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The Biological Diversity that Is Humanly Possible: Three Models Relevant to Human Population’s Relationship with Native Species

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Human Population

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 214))

Abstract

The essay is a review of three models that are relevant to human–biodiversity relationships, and could be modified by researchers to further conceptualize, hypothesize, and in some cases, predict system dynamics. The first model, which applies the average adult body weight of Homo sapiens to statistical models predicting mammalian herbivore and predator density, suggests the degree to which our species has modified the landscape and channeled energy and nutrient flux in order to achieve densities that are today nearly three orders of magnitude greater than predicted for preagricultural humans. The second model makes explicit three types of risks to the viability of populations of native species: risks within the protected area, risks from between-area hazards, and risks at the reserve perimeter. The third model appears as a graphic representation of the theory of human density-driven agricultural change that endeavors to make Boserup’s powerful thesis more useful to ecologists.

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Acknowledgment

I thank Robert Engelman and Larry Gorenflo for editing and commenting on earlier drafts of this essay. Problems that remain are of my own doing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Demographer-in-residence, H.L. Stimson Center, 1111 19th Street, 12th Floor, NW, Washington, DC, 20036, USA

    Richard P. Cincotta

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  1. Richard P. Cincotta
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Correspondence to Richard P. Cincotta .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Demographer-in-residence, The Stimson Center, 19th St. NW. 1111, Washington, 20036, District of Columbia, USA

    Richard P. Cincotta

  2. , Department of Landscape Architecture, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802-1912, Pennsylvania, USA

    Larry J. Gorenflo

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Cincotta, R.P. (2011). The Biological Diversity that Is Humanly Possible: Three Models Relevant to Human Population’s Relationship with Native Species. In: Cincotta, R., Gorenflo, L. (eds) Human Population. Ecological Studies, vol 214. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16707-2_5

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