived from the omission in formal and non-formal education of native languages that contain a broad spectrum of traditional ecological knowledge and values, and (c) political barriers associated with the elimination or reduction of the teaching of ethics under the prevailing neoliberal economy governance since the 1960s. Biocultural ethics aims at overcoming these barriers by recovering the vital links between biological and cultural diversity, between the habits and the habitats of the inhabitants. These links are acknowledged by early Western philosophy. Amerindian traditional ecological knowledge, and contemporary ecological and evolutionary sciences, but have been lost in prevailing modern ethics. There is an overlooked diversity of forms of knowing and inhabiting regional ecosystems, each of them having diverse environmental and social consequences. A better understanding of the regionally diverse mosaics of ecosystems, languages, and cultures facilitates the distinction of specific causes and responsible agents of environmental problems, and the disclosure of sustainable practices, forms of ecological knowledge and values that offer already existing options to solve socio-ecological problems.

Description: This article discusses building a Chilean network for long-term socio-ecological research. Abstract: Since their formal inception in 1980, long-term ecological research (LTER) programs have served as a successful organizing framework to create research agendas and funding mechanisms that allow scientists to address meaningful ecological phenomena at the scales they occur. In its 30 years of existence, LTER has expanded its geographic range (currently the International LTER network has more than 40 country members with sites on every continent) and disciplinary foci (principally encompassing the natural and social sciences and leading some to call for a name change to long-term socio-ecological research efforts exist in both Chile and Argentina, and in 2008, the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity launched Chile's first concerted effort to link three existing sites (Fray Jorge Forest National Park -33° S, Senda Darwin Biological Station - 43° S, and Omora Ethnobotanical Park - 55° S). Here, the authors present a special feature of the Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, dedicated to LTSER, with the aim of 1) providing a synthesis of some of the most emblematic cases of long-term socio-ecological research in Chile; 2) demonstrating the value of these efforts for the integration of research, education and ...

Description: This report discusses the Comparative Assessment of Peer Review (CAPR) project outcomes. Public funding agencies are required to demonstrate accountability to their government funders (e.g., Congress) as well as to the public. Some agencies - including the US National Science Foundation (NSF) - have used broader societal impacts criteria as part of the review process of grant proposals in order to connect scientific research to societal needs. But these agencies have often encountered questions from scientists and engineers for how to integrate such demands for broader societal impacts into their research proposals. In an effort to help clarify the idea of broader impacts, in 2010 NSF and Congress proposed a list of national needs that NSF-funded research would be required to meet. But was this the best solution? This report discusses the authors' research.

Description: This article discusses diversity and singularity of the avifauna in the austral peat bogs of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, Chile. Abstract: Sphagnum-dominated peat bogs that are strongly embedded within the southern temperate forest matrix are increasingly being used for agriculture. Nevertheless, little is known about their biodiversity. Moreover, the remote areas of southern Chile where peat bogs are found, such as Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR, 54-55°S), where birds are the most diverse and best represented group of vertebrates, have not been well-investigated. With the aim to broaden this knowledge in the CHBR, the authors studied the diversity of the avian assemblage in peat blogs on Navarino Island. The authors compared the composition of avian species between wetlands with and without peat bogs to test if Sphagnum bogs represented a singular habitat for birds in this area. Furthermore, the 37 bird species recorded in these habitats were classified according to guild structure. The community similarity values showed that peat bogs hosted a bird composition that was different from that present in wetlands without Sphagnum, suggesting that peat bogs are a singular type of habitat for birds in the CHBR. The most frequently feeding groups recorded in these wetlands were ...