séminaire Philbio

Nous aurons le plaisir d'écouter : Maël Montévil (ENS, Centre Cavaillès)

 Titre : Disruptions in biology: theorizing a hallmark of the Anthropocene

Abstract :  Biologists often use the term "disruption" informally to describe the effects of detrimental anthropogenic causes. A proper concept of disruption should be distinct from perturbations or, in ecology, from generic disturbances. We illustrate this with examples from ecology, using the case of plant-pollinator networks, from organismal biology, with endocrine disruptors, and at the interface of psychological and cognitive development with digital media and young children. Specifically, we argue that understanding disruptions requires the articulation of historical and relational reasoning. The object of disruption, such as endocrine regulation or seasonal synchrony between plants and pollinators, is a specific property coming from history that is disturbed in a new, random way, leading to a loss or degradation of this specificity. Moreover, initially, this specificity plays a specific relational role, typically a functional one. This role is lost or impaired by the disruption, which explains the disorganization characteristic of disruptions. In our view, however, disruptions are a normal part of the evolutionary process. What is severely detrimental in the Anthropocene is the accumulation of disruptions at a pace that exceeds the ability of living entities to overcome them.