Virtual Habitats and the Value of Nature #3

Entrusting in Artefacts Rather than Shifting Baselines:
Habitat Diorama as Artefacts of Ecosystems Destroyed

Shifting Baseline Syndrome, a coin termed by Daniel Pauly (Pauly 1995) describes a:

“‘generational amnesia’, where each new generation is unaware of—or, perhaps, does not take seriously—the environmental knowledge of previous generations... loss of knowledge of even large and charismatic species can be startlingly rapid.” (Corlett 2013).

Pauly identified the syndrome as an explanation as to why the fishing industry underestimated the decline of fishing stocks — discovering that people used their lived experience as a point of comparison for declining fish populations, and therefore didn't realise the fish populations were significantly diminished already from historical levels. The baseline of what constitutes ecological diversity shifts with each generation, which prevents recognition of the long term diminishing of population size, and ecological diversity.

That we think of Tasmanian Tigers Thylacinus cynocephalus and Tasmanian Devils Sarcophilus harrisii as Tasmanian; is a symptom of Shifting Baseline Syndrome. They have not been species experienced by mainland Australians in living memory, but we know these species roamed mainland Australia within quite recent ecological history. The Tasmanian Tiger still prowled throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea 3,300 years ago (Fletcher 2008) a century after the reign Egypt's most legendary Pharaoh Ramesses II ruler (British Museum n.d.)^*, and the Tasmanian Devil became extinct on the mainland only an approximate 400 years ago (Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania n.d.).

In the current era, many artefacts remain from the reign of Ramesses II, allowing curious audiences to experience the ancient culture of Egypt; but the Tasmanian Tiger is long since extinct on the mainland, and more recently extinct in Tasmania. Little is left behind in records and specimens, but a long legacy remains of people who feel lessened by the absence of the Thylacine, often not knowing (because of shifting baselines) that the loss is greater, as this species was once endemic throughout Australia and Papua New Guinea. If this is an experience we have lost already, what experiences of our wildlife will future generations miss? 
 
Within the South West Region, it may be the iconic Carnaby's Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris. Fifty years ago they frequently flocked in the thousands, with a cacophony of keening calls. Now, because of loss of habitat and nesting locations caused by the clearing of woodland wilderness throughout the wheat-belt (Western Australian Museum n.d.); much of the remaining population is comprised of individuals beyond breeding age. While there still seem plenty about, the reality is that the population has been greatly reduced, and while these birds can live for 40-50 years, once they're gone, there will be few, if any, Carnaby's Black Cockatoos able to continue the population (Department of the Environment and Heritage 2004). 
 
Or perhaps it will be the incredible subterranean West Australian Underground Orchid Rhizanthella gardneri, another wheat-belt species, only discovered to science in 1928 (Heberle n.d.), critically endangered and hardly known of now with only 50 individuals remaining (The University of Western Australia n.d.), it seems likely to slip nearly unnoticed into extinction. Models to show nature as it is, and as it has been; are necessary to even comprehend how habitats have changed across human history.

Dioramas are a method to assist in establishing the concept of shifting baselines through their function of artefacts capable of immersing audiences in preserved representations of wilderness. Habitat dioramas preserve habitats which no longer exist, and species that are also disappearing (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles n.d.). 

A widespread understanding of the concept of shifting baselines is necessary to understand a broader picture of how factors such as human activity are effecting ecosystems, and establishing retrospective baselines against which to compare the experience of wilderness. It is critical that we consider how we can present our wildlife to future generations, so that they can appreciate the loss of ecological diversity, and understand how ecosystems will continue to be fundamentally altered. 

 ^*Historical perspective is important – after all, shifting baselines are about forgetting how the natural world has changed throughout the lives of humans. 

References

British Museum. n.d. Ramesses II, King of Egypt (1279-1213 BC). http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/article_index/r/ramesses_ii,_king_of_egypt_12.aspx (accessed September 10, 2013).

Corlett, R. T. 2013. “The shifted baseline: Prehistoric defaunation in the tropics and its consequences for biodiversity conservation”. Biological Conservation 163.13–21. http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.11.012

Department of the Environment and Heritage. 2004. Australian Threatened Species: Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris). http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/black-cockatoo.html (accessed September 10, 2013).

Fletcher, A. L. 2008. “Bring ‘Em back alive: Taming the Tasmanian tiger cloning project”. Technology in Society 30(2). 194–201. http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1016/j.techsoc.2007.12.010

 Heberle, R. n.d. Rhizanthella gardneri 'Underground Orchids'. http://members.iinet.net.au/~emntee/Rhizanthella_gardnerii7.htm (accessed September 10, 2013).

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. n.d. African Mammal Hall. http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/african-mammals (accessed September 10, 2013). 

Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania. n.d. Tasmanian Devil, Sarcophilus harrisii. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=387 (accessed September 10, 2013).

Pauly, D. 1995. “Anecdotes and the shifting baseline syndrome of fisheries”. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 10 (10). 430. http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.1016/S0169-5347(00)89171-5

The University of Western Australia. n.d. University News: WA's incredible underground orchid. http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201102073251/research/was-incredible-underground-orchid (accessed September 10, 2013). 

Western Australian Museum. n.d. Carnaby's Cockatoo. http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/online-exhibitions/cockatoo-care/carnabys-cockatoo (accessed September 10, 2013).