Ecosystem Health and the Political Process: Ullsten and Rapport Revisited

Declining ecosystem health worldwide arguably is partly a consequence of a cultural and political economic disconnect between policy makers and scientists. Previous authors of “Viewpoint” describe this gap in terms of the relative inaction of policy makers in response to warnings from the scientific community. We provide an expanded perspective by considering the sociocultural evolution of political economies, and by contextualizing this dilemma within our overspecialized contemporary society. Our commentary suggests the ecosystem health community can work toward narrowing the policy-science disjunction despite the disparate cultures of these communities.