Ecology of the Anthropocene signals hope for consciously managing the planetary ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Human populations have grown to such an extent that our species has become a dominant force on the planet, prompting geologists to begin applying the term Anthropocene to recognize the present moment. Many approaches seek to explain the past and future of human population growth, in the form of narratives and models. Some of the most influential models have parameters that cannot be precisely known but are estimated by expert opinion. Here we apply a unified model of ecology to provide a macroscale summary of the net effects of many microscale processes, using a minimal set of parameters that can be known. Our models match estimates of historic and prehistoric global human population numbers and provide predictions that correspond to some of the more complicated current models. In addition

SUBMITTER: Lehman C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8285894 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature