Ecological greenlash – An ignored calamity

Globalization may have brought the world closer in terms of producing goods cheaper and yet maintaining the costs and quality of the produced product. This however has caused a rampant illness to the eco system of the planet, termed as Ecological Greenlash. Ecological greenlash occurs when human action aimed at increasing the supply of a desired ecosystem service (e.g. food production) inadvertently degrade other ecosystem services (e.g. climatic regulation or pollination) that are essential for the provision of the desired ecosystem service, consequently reducing the supply of the desired ecosystem service. The world is also becoming highly interconnected through the movement of people and the transport of goods locally to globally. Among ecologists, there is an increasing realization that these connections can have profound influences on the long-term dynamics of ecological systems.

Scientists have long argued that long-term monitoring provides valuable information, but is often underfunded because studies can take years to yield results. The National Science Foundation’s Long Term Ecological Research network and its National Ecological Observatory Network are seen as important pillars in this field that need further investments.
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