Abstract
Our global impact is finally receiving the scientific attention it
deserves. The outcome will largely determine the future course of
evolution. Human-modified ecosystems are shaped by our activities and
their side effects. They share a common set of traits including
simplified food webs, landscape homogenization, and high nutrient and
energy inputs. Ecosystem simplification is the ecological hallmark of
humanity and the reason for our evolutionary success. However, the side
effects of our profligacy and poor resource practices are now so
pervasive as to threaten our future no less than that of biological
diversity itself. This article looks at human impact on ecosystems and
the consequences for evolution. It concludes that future evolution will
be shaped by our awareness of the global threats, our willingness to
take action, and our ability to do so. Our ability is presently
hampered by several factors, including the poor state of ecosystem and
planetary knowledge, ignorance of human impact, lack of guidelines for
sustainability, and a paucity of good policies, practices, and
incentives for adopting those guidelines in daily life. Conservation
philosophy, science, and practice must be framed against the reality of
human-dominated ecosystems, rather than the separation of humanity
and nature underlying the modern conservation movement. The steps
scientists can take to imbed science in conservation and conservation
in the societal process affecting the future of ecosystems and human
well-being are discussed.
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences