Download 140818 PPR Redef of Anthroposphere R7.1

A Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
Authors: Garvin H Boyle
Date: 18 August 2014
A Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Why Redefine ‘Anthroposphere’? .................................................................................................. 1
The Problem of Externalities ...................................................................................................... 2
The problem of anthropocentrism ............................................................................................... 3
The Problem of Global Life Support Systems ............................................................................ 5
The Problem of Slippery Slopes ................................................................................................. 6
Meanings and Usages of Related Words ........................................................................................ 8
The Earth’s Spheres .................................................................................................................... 9
Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere ........................................................................... 12
Old Definition of Anthroposphere ............................................................................................ 14
Redefinition of Artifact ............................................................................................................. 15
Redefinition of Technosphere ................................................................................................... 15
Redefinition of Noösphere ........................................................................................................ 16
Definition Of Biospheric Environment ..................................................................................... 16
Redefinition of Biosphere ......................................................................................................... 17
New Definition of Phenosphere ................................................................................................ 17
Phenosphere, Example #1 ..................................................................................................... 19
Phenosphere, Example #2 ..................................................................................................... 20
Phenosphere, Example #3 ..................................................................................................... 22
Redefinition of Anthroposphere ............................................................................................... 23
Putting it all Into Context .......................................................................................................... 26
Table of Contents
ANNEX A – Online Descriptions of Selected Words .................................................................. 28
Atmosphere ............................................................................................................................... 28
Tropopause ................................................................................................................................ 29
Troposphere .............................................................................................................................. 30
Planetary Boundary Layer ........................................................................................................ 30
Biosphere .................................................................................................................................. 31
Anthroposphere ......................................................................................................................... 31
Noösphere ................................................................................................................................. 31
Hydrosphere .............................................................................................................................. 31
Pedosphere ................................................................................................................................ 32
Lithosphere ............................................................................................................................... 33
Anthropocene ............................................................................................................................ 34
Anthropogenic........................................................................................................................... 35
Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................... 35
Technodiversity......................................................................................................................... 35
Ecosystem ................................................................................................................................. 35
Novel Ecosystem ...................................................................................................................... 37
Biome ........................................................................................................................................ 39
Anthrome .................................................................................................................................. 41
Phenosphere .............................................................................................................................. 42
Artifact ...................................................................................................................................... 42
Environment .............................................................................................................................. 42
References - Online....................................................................................................................... 44
References – Other ........................................................................................................................ 44
Table of Contents
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
A Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
Introduction
This article is the first of a planned series of four articles intended to discuss the
flow of energy through an economy, as part of a larger study of sustainability. The
goal of this paper is to provide a contextual definition of the word ‘anthroposphere’
to be used in the follow-on articles.
The approach will be:
 To identify the need for a clear definition;
 To examine current definitions and usages of the word, and related words; and
 To provide a contextual definition of anthroposphere as an instance of a
phenosphere.
Why Redefine ‘Anthroposphere’?
In brief, the argument goes like this:
 An economic externality exists when the costs of an economic action are born
by someone other than the actors who receive the benefits. Such externalities
add to the widening gap between the wealth of the very poor and the very rich.
Ecological economic externalities are those for which not just members of
society, but the biosphere as a whole, pays the cost, while a small number of
economic actors receive the benefits, in the form of financial profits.
Ecological economic externalities lead to the rampant destruction of the life
support systems of the biosphere for the short-term benefit of humankind.
 The dominant modern economic theories are fundamentally and dangerously
anthropocentric. Most of nature is treated as a source of unlimited free
resources, for which the only purpose is extraction and consumption by
humankind. Those heterodox branches of economic theory that are interested
in deep long-term ecological and social sustainability denounce this
anthropocentric style of economic theory, but, at the same time easily slip back
down the slippery slope into some form of dangerous anthropocentrism.
 For the purposes of this series of papers, in which we plan to explore some
aspects of the energetics of a modern society from the perspective of
sustainable economics, it is proposed that a definition of the anthroposphere in a
larger non-anthropocentric context will provide the needed perspective.
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The Problem of Externalities
An economic externality, usually just called an externality, is a cost of production
that is not paid by the producer, and therefore not included in the market price of
the product.
Suppose a mining company pays employees a very low wage, and the working
conditions are unhealthy. The cost of the labor is included in the metal sold. But
suppose those employees then suffer bad health due to the working conditions and
need medical help, for which the employee, or an insurance company or society at
large must pay. Some of the costs of production are then paid by society. We
might say that such an externality involves damage to the health of its employees,
of which the cost of restoration is not included in the price of the product.
We can extend that concept to include damage to the environment about us. An
ecological economic externality is an economic externality which involves damage
to an ecosystem, of which the cost of restoration is not included in the price of the
product.
Neoclassical economic (NCE) theory has historically viewed all natural resources
as free and unlimited inputs. Under NCE theory, the cost of extraction of
resources usually includes expenses for license fees, labor and capital equipment,
but the resource itself is considered to be free. What’s more, the costs of
restoration of the environment and waste disposal were also free, or very low,
because is was assumed that the restorative forces of nature would take care of
that. The market value of the resources extracted usually greatly exceeded the total
cost of extraction. This is true both from a financial perspective, and from a
biophysical perspective. The financial argument is fairly obvious. You spend a
little money and you reap a lot of money. The biophysical argument is essentially
the same for energy and mass. You spend a little energy and you reap a lot of
energy. You spend a little mass (e.g. wear and tear on equipment) and you reap a
lot of mass.
The extraction of resources benefits producers and buyers and society as a whole,
fuelling a growth economy and enabling all of the benefits of the modern world.
Resources that are very useful and very plentiful have low prices. NCE theorists
would say this is right and good. But, this results in the creation of ecological
economic externalities in two ways.
First, consider the impact on a third type of stakeholder that may have been
receiving some stream of benefits prior to the extraction of this resource. During
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the extraction ecosystems are damaged. This damage reduces the stream of
benefits to the third party; benefits for which no payment was made, and which
may have not even been monetized. When such costs of extraction of resources
are externalized to a third party, the profit to the extractor can be increased, and the
benefit passed on to the buyer can be increased. The third party stakeholder pays
the price indirectly, for example, through increased costs of health care, through
loss of livelihood, or reduced quality of life. From a purely anthropocentric point
of view, this is an issue of intra-generational social justice. But if we step out of
that narrow point of view and see it from the perspective of other species, this is an
issue of inter-species justice.
But a second serious difficulty arises, for example, if the resource is or is caused to
become non-renewable. Suppose a natural resource endowment is plentiful, and
cheap, and society comes to depend on a constant flow of benefits and growth
ensues. When the endowment is depleted, then the stream of benefits ceases to
flow for all extractors and all buyers in not just this generation, but all future
generations. If those benefits have become critical to the ongoing sustainability of
society, then later generations are deprived of the social benefits due to the
carefree and selfish exploitation of the resource by the earlier generations. This
becomes not just an issue of inter-generational social justice, but a serious question
of long term sustainability. This is especially so if the depleted endowment
involves food (ingestible energy) such as a collapsed fishery, or a depleted fossil
fuel deposit (non-ingestible energy) such as oil, gas and coal deposits.
The problem of anthropocentrism
There are several branches of heterodox economic theory that appear to be making
a serious attempt to put economic theory on a more sound scientific basis. Among
these are:
 Ecological Economics (EE) – based on the work of Herman Daly; and
 Biophysical Economics (BE) – based on the work of H. T. Odum.
It seems that each of these groups of economic rebels formed in response to a
disagreement with particular tenets of the orthodox branch of economic theory
referred to as neo-classical economics (NCE).
In the case of EE, Herman Daly, an economist, emphasized, for example, that
stocks and flows of mass and energy are as important as stocks and flows of
money. In addition, he also argued that economic growth cannot continue forever.
His views have been captured in a text book co-authored with Josh Farley. (xxxx,
Daly & Farley).
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In the case of BE, the biologist H.T. Odum studied the stocks and flows of mass
and energy in a large number of ecosystems. He also postulated that the insights
gained there were directly applicable to human economic systems. This view was
further developed by his student C.A.S. Hall who undertook extensive studies of
the energetics of human societies. The views of H. T. Odum have been captured in
a collection of essays edited and published by C. A. S. Hall. (1995, Hall, Ed.)
While EE and BE have substantially different intellectual roots and somewhat
different histories of development, they share a common biophysical understanding
of the nature of human economic systems. They both agree that a real economy is
a biophysical system, constrained by the same laws that constrain physical,
chemical and biological systems, and shaped and formed by the same phenomena
that control the development of such systems.
In November of 2013 I had opportunity to attend the joint conference of EE and
BE economists, which was organized in recognition of their shared views. What
became apparent at that conference was a significant difference in practice that was
a source of great contention, and that contention arose from the ‘costing of
ecosystem services’ and the practice of internalizing things that were formerly
ecological economic externalities.
At that conference, while sitting at table with BE practitioners over coffee breaks, I
heard these opinions. They mentioned that, in the 1960s a group of heterodox
economists collectively referred to as environmental economists attacked the
problem of costing these ecological externalities. This practice eventually
morphed into the present-day techniques called ‘costing ecosystem services’ and
was carried into the ranks of the EE practitioners. These BE gurus believed that
many young well-intentioned economists – conservation-minded, but trained in the
anthropocentric mind set of NCE – were now unintentionally and slowly taking EE
back into the orthodox fold. The BE gurus saw this as a very bad thing, and the EE
gurus with whom they were talking did not disagree!
There is a serious dilemma here. I do not want to argue that costing ecosystem
services is a bad thing. It can only be right that all of the costs of production are
included in the price of the product. But I also see that every time an ecosystem
service is costed, and included in a product price, the defining edges of the
economy are extended to include yet another part of the formerly wild biosphere.
We are on a slippery slope to extinction.
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If we consider the anthroposphere to be that portion of the biosphere that is under
the control of humankind, then we see that the anthroposphere is in the process of
absorbing virtually all of the biosphere. How is it possible to define a nonanthropocentric economic theory when the anthroposphere appears to be about to
encompass the whole of which it has been, until now, only a part?
The Problem of Global Life Support Systems
Humanity evolved as one species among an estimated 1.5 million contemporary
species. We not only share the same DNA coding schema, the same proteins and
the same amino acids as all of the other species, we must also ingest those other
species as food. We evolved as a part of the Earth’s trophic web, in which are
omnivores and top predators, and we are 100% dependent on it to live. Our
continued existence depends on a wide range of species located throughout the
tropic web, from the bacteria in the soil that fix nitrogen, to the worms that aerate
the soil, to the great variety of plants and animals that we use for food, clothes and
housing, all the way back down to those organisms that consume our wastes.
But the biosphere of the Earth can be said to be more than the sum of its parts. The
biosphere in which our species evolved and of which our species is an integral part
has developed along a relatively stable path for the past 65 million years. It is a
global self-regulating system in which the environment has evolved along with the
biota that live within it. For example, after 65 million years of evolution:
 It has found a delicate balance between those organisms that consume oxygen
and produce carbon dioxide (respiring plants and animals), and those organisms
that consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen (photosynthetic plants). The
cellular life functions (i.e. the chemical pathways within the bodies and cells
that are needed for life to continue) of most land-based organisms are tuned to
the current mixture of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide found in the air.
 It has maintained an average global temperature just above the freezing
temperature of water. The biological functions, the chemical pathways, within
our bodies are each optimally effective each at its own specific temperature. Of
course, the surface temperatures on land have seasonal variations, and those
species that are subject to such variations have either evolved the ability to keep
body temperatures constant, or have evolved alternate chemical pathways for
key life functions that work over the range of seasonal temperatures. But the
oceans have been maintained at such a constant temperature for many millions
of years that most plentiful oceanic biota have not developed such alternate
chemical pathways, and cannot now live in water that is too cool, or too warm.
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However, the biosphere cannot be considered robust in those time frames and those
scales that interest humanity. Its ability to absorb our wastes at the necessary rate
has been overwhelmed. It cannot process our wastes either at the speed or in the
volume required to support our current and rising population. Its ability to control
global temperatures has been compromised so badly that we are facing a
potentially radical and rapid climate change, along with the extirpation of much of
life now in the ocean. Humankind is just starting to understand this biosphere, this
life sustaining self-regulating system, just as it is starting to fail under the
onslaught of our relentlessly growing global population, society and economy.
In short, the biosphere is a very complex, finely tuned and little understood system
of which humanity is but a part. Humanity’s single-minded focus on the financial
economics of our part of the biosphere, and our unprecedented success in growing
our once small economy to become a globe encircling system, has put us the
dangerous position that we are destroying the life support systems of the world that
we so assuredly need for our continued survival, and of which we understand so
little.
The Problem of Slippery Slopes
In the practice of project management the concepts of ‘scope of influence’ and
‘scope of control’ are important to understand. ‘Scope creep’ refers to the
tendency for the mandate of a project to grow incrementally as time passes. Scope
creep is probably the most common cause of project failure, and it usually creeps
because the distinction between influence and control is poorly understood and
poorly managed. The common meaning of anthroposphere (see Annex A) implies
it to be analogous to the scope of control of humanity. Certainly, especially in
recent history, humankind has been able to control most of the biosphere and
influence virtually all of it. However, experienced project managers know that the
duo of influence and control are not a binary pair, but, rather, the two ends of a
continuum of influence. When does increased influence start to morph into
control? When does weakening control morph into mere influence?
This is an example of a logical and ethical problem colloquially called ‘the slippery
slope’. Slippery slopes may be of an ethical, legal or practical nature. The slope
referred to is a continuum of actions that range from ethically or pragmatically bad
at one end (the bottom of the slope) to ethically or pragmatically acceptable at the
other end (the top of the slope). Reality demands that we all live at some optimally
practical location in the middle of this continuum, so we draw a somewhat
arbitrary line perpendicular to the slope, and all agree that actions on one side of
the line are ethically unacceptable, or even illegal, and actions on the other side of
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the line are ethically acceptable, legal, or even moral. For those people who live a
distance (ethically speaking) from the line, it is easy to decide if they are bad or
good. But for those who live close to the line, a precise description of the line is
needed, and judges make a good living, as do lawyers, arguing just where the line
is actually located. The problem is this:
 Penalties for stepping over the line must be harsh if they are to be effective
deterrents; but
 Many people are forced to live close to the line due to the pressures of survival
in a push-and-shove society often, and they accidentally or intentionally, step
over the line, just a little; and
 As the majority of society regularly step over the line, however incrementally,
from time to time, the common definition of right and wrong shifts in the
direction of making small transgressions more and more acceptable, and
jurisprudence shifts in the same direction.
 So, over time, the location of the line slips down the slope, and what used to be
considered unethical becomes ethical, and what was to be avoided becomes
acceptable, or even desired.
What does this mean for us in ecological terms? We may all appreciate the need
for wild spaces in our cities, but when one more parcel of urban forest must be
cleared to build a much needed school, we make the hard decision, clear the land
and build the school, for the sake of our children’s future. The line that defines the
anthroposphere slips a small incremental step down the slippery slope to human
extirpation, as yet another urban forest is extirpated.
Professional project managers and engineers of complex systems are well aware of
the slippery slope and have developed reasonably effective tools to prevent that
slippage. When legitimate activities within the scope of control of a project appear
to control concomitant changes outside of the scope of control, it is natural to
consider those things to be also within the scope of control, and so, the scope of
control creeps outwards. The perennial problem is this: the incremental inclusion
of each such thing at the edges of the scope of control of the project causes an
increase in project complexity hugely out of proportion to the size of the marginal
scope change, or the size of the marginal costs and benefits to be realized. A small
potential benefit must be compared to a large increase in the probability of total
failure. To combat this, the project manager must refuse to allow such scope
creep, and, usually, this means acting like a bit of an asshole, denying the client
apparently easy potential benefits at apparently small cost. Nevertheless, to truly
manage the problem of scope creep, a project manager must draw a line in the sand
and say, this is under my control, and on this side of the line I am king, and my
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scope of control will not change without my agreement. And just so, the
techniques of configuration management and scope management were born.
Similarly, to understand the nature of our influence on the remnants of our once
vibrant wild biosphere, we need to draw that line in the sand, for the sake of the
biosphere, and maintain acute awareness of its implications in every decision we
make. That line in the sand is the edge of the anthroposphere. We are at that point
in our history where every small expansion of the anthroposphere greatly increases
the probability of failure of this project in which we are the de facto managers. We
must stop the slide down the slippery slope to extinction. We have ‘creeped’ the
biosphere to near extermination and it must stop. Every time we extend our scope
of control at this point we make failure all the more certain.
My point is not that we should cease to influence or care about the portion of the
biosphere outside of the scope of control, outside of the anthroposphere, which is
just and simply defined by that arbitrary line drawn in the sand. My point is that
drawing such an arbitrary line, and then defending it as if it is a fortress wall, is the
best, most effective and time-tested means of stopping scope creep, of ensuring
that a project has a chance of success, of stopping the slide down the proverbial
slippery slope. I have saved many projects from failure by being that asshole
standing at the edge of an arbitrary (and apparently silly) line in the sand and
arguing like a fool that it cannot be erased and redrawn, because we would all
regret it if we did.
Meanings and Usages of Related Words
Prior to undertaking the redefinition of ‘anthroposphere’, a brief review of relevant
words and their common modern meanings is in order. Annex A is a lexicon of
relevant words and phrases, along with contextual descriptions of commonly
understood meanings, all drawn from a modern dynamic lexical engine –
Wikipedia. It is recommended that the Annex be reviewed prior to continued
reading of this article, unless the reader is very familiar with the selected words in
the lexicon.
The studies of geology, Earth sciences, and ecosystem sciences, from whence
many of these words arise, are evolving sciences. Many older printed dictionaries
do not reflect current usage of words from these branches of science, and or may
not contain a given word at all. The arrival of the internet has made the publication
of printed dictionaries a less profitable business, so good up-to-date printed
dictionaries are less available. On the other hand, Wikipedia has extended
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descriptions of key technical words at the beginning of related articles. These
descriptions would seem to be the best, most up-to-date contextual definitions
available. For this reason, Wikipedia is the exclusive sources of definitions for the
lexicon at Annex A.
The word ‘anthroposphere’ (the domain of humankind) has appeared in technical
writings recently, as have other words such as ‘anthropocene’ (the era of
humankind) and ‘anthropogenic’ (the products of humankind). The appearance of
these words in recent years is, I believe, indicative of the rising interest and
concern expressed by many in the immense detrimental impact humankind is
having on the biosphere. While not explicitly described as such, the
anthroposphere is most often used in opposition to the concept of the biosphere.
Humankind are seen as apart from the biosphere and protecting it, or nurturing it,
as if it were a garden, or as attacking it as if it were an enemy, or consuming it as if
it were a meal. This is the perspective I refer to as anthropocentrism. This
perspective infuses virtually all of the words used in discussions of sustainability.
The Earth’s Spheres
In the field of study called Earth Sciences it is recognized that a number of
spherical shells of differing types can be identified associated with the spherical
shape of the Earth. These are called the Earth’s spheres. The full list, as obtained
from Wikipedia, provides an excellent entry to start contextualizing
‘anthroposphere’.
Earth's spheres - The Earth's spheres are the many "spheres" into
which the planet Earth is divided. The four most often recognized are
the atmosphere, the biosphere, the hydrosphere and the geosphere. As
a whole, the system is sometimes referred to as an ecosphere. Listed
roughly from outermost to innermost the named spheres of the Earth
are:
Magnetosphere
Atmosphere [W], the gases that surround the Earth (its air)
By altitude – Exosphere, Exobase, Ionosphere, Thermopause,
Thermosphere, Mesopause, Mesosphere, Stratopause,
Stratosphere, Ozone layer, Tropopause [W], Troposphere [W],
Planetary boundary layer [W]
By air turbulence – Heterosphere, Turbopause, Homosphere
Biosphere, all life on Earth
Anthroposphere [W]
Noösphere (rare) [W]
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Hydrosphere [W] (all water [near] the surface of Earth)
Cryosphere (sometimes)
Pedosphere [W]
Geosphere [W]
Lithosphere [W]
Crust (geology)
Asthenosphere
Mesosphere
Earth's mantle
Earth's core
Outer core
Inner core
It is useful to examine modern descriptions of these somewhat technical terms. In
Annex A a number of definitions and descriptions have been excerpted from online
sources and are preserved there, to facilitate access, but also to fix the wording on
sometimes volatile Wikipedia descriptions. In particular, words here and
throughout this document marked with a ‘W’ in square brackets were accessed in
Wikipedia, and an edited version of the text placed in Annex A. As such, they
represent a snapshot in time for a dynamic collection of words and phrases.
Figure 1 is a
schematic diagram
that shows the
relationship between
the troposphere, the
planetary boundary
layer, and the
lithosphere. The
planetary boundary
layer is the
relatively thin shell,
varying from time to
time, and from place
to place, between
200 m and 2,000 m
in depth, in which
turbulent weather
happens.
Turbulence is due to
Figure 1 – The Anthroposphere is concentrated at the bottom of
the planetary boundary layer.
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drag when winds come into contact with land or water. Above the planetary
boundary layer much less turbulent wind flows dominate. As a rule of thumb, you
could say that the lowest clouds tend to rest on the top of the planetary boundary
layer.
Much of the detail of the structure of the troposphere is dynamic but relatively
stable. Hot air rises at the equator, spreads, then cools and falls in a massive
convection current called the Hedley cell. This in fact is a torus that encircles the
globe. The falling air at the northern (leftmost) edge of the Hedley cell drags down
air from the southern (rightmost) edge of the Ferrel cell, driving it like a water
wheel, and it in turn drives the polar cell. The Southern hemisphere has an
identical set of three tori. Between the tori, near the tropopause, are the jet streams
that mark the boundaries, travelling parallel to the winds in the cells, and reaching
speeds of up to 160 km/hour. The scale of this diagram is misleading. The Hedley
cell might be as much as 17 km tall, but has a width in the north-south dimension
of approximately 3,000 km.
The planetary boundary layer is where we humankind live out much of our
existence.
The structure of the hydrosphere and lithosphere cannot be easily shown in crosssection, and so are shown as the combined blue and brown area to the bottom of
Figure 1. But it is important to understand how the atmosphere, lithosphere,
hydrosphere, biosphere and pedosphere are spatially connected. For this we turn to
Figure 2.
Figure 2 shows atmosphere and lithosphere as separate – for the most part, the
lithosphere being below and the atmosphere above. Certainly, there is some air
below the upper surface of the lithosphere, in caves and caverns, and in cracks in
rocks, but they are largely separate. As such, it is right to think of each of these as
integral and distinct shells. This is not entirely the case with the hydrosphere.
Some of the hydrosphere is dissolved in or mixed with the troposphere in the form
of water vapor or liquid or ice precipitates. Some is between the atmosphere and
the lithosphere in the form of streams, rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. Some is
mixed into the lithosphere in the form of groundwater aquifers, or in cracks in
rocks, or even, for example, in some granites, as moisture between the crystals in
the solid rock. For practical purposes, we can assume that the hydrosphere is
limited above by the tropopause, and limited below by the upper edge of the
mantle. So the hydrosphere is not a distinct shell, but substantially overlaps both
the atmosphere and the lithosphere.
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The pedosphere is where soil is formed. It is closely associated with the interface
between the lithosphere, which provides the basic raw material for soil formation,
and the atmosphere and the hydrosphere, which provide the physical processes and
chemical solvents for soil formation. Water dissolves minerals, weakening the
structure of rocks. Ice cracks rocks. Weather provides changes in temperature and
regular doses of water to enable such action. Variations in the surface of the
lithosphere cause water to run off in streams and rivers, and so erode deposits of
soil and move them about.
Figure 2 – The five physical Earth’s spheres most closely associated with the
anthroposphere are connected to each other in a complex spatial relationship.
Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
There are fundamentally two different reasons for making a definition, and each
has a different process associated, peculiar to that reason. The purpose of most
dictionaries is to succinctly summarize current usage in a way that both clarifies
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and standardizes usage of a word, while, at the same time, tracking changes in
usage over time. Most dictionaries publish brief statements of meaning. Some
dictionaries publish carefully selected and dated examples of usage, and so define a
word implicitly. The material from Wikipedia contained in Annex A might be
considered descriptions of meanings, and so are not truly definitions, but they
might be considered carefully constructed examples. As such, they fall into this
broad category of definition.
However, sometimes a word must be given a limited or restricted meaning within a
certain context. This approach is common in legislation, and in legal documents
such as contracts, in which terms are defined for use within that document. Or, in
a highly technical field of study in which nuanced concepts are discussed, often
jargon that has special meaning is developed. Such concepts are not commonly
discussed outside of the field, and therefore not widely used, and so do not appear
in common dictionaries. It is in this spirit that I believe a new definition of
‘anthroposphere’ must be fabricated and used in discussions of sustainable
economics.
So, in this part of the article I take up the task of creating a definition of
‘anthroposphere’ that is practical, contextualized, and detailed. But, to what
purpose? Humankind and our global economies are currently expanding the
anthroposphere at high speed and reshaping or consuming the rest of the biosphere
in the process. If this is not halted and reversed, the ultimate end is guaranteed to
be social collapse. Unfortunately for the rest of the biosphere, we are poised to
take many of the species with whom we share this planet with us in a massive
concurrent ecological collapse. Both types of collapse are worthy of effort to be
avoided.
Humankind must take up a global multi-generational project to learn how to live
sustainably on this planet. Call it the ‘Sustainability Project”. The scope of
influence of this project is, I suppose, everything from the exosphere down to the
core of the Earth. The scope of control of this project is, by definition, the
anthroposphere. The scope of control of a project is something that is determined
not by common general usage, but, rather, by consensus agreement between the
stakeholders, written into a contract, and amended only with careful deliberation.
But, perhaps that is too expansive a purpose for this small series of articles. A less
expansive project is the ‘Layered Societies’ project, in which I will discuss the
energetics of a modern but stable and sustainable society in a few articles. But,
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
again, the scope of the project will be the anthroposphere, as herein defined, and
the intent is that this definition would be conceptually the same for both projects.
To be practical this definition must pass certain tests:
 Problem of anthropocentrism – the anthroposphere must be viewed as just one
of many sub-spheres of the biosphere, each legitimately competing for the
Earth’s common resources. This will require a more specific definition of
‘biosphere’, to be congruent. This paradigm shift away from anthropocentrism
has three important aspects:
 Problem of Externalities – the idea that all of the anthroposphere’s economic
externalities can be monetized must be discarded and thereafter avoided.
Some biophysical phenomena have importance at the level of the biosphere
that far surpasses the importance to a single species. They must not be
defined as yet-to-be-understood extensions of the anthroposphere.
 Problem of global life support systems – The global life support systems that
exist in the biosphere outside of the anthroposphere should not be implicitly
defined as the residual that’s left after the anthroposphere is removed. These
life support systems must be viewed as of supreme importance, above the
importance of mere anthropocentric concerns.
 Problem of slippery slopes – A very clear line, however arbitrary, must be
drawn across that slippery slope that leads back to anthropocentrism, and
every practical, moral and legal means that our global society can muster
must be used to defend that arbitrary line.
Old Definition of Anthroposphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposphere
The definition of ‘anthroposphere’ as found in Wikipedia is in Annex A for
completeness sake. I repeat it here for easy reference.
The anthroposphere (sometimes also referred as technosphere) is that
part of the environment that is made or modified by humans for use in
human activities and human habitats. It is one of the Earth's spheres.
As human technology becomes more evolved, so do the impacts of
human activities on the environment. Examples: deforestation for
housing, land setup, etc.
I have some difficulty with this concept ‘anthroposphere’ as described, but, at the
same time I see it as a necessary concept to develop. With the intent of having
clear and consistent definitions for the constellation of words associated with the
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
anthroposphere, in this section I redefine the words artifact, technosphere,
noösphere, environment, biosphere, phenosphere, and, finally, anthroposphere.
Redefinition of Artifact
The word artefact [W] is currently used mostly in the context of archeology, but is
used in other fields of study as well. I means an object or effect made intentionally
or accidentally by people.
Proposed redefinition – artifact of a named species – a physical object, effect or
alteration to the biophysical environment form as the result of an action or process
undertaken by a member of the named species. Artifacts include, but are not
limited to, all of the creations, manufactures, or changes in the local environment
that any member of the named species produces, whether temporary phenomena,
such as emanations of sound and light, or of a more permanent nature, such as may
be carved in, fixed in, or converted to stone.
Explanation – The existing definition of ‘artifact’ is ‘a man-made object’. It is
often used in an anthropocentric fashion, placing natural products in opposition to
man-made artifacts, as if all man-made products are artificial, unnatural, and not
real, in some sense. On the other hand, I would argue that all man-made products
are as real and natural as the products of any other species, and this dichotomy or
distinction is misleading, confusing, and unnecessarily anthropocentric. To the
extent that we can easily recognize the artifacts of humankind from the artifacts of
other species, that distinction is valid. But, for example, when comparing the
artifacts of humankind and the artifacts of, say, rabbit-kind, there is absolutely
nothing less natural about the artifacts of humankind. They may be more potent,
more toxic, or more clever, and so distinguishable, but they are not less natural.
The same natural biophysical processes that acted to evolve all species have acted,
and are acting, to control our evolution, in our past and now. Those processes
shape not just the genome, but also the phenosphere, to be defined below, which
includes all of our artifacts and practices.
Redefinition of Technosphere
Two different descriptions of the meaning of ‘technosphere’ [W] are included in
Annex A. In one instance, it is equated with ‘anthroposphere’. In the other
instance, it is described in relation to a ‘novel ecosystem’ [W]. In both cases, the
concept is anthropocentric. I would like to redefine it in more general terms.
Proposed redefinition – technosphere of a named species – the aggregate of all
physical artifacts made by any and all members of the named species.
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Explanation – every species has a technosphere. It includes, but is not limited to,
dens, trails, manufactures, tools, art works, temporarily repurposed objects or
substances, body exudations, emanations and excretions, and persistent or
contemporaneous bodily remains. The technosphere of a species can be viewed as
the aggregate of all material removed from the environment, made from the
environment, inserted back into the environment, and the physical marks left in the
environment made by actions taken.
The technosphere of some species will be extremely rudimentary, but will still
nevertheless exist.
Redefinition of Noösphere
The word ‘noösphere’ [W] is not commonly used, but generally means the
knowledge of humankind. This is clearly an anthropocentric meaning, but can and
should be expanded to be generally applicable to any and all species.
Proposed redefinition – noösphere of a named species – the aggregate of all
instinctual and learned practices of the named species.
Explanation – Every species has a noösphere. These include but are not limited to
practices associated with mating, seeking food, hiding from predators, resisting
parasites, making dens or homes, and all processes that are associated with creating
artifacts that are part of the technosphere of the species. Knowledge is a nonphysical concept. But knowledge as written books (artifacts) and as read (a
practice) falls within the definitions of technosphere and noösphere.
The noösphere of some species will be extremely rudimentary, but will still
nevertheless exist.
Definition Of Biospheric Environment
This definition may be unnecessary, as it may not add a lot, but I put it here for
now as a clarification. In this series of papers, the word environment will usually
be taken to mean the ‘biospheric environment’. This is slightly different from each
of the two meanings identified in Annex A: in terms of one organism or one
population of organisms (biophysical environment [W]), or in terms of the planet
as a whole (global environment [W]).
Proposed definition – biospheric environment – the aggregate of all portions of the
Earth’s spheres that are currently in contact with living organisms and dynamically
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
interacting and/or co-evolving with them, including portions of the atmosphere, the
hydrosphere, the lithosphere, and the pedosphere. It can be viewed as the union of
the biophysical environments of all contemporary organisms living on the Earth.
Explanation – This coincides with a common meaning of the word ‘environment’
[W] in most instances, but is meant to highlight the dynamic aspects, and at the
same time exclude some aspects of a broader interpretation of the word. In this
definition, for example, the exosphere and the Earth’s core are not part of the
environment, but intrusions from either sphere might be. However, biospherical
environment as here defined is more expansive or all inclusive than biophysical
environment. The biospheric environment then becomes an active agent and
participant in the biophysical economies of the Earth.
The biospheric environment is equivalent to the union of the technospheres of all
living organisms.
Redefinition of Biosphere
The word ‘biosphere’ [W] was first coined in the 1800s and has been widely used
for more than a century. It’s meaning has evolved over that time from ‘all
organisms’ to ‘all ecosystems’, as indicated in the excerpt from Wikipedia in
Annex A.
Proposed definition – Earth’s biosphere – the aggregate of:
 the bodies of all contemporaneous living organisms on the Earth,
 plus the technospheres of all living organisms;
 plus the noöspheres of all living organisms.
Explanation – This explicit inclusion of the biosopheric environment in the
definition of the biosphere, while excluding non-effective portions of the Earth’s
spheres, brings it into alignment with the concepts implied in anthroposphere. The
biosphere explicitly has biological components, technological components, and
behavioral components.
New Definition of Phenosphere
The current usage of the word phenosphere [W] is very rare, very technical and has
little association with the present topic. It has some usage in chromatography, in
cybernetics, and in mathematics. I hereby propose an additional definition.
Proposed new definition – phenosphere of a named species – that portion of the
environment that is within the scope of control of the named species, and includes
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
the sum of all organisms of that named species, the technosphere of the species, the
noösphere of the species, as well as all organisms under the control of the
organisms in that named species.
Explanation – In
this case the word
‘sphere’ is not
meant to imply a
spherical shell about
the centre of the
Earth, but, rather, a
sphere of control,
outside of which
control is diluted,
and inside of which
control is
concentrated. The
processes of
evolution act on the
phenotype of a
species. The
Figure 3 – The biosphere overlaps the atmosphere, lithosphere and
hydrosphere in space. A phenosphere is a part of the biosphere,
phenotype in
exerting some control on other phenospheres, but also controlled by
interaction with the
and controlling some aspects of the Earth’s spheres. Arrows indicate
biophysical
control.
environment shapes
the phenosphere.
As a species evolves, the phenotype evolves in interaction with the dynamically
changing biophysical environment, and a key component of that dynamically
changing biophysical environment is the array of other species found therein. The
phenosphere evolves in dynamic interaction with the phenosphere of all species
that are predators, prey, parasites, commensals, and competitors for resources of
the named species in all of its geographic ranges. But not all members of those
species are in the phenosphere of the named species, since some are not under
control.
Phenosphere – The Scope of Control of a Named Species
Included in the phenosphere of a
named species
Organisms that are members of the
Excluded from the phenosphere of a
named species
Organisms that are competitors of
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named species
 Plus all artifacts – such as burrows,
trails, tools, wastes
 Plus all practices – such as mating
practices, feeding practices,
defensive practices, nesting
practices
Organisms that are prey of, or hosts to,
members of the named species
Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
members of the named species
Organisms that are competitors of, or
predators of, or that parasitize,
members of the named species
Organisms that are under direct control
of members of the named species, such
as livestock, pets, or industrialized
organisms
 Plus artifacts and practices of the
controlled organisms
Phenosphere, Example #1
The phenosphere of the mollusk Oliva Porphyria, a carnivorous mollusk, consists
of all members of the species at all stages of life (eggs, larvae, adults), and all of
their artifacts, and practices.
Technosphere of O. Porphyria – Artifacts include tracks, feces, the shells of dead
O. Porphyria, and the remains (shells) of those other mollusks and organisms killed
by O. Porphyria but not digested.
Noösphere of O. Porphyria – Practices include diurnal cycles of activity,
resting/hiding under the mud with its protruding syphon, mating practices, and
prey capture practices. Prey capture involves forming a balloon-like pocket with
its foot, engulfing the prey, and smothering it with mucus, prior to slicing it up
with its saw-like mouthparts.
I am not aware that O. Porphyria has control over the entirety of any species. It
has momentary control over its prey, when captured.
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
Discussion: In deciding what to include in the phenosphere, there is an arbitrary
line that separates scope of influence from scope of control. I include the tracks
made by the organisms, however temporary they may be, as the action of a
member of O. Porphyria directly caused this change. Similarly, a member of O.
Porphyria made its own shell, and directly caused the death of other organisms and
left the refuse behind. The shells of the prey of O. Porphyria then form a part of
two phenospheres – that of the predator species, and that of the prey species, and it
is clear that phenospheres can and do overlap. There are also a number of species
that prey upon or parasitize O. Porphyria which are not included in the
phenosphere of O.
Porphyria. They
are within the
scope of influence,
but not within the
scope of control.
Over time, there is
an arms race, or
Red Queen Effect,
as the ability of O.
Porphyria to
capture prey
evolves, and the
abilities of prey
species to avoid or
Figure 4 – The phenosphere of O. Porphyria is extremely simple. The
escape capture
technosphere and noösphere are barely more than minimal stubs.
evolves.
Similarly, those
species that prey upon or parasitize O. Porphyria are also co-evolving. These
species all influence each other in different ways over different time scales. On a
short time scale, for example, O. Porphyria may extirpate prey species in a given
locale. On a longer time scale, a prey species might evolve to a larger adult size,
making it a competitor, or even predator, of O. Porphyria, and so ultimately
extirpate O. Porphyria in that locale. In general, genomes evolve, phenotypes
evolve, and phenospheres evolve.
Phenosphere, Example #2
The phenosphere of the ant Atta Cephalotes, a leaf-cutter ant, consists of all
members of the species at all stages of life (eggs, larvae, pupae, adults) and in all
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
of its forms (queens, drones, majors, mediae, minors and minims), and all of their
artifacts, their practices, and controlled members of other species.
Technosphere of A. Cephalotes – Artifacts include the colonies (central mound and
radial sub-mounds), and inter-colonial tunnels and tracks, fungal gardens, refuse
heaps for spent and discarded material from the fungal gardens, dirt and plants that
form the harvesting trails, damaged and denuded trees, bodily secretions such as
pheromones (used to mark trails, etc.), and glandular outputs (used for fungicidal
cleansing of leaves).
Noösphere of A. Cephalotes – The instinctual or learned practices of A. Cephalotes
are quite sophisticated. Standard tasks are divided among the forms of ants (the
castes) within a colony, but are also varied by age and by need. Details of these
divisions of labor
can be read in the
references. But,
some practices are
outstanding. For
example:
 leaves are
harvested, fed
to fungi in
gardens within
their mounds,
and the fungi
are harvested
for food for the
larval ants;
 once a tree is
marked for
Figure 5 – The phenosphere of A. Cephalotes is quite complex. The
harvest, they
technosphere includes cities of 8 million inhabitants, roads, farms,
waste dumps,. The noösphere includes a highly organized society.
may choose to
strip it of all
leaves, in analogy to clear-cut forestry;
 minims usually manage the gardens and larval young, but also ride on the
massive heads of the majors, acting as guardians, warding off tiny parasitic
flies;
 aged ants are reassigned from standard duties to maintaining the refuse pile,
which is a source of parasites and contagion. These workers tend to not be very
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
healthy once they take up this work, and are generally excluded from the
healthy part of the colony.
A. Cephalotes lives in important mutual symbiotic relationships with two other
species of organism, and the affected members of these species are considered
controlled organisms within the phenosphere of A. Cephalotes. Each species of
leaf-cutter ant has its own species of fungus from the Lepiotaceae family that it
uses in its gardens. The queen carries a sample of the fungus in her mouth when
she goes to start a new colony. The ants secrete enzymes that can stimulate or
suppress the growth of the fungi. The relations between ant and fungus are
obligate. They need each other to survive. But, also, the ant’s metapleural glands
are home to actinobacteria of the genus pseudonocardia, a type of bacterium that
produces toxins fatal to molds that attack the fungi in the gardens.
Phenosphere, Example #3
The phenosphere of the hominid Homo Sapiens, a great ape, consists of all
members of the species, and all of their artifacts, their practices, and any controlled
organisms.
The technosphere
– All artifacts of
H. Sapiens, which
include but are
not limited to
houses, towns,
cities, clothes,
tools, machines,
farms, buildings,
trails, roads,
refuse,
environmental
alterations,
cultural
performances, and
economic
inventions.
Figure 6 – The phenosphere of H. Sapiens is the most complex.
Learned practices have supplanted many instinctual practices, and the
invention and use of currency enables global organizations.
The noösphere – All the instinctual or learned practices of H. Sapiens, which
include but are not limited to mating and social practices, religious practices,
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
educational practices, recreational practices, political practices, and economic
practices.
H. Sapiens lives in a symbiotic relationship with many other species. For example,
an adult person has about 10 trillion cells in the body, complemented by about 100
trillion bacteria of many species referred to as ‘normal flora’, most of which are
necessary for the continued health of the person. On a somewhat grander scale, we
are dependent on many farmed or captured species of plants and animals for our
daily supply of food and liquids. The relationship is obligate for many of these
species, as they cannot survive without the aid of H. Sapiens. On the grandest
scale, we are dependent on the organisms that produce the oxygen we breathe. The
relationship is obligate, since, without them, we would perish.
Discussion: The recording and transmission of ideas and bodies of knowledge
involves artifacts in the technosphere and practices (both instinctual and learned) in
the noösphere.
Redefinition of Anthroposphere
There is a great but brief article in Wikipedia entitled ‘Novel Ecosystem’ [W] in
which the author brings together many ideas derived from or associated with the
idea of the anthroposphere. It covers concepts such as anthropogenic biomes
(anthromes), the technosphere, the noösphere, technodiversity (as opposed to
biodiversity) and others. It is exceptional for its long list of references.
Unfortunately, it is steeped in and continues the anthropocentric ‘man vs nature’
dichotomous perspective in which all of ecological writing seems to be trapped.
Nevertheless, my concept of the anthroposphere is closely aligned to the concept
found there.
Proposed redefinition – The anthroposphere is simply the phenosphere of the
species H. Sapiens.
Discussion: The process of generalizing the concept of the anthroposphere is what
lead to the definition of a phenosphere. Some of the logic went like this:
 If the anthroposphere is associated with the technosphere, then are buildings,
roads, tools and art works all included. Yes.
 What about things that we make incidentally, or unintentionally, like mine
scars, or oil spills? Yes.
 Is the anthroposphere to be only inanimate objects and substances? No. That
portion of the environment that is a necessary part of the anthroposphere must
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Contextual Redefinition of the Anthroposphere
include domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep and goats, and must include
research animals such as rabbits, rats and primates.
 Why include people in the anthroposphere? Is it reasonable to include all of
these animals and not include the poor human wage-earners who build and
maintain the technosphere?
And so, the concept of anthroposphere expanded.
The anthroposphere is a subset of the biosphere, but where is the edge of it? To try
to put some meaning into that ‘edge of the anthroposphere’ concept, one asks what
is included, and what is excluded? This is messy, but here’s a shot at it.
In terms of organisms, all of humanity, all of our livestock, and all of those
organisms that are integrally a part of our biological functions such as the microorganisms in our gut and on our skin. I have heard that approximately 90% of all
of the DNA in the human body actually belongs to this micro-ecosystem in our
bodies. The same
is true for all
organisms in our
livestock. It
would also
include all of the
organisms and
micro-organisms
in our farms of all
kinds, drug
factories,
breweries,
composting
facilities, or other
such facilities.
Food is tricky.
Figure 7 – The anthroposphere is appropriating more and more of the
The
biophysical environment as it expands.
anthroposphere
includes, I would
think, all foods which are the products of organisms both within and without the
anthroposphere once the foods have been harvested. Harvested wild animals and
their products become part of the anthroposphere once harvested.
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Those wild animals that could be harvested but escape should not be included.
They are on the edge of our somewhat arbitrarily drawn line, just over the line, and
appear to be within our scope of control, but are merely massively influenced
thereby. Similarly, I think the anthroposphere would not include wild animals that
live among us or in distant wilderness places; it would not include parasites that
reside within us; and it would not include many organisms on which we depend for
our continued lives. It also excludes unfarmed populations of fish, crabs, kelp, and
other ‘sea foods’. These are organisms that, in the course of pursuing their own
existence in accordance with the evolutionary imperatives, happen to perform socalled ‘ecological services’. Humankind has not planned or controlled their
location or function, but benefits therefrom. It also excludes the photosynthesiscapable micro-organisms in the oceans of the world, as well as grass and trees in
wild places that convert light and CO2 into O2.
I realize this is a fuzzy concept, and whether a particular organism is or is not
included might be up for debate. But if we focus on humankind, its livestock, and
the contents of our farms and factories – those organisms that we directly control –
that catches the bulk of the organisms in the anthroposphere.
In terms of the components that are not living, the anthroposphere includes all of
our roads, buildings, farms, tools, manufactured goods, art works, social systems,
scientific and technical processes, cultural events, and recreational activities. I
would also be inclined to classify our wastes as part of the anthroposphere.
This seems like a very reasonable scope of control for this project we call
sustainability.
So. There we have it – our scope of control. What does this mean for us as project
managers? The implications are in the descriptions of the slides, I think, but, to
make a point, let me be, now, that asshole-of-a-fool standing on the beach,
defending this line I have just drawn in the sand, as if it was a fortress wall, and
arguing that we DO NOT want to redraw that line or we may all regret it. Parasites
and diseases are out of scope for this project we call ‘sustainability’. As a project
manager I would stop all research in this area. Our streams of waste are in scope.
I would redirect all of the funds, educational resources, institutions and flows of
dollars, mass and energy now being spent on those out-of-scope activities towards
research on how to effectively and efficiently rehabilitate all of our waste streams
to make them useful to other phenospheres.
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That would be the right decision, professionally, as a project manager, and morally
and ethically, as a right-thinking member of a society that is destroying all life on
Earth with our waste streams while trying to save the lives of a few more wealthy
people suffering from disease. When viewed in that light, research on diseases and
parasites starts to look like busy work, rearranging the chairs on the deck of the
Titanic, as they say, taking our minds off of the catastrophe that is underway. Such
decisions are extremely difficult, with immense moral implications, but failing to
take corrective action when you know it must be done is immature, irresponsible,
and arguably grossly immoral as well. Are we between Scylla and Charybdis, or is
that a delusion?
Putting it all Into Context
It is now possible, using the new definitions, to put this together. First, we can
summarize some relationships in a bulleted list.
 The biosphere occupies a very thin shell around the Earth, having a depth of
about 30 km (deep ocean to tropopause), but most of the biosphere is
concentrated on the surface of the Earth, at the bottom of the planetary
boundary layer, and in the oceans.
 The biosphere is co-located with the pedosphere and hydrosphere.
 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = ∑ 𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 + ∑ 𝑎𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠
 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑚𝑒 = ∑ 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠
 𝐴𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑒 = ∑ 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 + ∑ 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠
 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = ∑ 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 + ∑ 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠
 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = ⋃ 𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠
 𝑃ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = 𝑂𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑚𝑠 + 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 + 𝑛𝑜ö𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
 𝑇𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 = ∑ 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠
 𝑁𝑜ö𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 = ∑ 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠
 𝐴𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = 𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐻. 𝑆𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑠
 𝑇𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 = ∑ 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠
Does this provide insight into the problem of externalities? Potentially. Any
action taken within the anthroposphere that affects another phenosphere is an
ecological externality. When ecosystem services are evaluated from the point of
view of the anthroposphere, it may also be possible to also evaluate them from the
point of view of the significant complementary phenospheres. I believe the
concept of phenospheres adds some texture, perhaps another dimension, to the
concept of ecological economic externalities (eee). We might define an eee of the
first type to be one which for which the cost is paid by phenospheres which do not
intersect with the anthroposphere. An eee of the second type is one for which the
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costs is paid by phenospheres which do intersect with the anthroposphere. An eee
of the third type is one for which the cost is paid for by people. I think that, when
we evaluate lost ecosystem services, we are only looking at eees of the third type.
Does this provide insight into the problem of anthropocentrism? Yes. It redefines
key words and phrases in a more generalized and less anthropocentric paradigm.
No really new ideas are offered, but a significant shift in perspective is enabled.
Perhaps with such a shift in perspective a form of ecological economics or
biophysical economics could be developed that counter-balances the attractive
forces of anthropocentric neo-classical economic theory. A tremendous volume of
work has been done in the study of ecosystems. I wonder to what extent some of
that can be recast, usefully, as biophysical economic theory with a nonanthropocentric perspective.
Does this provide insight into the problem of global life support systems? Yes.
Rather than viewing the anthroposphere and biosphere as a pair of opposites, such
that a win on one side is a loss on the other, it positions the anthroposphere as a
natural but dominant and out-of-control component of the biosphere. The
anthropocentrism of the past comes not just from the dominance of the
anthroposphere among phenospheres, but also from mere fact that we are selfserving.
Does this provide insight into the problem of the slippery slope. I think the answer
to this question is highly dependent on the successful resolution of the other
problems. It is also dependent on the effective definition and use of the definition
of the anthroposphere.
From the point of view of a project manager, the scope of any project must be
agreed-upon by all key stakeholders. Once agreed-upon, the project manager must
have authority to redirect project resources away from out-of-scope activities
towards in-scope activities. Thirdly, all project activities must be well-defined,
achievable and coordinated.
I believe that this approach to a definition of the problem makes it possible to
imagine a solution. Stakeholders acting in good faith could craft a definition of the
scope of the problem and make plans to solve it using these or similar ideas.
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ANNEX A – Online Descriptions of Selected Words
In any modern discussion of the economics of biophysical systems, or of the
sustainability of biophysical systems, a variety of words are commonly used.
Sometimes these words have a very specific and well-understood meaning that has
been stable for some time. However, often the meanings of words are changing
over time, or vary from document to document. The purpose of this annex is to
provide a lexicon of words with descriptions of their current meanings as of
August 2014. The primary source is the Wikipedia site on the internet. The
standard format for a Wikipedia article includes a summary description of the
concept as a lead-in, prior to a formal table of contents. In most cases, only the
lead-in description has been reproduced here. Many Wikipedia articles have
citations of well-chosen references, lexical or etymological information, or
historical information. In most cases, that information has been edited out before
inclusion. Readers interested in such information should refer to the original
articles online.
Atmosphere
At Ref 2 the atmosphere Wikipedia describes the atmosphere of the Earth as
follows:
The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet
Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life
on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface
through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature
extremes between day and night (the diurnal temperature variation).
The common name given to the atmospheric gases used in breathing
and photosynthesis is air. By volume, dry air contains 78.09%
nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and
small amounts of other gases. Air also contains a variable amount of
water vapor, on average around 1%. Although air content and
atmospheric pressure vary at different layers, air suitable for the
survival of terrestrial plants and terrestrial animals currently is only
known to be found in Earth's troposphere and artificial atmospheres.
The atmosphere has a mass of about 5.15×1018 kg, three quarters of
which is within about 11 km (6.8 mi; 36,000 ft) of the surface. The
atmosphere becomes thinner and thinner with increasing altitude, with
no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. The
Kármán line, at 100 km (62 mi), or 1.57% of Earth's radius, is often
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used as the border between the atmosphere and outer space.
Atmospheric effects become noticeable during atmospheric reentry of
spacecraft at an altitude of around 120 km (75 mi). ...
This is a great description providing some context in a variety of ways. If the
atmosphere is assumed to be 100 km in thickness, and if we shrank the Earth to the
size of an NBA basketball (9 inches diameter, or 22.86 cm), then the atmosphere
would form a film of thickness 1.79 mm in thickness, but the bulk of the
atmosphere, at 11 km in thickness, would form a film of less thickness than 0.2
mm. Imagine dipping a basketball into a bucket of water and pulling it out. The
film of water on the ball would be about the same at the film of atmosphere on our
Earth.
Tropopause
At Ref xx Wikipedia provides the following description of the tropopause.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropopause
The tropopause is the boundary in the Earth's atmosphere between the
troposphere and the stratosphere.
Definition
Going upward from the surface, it is the point where air ceases to cool
with height, and becomes almost completely dry. More formally, the
tropopause is the region of the atmosphere where the environmental
lapse rate changes from positive, as it behaves in the troposphere, to
the stratospheric negative one. [ ... ]
The tropopause as defined above renders as a first-order discontinuity
surface, that is, temperature as a function of height is continuous
through the tropopause, but the temperature gradient is not.
Location
The troposphere is one of the lowest layers of the Earth's atmosphere;
it is located right above the planetary boundary layer, and is the layer
in which most weather phenomena take place. The troposphere
extends upwards from right above the boundary layer, and ranges in
height from an average of 9 km (5.6 mi; 30,000 ft) at the poles, to 17
km (11 mi; 56,000 ft) at the Equator. In the absence of inversions and
not considering moisture, the temperature lapse rate for this layer is
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6.5 °C per kilometer, on average, according to the U.S. Standard
Atmosphere. A measurement of both the tropospheric and the
stratospheric lapse rates helps identifying the location of the
tropopause, since temperature increases with height in the
stratosphere, and hence the lapse rate becomes negative. The
tropopause location coincides with the lowest point at which the lapse
rate falls below a prescribed threshold.
Troposphere
At Ref 3 the troposphere of the Earth is described as follows:
The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. It
contains approximately 80% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its
water vapour and aerosols. The average depth of the troposphere is
approximately 17 km (11 mi) in the middle latitudes. It is deeper in
the tropics, up to 20 km (12 mi), and shallower near the polar regions,
approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) in winter. The lowest part of the
troposphere, where friction with the Earth's surface influences air
flow, is the planetary boundary layer. This layer is typically a few
hundred metres to 2 km (1.2 mi) deep depending on the landform and
time of day. The border between the troposphere and stratosphere,
called the tropopause, is a temperature inversion.
The troposphere is where weather happens. This is where 300 km wide hurricanes
spin, where tornado-producing cells form, where 160 km/hour jet streams meander,
where cumulonimbus clouds tower, where cold fronts and high pressure systems
sweep across the land. But the planetary boundary layer at the bottom tenth of the
troposphere is the part of the atmosphere in which we experience weather.
Returning to the example of the basketball, the planetary boundary layer would be
about 0.035 mm thick, at best, with a total volume of about 6 cc.
Planetary Boundary Layer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_boundary_layer
The planetary boundary layer (PBL), also known as the atmospheric
boundary layer (ABL), is the lowest part of the atmosphere and its
behavior is directly influenced by its contact with a planetary surface.
On Earth it usually responds to changes in surface radiative forcing in
an hour or less. In this layer physical quantities such as flow velocity,
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temperature, moisture, etc., display rapid fluctuations (turbulence) and
vertical mixing is strong. Above the PBL is the "free atmosphere"
where the wind is approximately geostrophic (parallel to the isobars)
while within the PBL the wind is affected by surface drag and turns
across the isobars. The free atmosphere is usually non-turbulent, or
only intermittently turbulent.
Biosphere
At Ref 6 Wikipedia provides this description of the biosphere.
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be
termed the zone of life on Earth, a closed system (apart from solar and
cosmic radiation and heat from the interior of the Earth), and largely
self-regulating. By the most general biophysiological definition, the
biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings
and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of
the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. [...]
Anthroposphere
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposphere ) the
anthroposphere is defined as follows:
 The anthroposphere (sometimes also referred as technosphere) is that part
of the environment that is made or modified by humans for use in human
activities and human habitats. It is one of the Earth's spheres.
 As human technology becomes more evolved, so do the impacts of
human activities on the environment.
 Examples: deforestation for housing, land setup, etc.
This definition may be accurate, but it is not very explicit. To be useful, the
concept needs to be developed in much more detail.
Noösphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noosphere
At Ref x the noosphere is described as follows:
The noösphere is a concept used by Vladimir Vernadsky and Teilhard
de Chardin to denote the "sphere of human thought". [ ... ]
Hydrosphere
At Ref 4 Wikipedia provides this description of the hydrosphere.
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The hydrosphere [...] in physical geography describes the combined
mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet.
Igor Shiklomanov, the man selected by the United Nations to do its
world inventory of water resources, estimated that there are 1386
million cubic kilometres of water on earth. This includes water in
liquid and frozen forms in groundwaters, glaciers, oceans, lakes and
streams. Saline water account for 97.5% of this amount. Fresh water
accounts for only 2.5%. Of this fresh water 68.7% is in the "form of
ice and permanent snow cover in the Arctic, the Antarctic, and in the
mountainous regions. Next, 29.9% exists as fresh groundwaters.
Only 0.26% of the total amount of fresh waters on the Earth are
concentrated in lakes, reservoirs and river systems where they are
most easily accessible for our economic needs and absolutely vital for
water ecosystems." The total mass of the Earth's hydrosphere is about
1.4 × 1018 tonnes, which is about 0.023% of the Earth's total mass.
About 20 × 1012 tonnes of this is in the Earth's atmosphere (the
volume of one tonne of water is approximately 1 cubic metre).
Approximately 75% of the Earth's surface, an area of some 361
million square kilometers (139.5 million square miles), is covered by
ocean. The average salinity of the Earth's oceans is about 35 grams of
salt per kilogram of sea water (3.5%)
Pedosphere
At Ref 7 Wikipedia provides this description of the pedosphere.
The pedosphere [...] is the outermost layer of the Earth that is
composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes. It exists at
the interface of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and
biosphere. The sum total of all the organisms, soils, water and air is
termed as the "pedosphere". The pedosphere is the skin of the Earth
and only develops when there is a dynamic interaction between the
atmosphere (air in and above the soil), biosphere (living organisms),
lithosphere (unconsolidated regolith and consolidated bedrock) and
the hydrosphere (water in, on and below the soil). The pedosphere is
the foundation of life on this planet. There is a realization that the
pedosphere needs to be distinctly recognized as a dynamic interface of
all terrestrial ecosystems and be integrated into the Earth System
Science knowledge base.
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The pedosphere acts as the mediator of chemical and biogeochemical
flux into and out of these respective systems and is made up of
gaseous, mineralic, fluid and biologic components. The pedosphere
lies within the Critical Zone, a broader interface that includes
vegetation, pedosphere, groundwater aquifer systems, regolith and
finally ends at some depth in the bedrock where the biosphere and
hydrosphere cease to make significant changes to the chemistry at
depth. As part of the larger global system, any particular environment
in which soil forms is influenced solely by its geographic position on
the globe as climatic, geologic, biologic and anthropogenic changes
occur with changes in longitude and latitude.
The pedosphere lies below the vegetative cover of the biosphere and
above the hydrosphere and lithosphere. The soil forming process
(pedogenesis) can begin without the aid of biology but is significantly
quickened in the presence of biologic reactions. Soil formation begins
with the chemical and/or physical breakdown of minerals to form the
initial material that overlies the bedrock substrate. Biology quickens
this by secreting acidic compounds (dominantly fulvic acids) that help
break rock apart. Particular biologic pioneers are lichen, mosses and
seed bearing plants but many other inorganic reactions take place that
diversify the chemical makeup of the early soil layer. Once
weathering and decomposition products accumulate, a coherent soil
body allows the migration of fluids both vertically and laterally
through the soil profile causing ion exchange between solid, fluid and
gaseous phases. As time progresses, the bulk geochemistry of the soil
layer will deviate away from the initial composition of the bedrock
and will evolve to a chemistry that reflects the type of reactions that
take place in the soil.
Lithosphere
At Ref 5 Wikipedia provides this description of the lithosphere.
A lithosphere [...] is the rigid, outermost shell of a rocky planet, and
can be identified on the basis of its mechanical properties. On Earth,
it comprises the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves
elastically on time scales of thousands of years or greater. The
outermost shell of a rocky planet is, the crust, defined on the basis of
its chemistry and mineralogy.
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Anthropocene
At Ref 10 Wikipedia provides a definition of Anthropocene.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene
The Anthropocene is an informal geologic chronological term that
marks the evidence and extent of human activities that have had a
significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems. The term was
coined in the 1980s by ecologist Eugene F. Stoermer and has been
widely popularized by the Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist,
Paul Crutzen, who regards the influence of human behavior on the
Earth's atmosphere in recent centuries as so significant as to constitute
a new geological epoch for its lithosphere. To date, the term has not
been adopted as part of the official nomenclature of the geological
field of study.
In 2008 a proposal was presented to the Stratigraphy Commission of
the Geological Society of London to make the Anthropocene a formal
unit of geological epoch divisions. A large majority of that
Stratigraphy Commission decided the proposal had merit and should
therefore be examined further. Steps are being taken by independent
working groups of scientists from various geological societies to
determine whether the Anthropocene will be formally accepted into
the Geological Time Scale.
Many scientists are now using the term and the Geological Society of
America entitled its 2011 annual meeting: Archean to Anthropocene:
The past is the key to the future. The Anthropocene has no precise
start date, but based on atmospheric evidence may be considered to
start with the Industrial Revolution (late eighteenth century). Other
scientists link the new term to earlier events, such as the rise of
agriculture and the Neolithic Revolution (around 12,000 years BP).
Evidence of relative human impact such as the growing human
influence on land use, ecosystems, biodiversity, and species extinction
is controversial; some scientists believe the human impact has
significantly changed (or halted) the growth of biodiversity. Those
arguing for earlier dates posit that the proposed Anthropocene may
have begun as early as 14,000 to 15,000 years before present, based
on lithospheric evidence; this has led other scientists to suggest that
"the onset of the Anthropocene should be extended back many
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thousand years"; this would be closely synchronous with the current
term, Holocene.
Anthropogenic
At Ref 10 Wikipedia provides a definition of Anthropogenic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_impact_on_the_environment
Human impact on the environment
"Anthropogenic" redirects here. It is not to be confused with
Anthropogeny or Anthropization.
Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the
environment includes impacts on biophysical environments,
biodiversity, and other resources. The term anthropogenic designates
an effect or object resulting from human activity. The term was first
used in the technical sense by Russian geologist Alexey Pavlov, and
was first used in English by British ecologist Arthur Tansley in
reference to human influences on climax plant communities. The
atmospheric scientist Paul Crutzen introduced the term
"anthropocene" in the mid-1970s. The term is sometimes used in the
context of pollution emissions that are produced as a result of human
activities but applies broadly to all major human impacts on the
environment.
Biodiversity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life. This can refer to genetic
variation, species variation, or ecosystem variation within an area,
biome, or planet. Terrestrial biodiversity tends to be highest near the
equator, which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high
primary productivity. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along
coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest
and in mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. Biodiversity generally tends
to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time but will be
likely to slow in the future.
Technodiversity
(See under ‘Novel Ecosystem’)
Ecosystem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem
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An ecosystem is a community of living organisms (plants, animals
and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their
environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a
system. These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked
together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. As ecosystems are
defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between
organisms and their environment, they can be of any size but usually
encompass specific, limited spaces (although some scientists say that
the entire planet is an ecosystem).
Energy, water, nitrogen and soil minerals are other essential abiotic
components of an ecosystem. The energy that flows through
ecosystems is obtained primarily from the sun. It generally enters the
system through photosynthesis, a process that also captures carbon
from the atmosphere. By feeding on plants and on one another,
animals play an important role in the movement of matter and energy
through the system. They also influence the quantity of plant and
microbial biomass present. By breaking down dead organic matter,
decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and facilitate
nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back
to a form that can be readily used by plants and other microbes.
Ecosystems are controlled both by external and internal factors.
External factors such as climate, the parent material which forms the
soil and topography, control the overall structure of an ecosystem and
the way things work within it, but are not themselves influenced by
the ecosystem. Other external factors include time and potential biota.
Ecosystems are dynamic entities—invariably, they are subject to
periodic disturbances and are in the process of recovering from some
past disturbance. Ecosystems in similar environments that are located
in different parts of the world can have very different characteristics
simply because they contain different species. The introduction of
non-native species can cause substantial shifts in ecosystem function.
Internal factors not only control ecosystem processes but are also
controlled by them and are often subject to feedback loops. While the
resource inputs are generally controlled by external processes like
climate and parent material, the availability of these resources within
the ecosystem is controlled by internal factors like decomposition,
root competition or shading. Other internal factors include
disturbance, succession and the types of species present. Although
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humans exist and operate within ecosystems, their cumulative effects
are large enough to influence external factors like climate.
Biodiversity affects ecosystem function, as do the processes of
disturbance and succession. Ecosystems provide a variety of goods
and services upon which people depend; the principles of ecosystem
management suggest that rather than managing individual species,
natural resources should be managed at the level of the ecosystem
itself. Classifying ecosystems into ecologically homogeneous units is
an important step towards effective ecosystem management, but there
is no single, agreed-upon way to do this.
Novel Ecosystem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel_ecosystem
[ This is a brief but thought-provoking article, reproduced almost in its entirety,
here, but with references stripped out. There are over 30 good references provided
in the online article. This mini-lexicon provides a good contextual definition of
these important concepts.]
[Initial Description]
Novel ecosystems are human-built, modified, or engineered niches of
the Anthropocene. They exist in places that have been altered in
structure and function by human agency. Novel ecosystems are part
of the human environment and niche (including urban, suburban, and
rural), they lack natural analogs, and they have extended an influence
that has converted more than three-quarters of wild Earth. These
anthropogenic biomes include technoecosystems that are fuelled by
powerful energy sources (fossil and nuclear) including ecosystems
populated with technodiversity, such as roads and unique
combinations of soils called technosols. Vegetation associations on
old buildings or along field boundary stone walls in old agricultural
landscapes are examples of sites where research into novel ecosystem
ecology is developing.
Overview
Human society has transformed the planet to such an extent that we
may have ushered in a new epoch known as the Anthropocene. The
ecological niche of the anthropocene contains entirely novel
ecosystems that include technosols, technodiversity, anthromes, and
the technosphere. These terms describe the human ecological
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phenomena marking this unique turn in the evolution of Earth's
history. The total human ecosystem (or anthrome) describes the
relationship of the industrial technosphere to the ecosphere.
Technoecosystems interface with natural life-supporting ecosystems
in competitive and parasitic ways. [ ... ]
Novel Ecosystems
A novel ecosystem is one that has been heavily influenced by humans
but is not under human management. A working tree plantation
doesn't qualify; one abandoned decades ago would. Novel ecosystems
"differ in composition and/or function from present and past systems".
Novel ecosystems are the hallmark of the recently proposed
anthropocene epoch. They have no natural analogs due to human
alterations on global climate systems, invasive species, a global mass
extinction, and disruption of the global nitrogen cycle. Novel
ecosystems are creating many different kinds of dilemmas for
conservation biologists. On a more local scale, abandoned lots,
agricultural land, old buildings, or field boundary stone walls provide
study sites on the history and dynamics of ecology in novel
ecosystems.
Anthropogenic biomes (See also: Total Human Ecosystem)
Anthropogenic biomes tell a completely different story, one of
“human systems, with natural ecosystems embedded within them”.
This is no minor change in the story we tell our children and each
other. Yet it is necessary for sustainable management of the biosphere
in the 21st century. Ellis identifies twenty-one different kinds of
anthropogenic biomes that sort into the following groups: 1) dense
settlements, 2) villages, 3) croplands, 4) rangeland, 5) forested, and 6)
wildlands. These anthropogenic biomes (or anthromes for short)
create the technosphere that surrounds us and are populated with
diverse technologies (or technodiversity for short). Within these
anthromes the human species (one species out of billions)
appropriates 23.8% of the global net primary production. "This is a
remarkable impact on the biosphere caused by just one species."
Noösphere
[ ... ] (See under its own description.)
Technosphere
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The technosphere is the part of the environment on Earth where
technodiversity extends its influence into the biosphere. "For the
development of suitable restoration strategies, a clear distinction has
to be made between different functional classes of natural and cultural
solar-powered biosphere and fossil-powered technosphere landscapes,
according to their inputs and throughputs of energy and materials,
their organisms, their control by natural or human information, their
internal self-organization and their regenerative capacities."
Technoecosystems
The concept of technoecosystems has been pioneered by ecologists
Howard T. Odum and Zev Naveh. Technoecosystems interface with
and are competitive toward natural systems. They have advanced
technology (or technodiversity) money-based market economies and
have a large ecological footprints. Technoecosystems have far greater
energy requirements than natural ecosystems, excessive water
consumption, and release toxic and eutrophicating chemicals. Other
ecologists have defined the extensive global network of road systems
as a type of technoecosystem.
Techno-ecotopes
"Bio-agro- and techno-ecotopes are spatially integrated in larger,
regional landscape units, but they are not structurally and functionally
integrated in the ecosphere. Because of the adverse impacts of the
latter and the great human pressures on bio-ecotopes, they are even
antagonistically related and therefore cannot function together as a
coherent, sustainable ecological system."
Technosols
Technosols are a new form of soil group in the World Reference Base
for Soil Resources. Technosols are "mainly characterised by
anthropogenic parent material of organic and mineral nature and
which origin can be either natural or technogenic."
Technodiversity
Technodiversity refers to the varied diversity of technological artifacts
that exist in technoecosystems.
Biome
At Ref 8 Wikipedia provides a description of a biome.
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Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as contiguous
areas with similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as
communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often
referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less
the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a large area,
creating a typical ecosystem over that area. Such major ecosystems
are termed as biomes. Biomes are defined by factors such as plant
structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as
broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna),
and climate. Unlike ecozones, biomes are not defined by genetic,
taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with
particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation
(quasiequilibrium state of the local ecosystem). An ecosystem has
many biotopes and a biome is a major habitat type. A major habitat
type, however, is a compromise, as it has an intrinsic inhomogeneity.
Some examples of habitats are ponds, trees, streams, creeks, under
rocks and burrows in the sand or soil.
The biodiversity characteristic of each extinction, especially the
diversity of fauna and subdominant plant forms, is a function of
abiotic factors and the biomass productivity of the dominant
vegetation. In terrestrial biomes, species diversity tends to correlate
positively with net primary productivity, moisture availability, and
temperature.
Ecoregions are grouped into both biomes and ecozones.
A fundamental classification of biomes are:
 Terrestrial (land) biomes which includes grassland, tropical
rainforest, temperate and tundra
 Aquatic biomes (including freshwater biomes and marine biomes)
Biomes are often known in English by local names. For example, a
temperate grassland or shrubland biome is known commonly as
steppe in central Asia, prairie in North America, and pampas in South
America. Tropical grasslands are known as savanna in Australia,
whereas in southern Africa they are known as certain kinds of veld
(from Afrikaans).
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Sometimes an entire biome may be targeted for protection, especially
under an individual nation's biodiversity action plan.
Climate is a major factor determining the distribution of terrestrial
biomes. Among the important climatic factors are:
 Latitude: Arctic, boreal, temperate, subtropical, tropical
 Humidity: humid, semihumid, semiarid, and arid
 seasonal variation: Rainfall may be distributed evenly
throughout the year or be marked by seasonal variations.
 dry summer, wet winter: Most regions of the earth receive most
of their rainfall during the summer months; Mediterranean
climate regions receive their rainfall during the winter months.
 Elevation: Increasing elevation causes a distribution of habitat
types similar to that of increasing latitude.
The most widely used systems of classifying biomes correspond to
latitude (or temperature zoning) and humidity. Biodiversity generally
increases away from the poles towards the equator and increases with
humidity.
Anthrome
At Ref 9 Wikipedia provides a description of anthrome.
Anthropogenic biomes, also known as anthromes or human biomes,
describe the terrestrial biosphere in its contemporary, human-altered
form using global ecosystem units defined by global patterns of
sustained direct human interaction with ecosystems.
For more than a century, the biosphere has been described in terms of
global ecosystem units called biomes, which are vegetation types like
tropical rainforests and grasslands that are identified in relation to
global climate patterns. Taking into account the fact that human
populations and their use of land have fundamentally altered global
patterns of ecosystem form, process, and biodiversity, anthropogenic
biomes provide a framework for integrating human systems with the
biosphere in the Anthropocene.
Anthromes include dense settlements (urban and mixed settlements),
villages, croplands, rangelands and seminatural lands and have been
mapped globally using two different classification systems, viewable
on Google Maps and Google Earth:
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http://ecotope.org/anthromes/maps/
Phenosphere
Example of usage
http://neocybernetics.com/report151/S7.pdf
When the cognitive system was taken as an example of cybernetic
systems, some general aspects of the cybernetic models – like the
possibilities and interpretations of sparse coded subspaces – could be
made better comprehensible. But, after all, perhaps that example best
illustrated how different the systems in different phenospheres can be.
Whereas intelligence can be defined as the capability of tackling with
and managing in new, unknown environments, life can be
characterized as the capability of tackling with and managing in
familiar, known environments. Intelligence is manifested in
creativity, but life is manifested in routine.
Example of Usage
http://www.phenomenex.com/
A technical term in the sales literature of the Phenomenex company in
the marketing of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
equipment.
Artifact
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artifact_(archaeology)
An artifact or artefact (from Latin phrase arte factum, [ made from
skill ] [ ... ] ) is "something made or given shape by man, such as a
tool or a work of art [ ... ]".
Environment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_(biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the biotic and abiotic surrounding of
an organism or population, and includes the factors that have an
influence in their survival, development and evolution. The term
environment can refer to different concepts, but is often used as a
short form for the biophysical environment. This practice is common,
for instance, among governments which entitle agencies dealing with
the biophysical environment with denominations such as Environment
Agency. Whereas the expression "the environment" is often used to
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refer to the global environment, usually in relation to humanity, the
number of biophysical environments is countless, given that it is
always possible to consider an additional living organism that has its
own environment.
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References - Online
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3.
4.
5.
6.
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8.
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10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_spheres#Earth.27s_spheres
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troposphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrosphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithosphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedosphere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropogenic_biome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf-cutter_ants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atta_cephalotes
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1448011/Lepiotaceae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novel_ecosystem
http://myplace.frontier.com/~dffix/medmicro/normal.htm
References – Other
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2.
List them here.
References