Nature

Nature
Thomas Fuhrmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Nature
Region	Global
Domain	Natural world

Nature Nature is the totality of the physical world and life that exists independently of specific human constructions, encompassing landscapes, organisms, and processes across Earth and beyond. It is studied and described by many observers, institutions, and traditions, including explorers, naturalists, and scientific societies that arose in hubs such as London, Paris, Berlin, Cambridge University, and Harvard University. Debates over the meaning and stewardship of nature have involved figures and events from Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle voyage to policy instruments developed at the United Nations Environment Programme and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Definition and scope

Scholars, naturalists, and jurists have offered definitions of nature spanning biological diversity, geological formations, and atmospheric phenomena described in works by Carl Linnaeus, Alexander von Humboldt, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Rachel Carson. The scope of nature includes ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest, the Sahara Desert, and the Great Barrier Reef, and extends to extraterrestrial environments investigated by missions like Voyager 1, Mars rovers, and Cassini–Huygens. Institutional frameworks invoking nature appear in charters and declarations such as the Stockholm Declaration, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and rulings by the International Court of Justice concerning environmental harm.

Origins and history of the concept

Ancient traditions in Greece (Aristotle), India (the Vedas), and China (Daoist texts) developed early conceptions of nature later transformed by medieval scholars in Baghdad and Cordoba and by Renaissance figures in Florence and Prague. The Scientific Revolution advanced natural philosophy through contributions from Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, and Johannes Kepler, while the Enlightenment and Romanticism shaped cultural portrayals via writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, William Wordsworth, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Colonial expansion by powers like Spain, Portugal, Britain, and The Netherlands redistributed species and ecosystems, prompting studies by institutions such as the Royal Society and expeditions led by James Cook and Alexander von Humboldt.

Components and systems (ecology, biomes, organisms)

Ecosystems recognized by ecologists include temperate forests, tundra, savanna, and coral reefs with typologies formalized by organizations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and research centers at Smithsonian Institution and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Biomes like the Taiga, Mediterranean Forests, and Tropical Rainforest host taxa cataloged through taxonomic work initiated by Carl Linnaeus and continued in collections maintained at institutions including the Natural History Museum, London, the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, and the American Museum of Natural History. Prominent organisms central to ecosystem function have been subjects in studies by Gregor Mendel (peas), Barbara McClintock (maize), and fieldwork by Jane Goodall (chimpanzees), Dian Fossey (gorillas), and Biruté Galdikas (orangutans).

Processes and cycles (energy flow, biogeochemical cycles)

Primary production and food webs describe energy flow from primary producers such as phytoplankton studied in expeditions by Charles Wyville Thomson to grazing systems documented in the Serengeti studies funded by institutions like National Geographic Society and analyzed in theoretical frameworks by ecologists including Aldo Leopold and E. O. Wilson. Biogeochemical cycles—carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water—have been central to research at programs like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and observatories such as Mauna Loa Observatory and the Global Ocean Observing System. Disturbance regimes including wildfire dynamics in regions like California and Australia and flood cycles on rivers such as the Amazon River are modeled in work by agencies like National Aeronautics and Space Administration and European Space Agency.

Human interaction and impact

Human activities from agriculture in the Fertile Crescent to industrialization in Manchester and urbanization in metropolises such as New York City and Tokyo have reshaped habitats, driven extinctions noted by scholars at the Linnean Society of London, and altered planetary systems described in the concept of the Anthropocene. Resource extraction by corporations and states during events like the Industrial Revolution and projects such as the Three Gorges Dam have prompted regulatory responses from bodies such as the World Bank, European Commission, and national agencies like the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Social movements and landmark legal cases—led by figures affiliated with organizations like Greenpeace, Sierra Club, and indigenous groups represented at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues—have contested development pathways and sought recognition of rights related to natural sites like the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Conservation and restoration efforts

Conservation strategies range from protected areas exemplified by Yellowstone National Park and Galápagos National Park to international mechanisms such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Ramsar Convention. Restoration initiatives include rewilding projects in the Scottish Highlands, peatland restoration in the Netherlands, and coral reef rehabilitation in the Coral Triangle supported by agencies like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and funding from foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and MacArthur Foundation. Scientific networks and programs—World Wildlife Fund, BirdLife International, Conservation International, and the IUCN Red List—coordinate taxonomy, protected-area design, and species recovery plans informed by research at universities including Stanford University, University of Oxford, and University of Cape Town.

Category:Nature