The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET)[1]has defined "engineering" as: (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering)
[T]he creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.[2][3][4] Etymology: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=engineer engineer (n.) early 14c., "constructor of military engines," from O.Fr. engigneor, from L.L. ingeniare (see engine); general sense of "inventor, designer" is recorded from early 15c.; civil sense, in ref. to public works, is recorded from c.1600. Meaning "locomotive driver" is first attested 1832, Amer.Eng. The verb is attested from 1843 (but cf. engineering); figurative sense of "arrange, contrive" is attested from 1864, originally in a political context. Related: Engineered. Engineering as a field of study is attested from 1792; an earlier word was engineership (1640s). Engineer was attempted in 1793, but it did not stick. Ecolog: I toyed with this term many years ago but abandoned it. I did not believe that the term "engineering" attached any meaning or "respectability" to ecology, and an understanding of the latter is not enhanced by the former. Now I confess that I have used big machines and have endorsed the use of explosives to create heterogeneous substrates, but "engineering" tends to imply (and, as commonly practiced, accomplish) the opposite. And, I guess I would rejoice at my inability to find the two terms together. It appears that ecologists are busy creating niches they can occupy, apparently by "exploding" ecology into discrete bits. Am I incorrect in bemoaning this trend? WT PS: Intuitively, I suppose I would tend to favor sinking battleships (with toxins removed) and depositing other mostly harmless detritus upon the most common and homogeneous ocean bottoms if they would be then colonized by drifters and grow into coral reefs . . . but since I don't know that field, I will leave it to my betters to refute said temerity. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Luis Gutierrez" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2011 6:45 AM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Re. Ecosystem engineers response to biogeography/habitat complexity --reference help? > Brittany, > > The key issue of engineering ecology (or ecosystem engineering) is > whether or not the human agent (engineering) is part of the ecosystem > (both humans and the human habitat). There are basically two schools of > thought: anthropocentrism (the ecosystem is at the service of humans) > and ecocentrism (the service of humans requires that humans take good > care of the ecosystem). The best I have seen on this is "Ecological > Ethics" by Patrick Curry, Polity, 2011. > > Luis > > Luis T. Gutierrez, PhD PE > The Pelican Web of Solidarity and Sustainability > http://www.pelicanweb.org > [email protected] > > -------------------------------------------------- > Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:38:16 -0400 > From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Brittany_Huntington?= <[email protected]> > Subject: Ecosystem engineers response to biogeography/habitat complexity > --reference help? > > Ecologgers: > > I am stumped with my literature searches to unearth papers on the > response of ecosystem engineers (richness and abundance) to metrics of > habitat heterogeneity. In particular, I am interested in defining > habitat heterogeneity with regards to spatial landscape metrics of > habitat composition and configuration, and structural complexity. > > I realize that by their very definition, ecosystem engineers create and > maintain the complex habitats that other species depend upon. However, > I am interested in references that investigate how important habitat > heterogeneity is to the foundation species themselves? > > I work in coral communities myself but am interested in analogous > multi-species assemblages from the terrestrial world of habitat > engineers/foundation species (i.e. forest tree communities; grassland > communities). > > Any leads to work assessing the influence of configuration or > composition of habitat patches on foundation species/engineers would be > appreciated! > > Thank you, > Brittany > > Brittany Huntington > Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries > Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science > University of Miami > 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway > Miami, FL 33149 > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1410 / Virus Database: 1520/3910 - Release Date: 09/21/11 >
