Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle
The nitrogen (N) cycle is a familiar concept. As is the much simplified, often diagrammatic, representation commonly used to illustrate the scale, importance and interconnectedness of this global cycle that links air, water, rocks and living beings. However, in this representation, humans are often...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Ecosystems and People |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26395916.2024.2380856 |
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| author | Bede West Maximilian Bauer Charis Chalkiadakis Nicolas Dendoncker Tanya M. González-Martínez André Mascarenhas Francesca Leucci Benjamin B. Phillips Konstantina Tania Ploumi Carolina Rodriguez Marie Vandewalle Carla-Leanne Washbourne |
| author_facet | Bede West Maximilian Bauer Charis Chalkiadakis Nicolas Dendoncker Tanya M. González-Martínez André Mascarenhas Francesca Leucci Benjamin B. Phillips Konstantina Tania Ploumi Carolina Rodriguez Marie Vandewalle Carla-Leanne Washbourne |
| author_sort | Bede West |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The nitrogen (N) cycle is a familiar concept. As is the much simplified, often diagrammatic, representation commonly used to illustrate the scale, importance and interconnectedness of this global cycle that links air, water, rocks and living beings. However, in this representation, humans are often presented as a seemingly minor entity or not explicitly shown at all. This can obscure the idea that humanity is both a direct beneficiary of the nitrogen cycle (through food and resources) and an increasingly significant influence on its function. This study sought to understand how diverse Human-Nature relationships (HNR) are expressed in recent academic literature on the nitrogen cycle. A sample of peer-reviewed literature, containing explicit and inferred examples of HNR and the nitrogen cycle, was analysed using two approaches: 1) network analysis, identifying and illustrating all quantifiable links made between components of the nitrogen cycle, and 2) content analysis to understand how different kinds of terminology were being used to describe relationships between components in the cycle. The network analysis revealed diverse links between ‘human’ and ‘non-human nature’. The content analysis found some explicit use of relational terms, most commonly ‘depend*’. Both approaches highlighted strongly reciprocal links within the ‘human’ realm and the explicit centrality in which this is held across the corpus. We demonstrate the utility of combining quantitative and qualitative analysis to understand nuanced relationships in the nitrogen cycle and explore the utility this has to increase the acknowledgement and appreciation of HNR in science communication and science-policy interface work. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8c42be27aa2c40129efd62d565843f1d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2639-5908 2639-5916 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosystems and People |
| spelling | doaj-art-8c42be27aa2c40129efd62d565843f1d2024-12-27T07:00:22ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEcosystems and People2639-59082639-59162024-12-0120110.1080/26395916.2024.2380856Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycleBede West0Maximilian Bauer1Charis Chalkiadakis2Nicolas Dendoncker3Tanya M. González-Martínez4André Mascarenhas5Francesca Leucci6Benjamin B. Phillips7Konstantina Tania Ploumi8Carolina Rodriguez9Marie Vandewalle10Carla-Leanne Washbourne11Soil and Land Use, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UK CEH), Wallingford, UKInstitute for Plant Ecology (IFZ), Department for Plant Ecology, Justus-Liebig Universität Gießen, GermanyDepartment of Geo-Information Processing, ITC Faculty Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, Enschede, NetherlandsInstitute of Life, Earth and Environment, Department of Gepgraphy, Université de Namur, BelgiumFaculty of Sciences, Instituto de Ciencias de Agropecuarias y Rurales (ICAR), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), MexicoHumboldt-Universität Zu Berlin, Geography DepartmentLaw Group, Wageningen University & Research, NetherlandsEnvironment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, UKState University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, USAFarming Systems Ecology Group, Wageningen University & Research, NetherlandsNSF, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), GermanyDepartment of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy, University College London, London, UKThe nitrogen (N) cycle is a familiar concept. As is the much simplified, often diagrammatic, representation commonly used to illustrate the scale, importance and interconnectedness of this global cycle that links air, water, rocks and living beings. However, in this representation, humans are often presented as a seemingly minor entity or not explicitly shown at all. This can obscure the idea that humanity is both a direct beneficiary of the nitrogen cycle (through food and resources) and an increasingly significant influence on its function. This study sought to understand how diverse Human-Nature relationships (HNR) are expressed in recent academic literature on the nitrogen cycle. A sample of peer-reviewed literature, containing explicit and inferred examples of HNR and the nitrogen cycle, was analysed using two approaches: 1) network analysis, identifying and illustrating all quantifiable links made between components of the nitrogen cycle, and 2) content analysis to understand how different kinds of terminology were being used to describe relationships between components in the cycle. The network analysis revealed diverse links between ‘human’ and ‘non-human nature’. The content analysis found some explicit use of relational terms, most commonly ‘depend*’. Both approaches highlighted strongly reciprocal links within the ‘human’ realm and the explicit centrality in which this is held across the corpus. We demonstrate the utility of combining quantitative and qualitative analysis to understand nuanced relationships in the nitrogen cycle and explore the utility this has to increase the acknowledgement and appreciation of HNR in science communication and science-policy interface work.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26395916.2024.2380856Catharina (Nynke) SchulpNitrogen cyclehuman-nature relationshipsdependencenetworkqualitative |
| spellingShingle | Bede West Maximilian Bauer Charis Chalkiadakis Nicolas Dendoncker Tanya M. González-Martínez André Mascarenhas Francesca Leucci Benjamin B. Phillips Konstantina Tania Ploumi Carolina Rodriguez Marie Vandewalle Carla-Leanne Washbourne Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle Ecosystems and People Catharina (Nynke) Schulp Nitrogen cycle human-nature relationships dependence network qualitative |
| title | Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle |
| title_full | Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle |
| title_fullStr | Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle |
| title_short | Exploring human-nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle |
| title_sort | exploring human nature relationships in academic literature on the nitrogen cycle |
| topic | Catharina (Nynke) Schulp Nitrogen cycle human-nature relationships dependence network qualitative |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26395916.2024.2380856 |
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