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Gayo EM, Lima M, Gurruchaga A, Estay SA, Santoro CM, Latorre C, McRostie V. Towards understanding human-environment feedback loops: the Atacama Desert case. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220253. [PMID: 37952616 PMCID: PMC10645077 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The overall trajectory for the human-environment interaction has been punctuated by demographic boom-and-bust cycles, phases of growth/overshooting as well as of expansion/contraction in productivity. Although this pattern has been explained in terms of an interplay between population growth, social upscaling, ecosystem engineering and climate variability, the evoked demographic-resource-complexity mechanisms have not been empirically tested. By integrating proxy data for population sizes, palaeoclimate and internal societal factors into empirical modelling approaches from the population dynamic theory, we evaluated how endogenous (population sizes, warfare and social upscaling) and exogenous (climate) variables module the dynamic in past agrarian societies. We focused on the inland Atacama Desert, where populations developed agriculture activities by engineering arid and semi-arid landscapes during the last 2000 years. Our modelling approach indicates that these populations experienced a boom-and-bust dynamic over the last millennia, which was coupled to structure feedback between population sizes, hydroclimate, social upscaling, warfare and ecosystem engineering. Thus, the human-environment loop appears closely linked with cooperation, competition, limiting resources and the ability of problem-solving. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenia M. Gayo
- Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8331051, Chile
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, Chile
- Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR)2, Santiago 8370449, Chile
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Santiago 7750000, Chile
| | - Mauricio Lima
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, Chile
- Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Andone Gurruchaga
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, Chile
| | - Sergio A. Estay
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Santiago 8331150, Chile
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile
| | - Calogero M. Santoro
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica 1001236, Chile
| | - Claudio Latorre
- Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Santiago 7750000, Chile
- Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 8331150, Chile
- Centro PUC Desierto de Atacama (CDA), Santiago 7821093, Chile
| | - Virginia McRostie
- Escuela de Antropología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7821093, Chile
- Centro PUC Desierto de Atacama (CDA), Santiago 7821093, Chile
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2
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Dorninger C, Menéndez LP, Caniglia G. Social-ecological niche construction for sustainability: understanding destructive processes and exploring regenerative potentials. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220431. [PMID: 37952625 PMCID: PMC10645119 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Through the exponential expansion of human activities, humanity has become the driving force of global environmental change. The consequent global sustainability crisis has been described as a result of a uniquely human form of adaptability and niche construction. In this paper, we introduce the concept of social-ecological niche construction focusing on biophysical interactions and outcomes. We use it to address destructive processes and to discuss potential regenerative ones as ways to overcome them. From a niche construction point of view, the increasing disconnections between human activities and environmental feedbacks appear as a success story in the history of human-nature coevolution because they enable humans to expand activities virtually without being limited by environmental constraints. However, it is still poorly understood how suppressed environmental feedbacks affect future generations and other species, or which lock-ins and self-destructive dynamics may unfold in the long-term. This is crucial as the observed escape from natural selection requires growing energy input and represents a temporal deferral rather than an actual liberation from material limitations. Relying on our proposal, we conclude that, instead of further taming nature, there is need to explore the potential of how to tame socio-metabolic growth and impact in niche construction processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Dorninger
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Martinstraße 12, Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria
- Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Schottenfeldgasse 29, Vienna 1070, Austria
| | - Lumila Paula Menéndez
- Department of Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Oxfordstraße 15, 53111 Bonn, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Guido Caniglia
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Martinstraße 12, Klosterneuburg 3400, Austria
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3
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Waring TM, Wood ZT, Szathmáry E. Characteristic processes of human evolution caused the Anthropocene and may obstruct its global solutions. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220259. [PMID: 37952628 PMCID: PMC10645123 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
We propose that the global environmental crises of the Anthropocene are the outcome of a ratcheting process in long-term human evolution which has favoured groups of increased size and greater environmental exploitation. To explore this hypothesis, we review the changes in the human ecological niche. Evidence indicates the growth of the human niche has been facilitated by group-level cultural traits for environmental control. Following this logic, sustaining the biosphere under intense human use will probably require global cultural traits, including legal and technical systems. We investigate the conditions for the evolution of global cultural traits. We estimate that our species does not exhibit adequate population structure to evolve these traits. Our analysis suggests that characteristic patterns of human group-level cultural evolution created the Anthropocene and will work against global collective solutions to the environmental challenges it poses. We illustrate the implications of this theory with alternative evolutionary paths for humanity. We conclude that our species must alter longstanding patterns of cultural evolution to avoid environmental disaster and escalating between-group competition. We propose an applied research and policy programme with the goal of avoiding these outcomes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy M. Waring
- Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
| | - Zachary T. Wood
- Department of Biology, Colby College, 4000 Mayflower Hill Drive, Waterville, ME 04901, USA
| | - Eörs Szathmáry
- Institute of Evolution, Centre for Ecological Research, Budapest, Hungary
- Center for the Conceptual Foundations of Science, Parmenides Foundation, Pöcking, Germany
- Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary
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4
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Lima M, Gayo EM, Estay SA, Gurruchaga A, Robinson E, Freeman J, Latorre C, Bird D. Positive feedbacks in deep-time transitions of human populations. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220256. [PMID: 37952621 PMCID: PMC10645116 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Abrupt and rapid changes in human societies are among the most exciting population phenomena. Human populations tend to show rapid expansions from low to high population density along with increased social complexity in just a few generations. Such demographic transitions appear as a remarkable feature of Homo sapiens population dynamics, most likely fuelled by the ability to accumulate cultural/technological innovations that actively modify their environment. We are especially interested in establishing if the demographic transitions of pre-historic populations show the same dynamic signature of the Industrial Revolution transition (a positive relationship between population growth rates and size). Our results show that population growth patterns across different pre-historic societies were similar to those observed during the Industrial Revolution in developed western societies. These features, which appear to have been operating during most of our recent demographic history from hunter-gatherers to modern industrial societies, imply that the dynamics of cooperation underlay sudden population transitions in human societies. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauricio Lima
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, RM 8320000, Chile
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, RM 8320000, Chile
| | - Eugenia M. Gayo
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, RM 8320000, Chile
- Departamento de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, RM 8320000, Chile
| | - Sergio A. Estay
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, RM 8320000, Chile
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile
| | - Andone Gurruchaga
- Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, RM 8320000, Chile
| | - Erick Robinson
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 852879, USA
- Native Environment Solutions LLC, Boise, ID, 83250, USA
| | - Jacob Freeman
- Anthropology Program, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322, USA
- The Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322, USA
| | - Claudio Latorre
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, RM 8320000, Chile
| | - Darcy Bird
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, 99164, USA
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5
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Søgaard Jørgensen P, Jansen REV, Avila Ortega DI, Wang-Erlandsson L, Donges JF, Österblom H, Olsson P, Nyström M, Lade SJ, Hahn T, Folke C, Peterson GD, Crépin AS. Evolution of the polycrisis: Anthropocene traps that challenge global sustainability. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220261. [PMID: 37952617 PMCID: PMC10645130 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The Anthropocene is characterized by accelerating change and global challenges of increasing complexity. Inspired by what some have called a polycrisis, we explore whether the human trajectory of increasing complexity and influence on the Earth system could become a form of trap for humanity. Based on an adaptation of the evolutionary traps concept to a global human context, we present results from a participatory mapping. We identify 14 traps and categorize them as either global, technology or structural traps. An assessment reveals that 12 traps (86%) could be in an advanced phase of trapping with high risk of hard-to-reverse lock-ins and growing risks of negative impacts on human well-being. Ten traps (71%) currently see growing trends in their indicators. Revealing the systemic nature of the polycrisis, we assess that Anthropocene traps often interact reinforcingly (45% of pairwise interactions), and rarely in a dampening fashion (3%). We end by discussing capacities that will be important for navigating these systemic challenges in pursuit of global sustainability. Doing so, we introduce evolvability as a unifying concept for such research between the sustainability and evolutionary sciences. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Søgaard Jørgensen
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Programme, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
- Anthropocene Laboratory, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Raf E. V. Jansen
- Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Programme, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Daniel I. Avila Ortega
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Programme, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Lan Wang-Erlandsson
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Anthropocene Laboratory, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Member of the Leibnitz Association, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Jonathan F. Donges
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Member of the Leibnitz Association, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Henrik Österblom
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Anthropocene Laboratory, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Per Olsson
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Magnus Nyström
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Steven J. Lade
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Thomas Hahn
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Carl Folke
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Programme, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
- Anthropocene Laboratory, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
- Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Garry D. Peterson
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anne-Sophie Crépin
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
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6
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Ellis EC. The Anthropocene condition: evolving through social-ecological transformations. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220255. [PMID: 37952626 PMCID: PMC10645118 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic planetary disruptions, from climate change to biodiversity loss, are unprecedented challenges for human societies. Some societies, social groups, cultural practices, technologies and institutions are already disintegrating or disappearing as a result. However, this coupling of socially produced environmental challenges with disruptive social changes-the Anthropocene condition-is not new. From food-producing hunter-gatherers, to farmers, to urban industrial food systems, the current planetary entanglement has its roots in millennia of evolving and accumulating sociocultural capabilities for shaping the cultured environments that our societies have always lived in (sociocultural niche construction). When these transformative capabilities to shape environments are coupled with sociocultural adaptations enabling societies to more effectively shape and live in transformed environments, the social-ecological scales and intensities of these transformations can accelerate through a positive feedback loop of 'runaway sociocultural niche construction'. Efforts to achieve a better future for both people and planet will depend on guiding this runaway evolutionary process towards better outcomes by redirecting Earth's most disruptive force of nature: the power of human aspirations. To guide this unprecedented planetary force, cultural narratives that appeal to human aspirations for a better future will be more effective than narratives of environmental crisis and overstepping natural boundaries. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erle C. Ellis
- Department of Geography & Environmental Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
- Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, 34 Broad St, Oxford OX1 3BD, UK
- Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography & Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
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7
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Little JC, Kaaronen RO, Hukkinen JI, Xiao S, Sharpee T, Farid AM, Nilchiani R, Barton CM. Earth Systems to Anthropocene Systems: An Evolutionary, System-of-Systems, Convergence Paradigm for Interdependent Societal Challenges. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:5504-5520. [PMID: 37000909 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c06203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Humans have made profound changes to the Earth. The resulting societal challenges of the Anthropocene (e.g., climate change and impacts, renewable energy, adaptive infrastructure, disasters, pandemics, food insecurity, and biodiversity loss) are complex and systemic, with causes, interactions, and consequences that cascade across a globally connected system of systems. In this Critical Review, we turn to our "origin story" for insight, briefly tracing the formation of the Universe and the Earth, the emergence of life, the evolution of multicellular organisms, mammals, primates, and humans, as well as the more recent societal transitions involving agriculture, urbanization, industrialization, and computerization. Focusing on the evolution of the Earth, genetic evolution, the evolution of the brain, and cultural evolution, which includes technological evolution, we identify a nested evolutionary sequence of geophysical, biophysical, sociocultural, and sociotechnical systems, emphasizing the causal mechanisms that first formed, and then transformed, Earth systems into Anthropocene systems. Describing how the Anthropocene systems coevolved, and briefly illustrating how the ensuing societal challenges became tightly integrated across multiple spatial, temporal, and organizational scales, we conclude by proposing an evolutionary, system-of-systems, convergence paradigm for the entire family of interdependent societal challenges of the Anthropocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- John C Little
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Roope O Kaaronen
- Sustainability Research Unit, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland
| | - Janne I Hukkinen
- Environmental Policy Research Group, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland
| | - Shuhai Xiao
- Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
| | - Tatyana Sharpee
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Amro M Farid
- School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, United States
| | - Roshanak Nilchiani
- School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, United States
| | - C Michael Barton
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and School of Complex Adaptive Systems, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, United States
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8
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Chen YY, Rubenstein DR, Shen SF. Cooperation and Lateral Forces: Moving Beyond Bottom-Up and Top-Down Drivers of Animal Population Dynamics. Front Psychol 2022; 13:768773. [PMID: 35185719 PMCID: PMC8847757 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.768773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Biologists have long known that animal population dynamics are regulated by a combination of bottom-up (resource availability) and top-down forces (predation). Yet, economists have argued that human population dynamics can also be influenced by intraspecific cooperation. Despite awareness of the role of interspecific cooperation (mutualism) in influencing resource availability and animal population dynamics, the role of intraspecific cooperation (sociality) under different environmental conditions has rarely been considered. Here we examine the role of what we call “lateral forces” that act within populations and interact with external top-down and bottom-up forces in influencing population dynamics using an individual-based model linking environmental quality, intraspecific cooperation, and population size. We find that the proportion of cooperators is higher when the environment is poor and population sizes are greatest under intermediate resources levels due to the contrasting effects of resource availability on behavior and population size. We also show that social populations are more resilient to environmental change than non-social ones because the benefits of intraspecific cooperation can outweigh the effects of constrained resource availability. Our study elucidates the complex relationship between environmental harshness, cooperation, and population dynamics, which is important for understanding the ecological consequences of cooperation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying-Yu Chen
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Dustin R Rubenstein
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Center for Integrative Animal Behavior, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - Sheng-Feng Shen
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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9
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Amiot C, Ji W, Ellis EC, Anderson MG. Temporal and sociocultural effects of human colonisation on native biodiversity: filtering and rates of adaptation. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.07615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Christophe Amiot
- Human Wildlife Interaction Research Group, Inst. of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey Univ. Albany New Zealand
- UMR 6554 CNRS, LETG–Angers, Univ. d'Angers Angers France
| | - Weihong Ji
- Human Wildlife Interaction Research Group, Inst. of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey Univ. Albany New Zealand
| | - Erle C. Ellis
- Dept of Geography and Environmental Systems, Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore USA
| | - Michael G. Anderson
- Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation Group, Inst. of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey Univ. Albany New Zealand
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10
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Snyder BF. The genetic and cultural evolution of unsustainability. SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE 2020; 15:1087-1099. [PMID: 32292525 PMCID: PMC7133775 DOI: 10.1007/s11625-020-00803-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic changes are accelerating and threaten the future of life on earth. While the proximate mechanisms of these anthropogenic changes are well studied (e.g., climate change, biodiversity loss, population growth), the evolutionary causality of these anthropogenic changes have been largely ignored. Anthroecological theory (AET) proposes that the ultimate cause of anthropogenic environmental change is multi-level selection for niche construction and ecosystem engineering. Here, we integrate this theory with Lotka's Maximum Power Principle and propose a model linking energy extraction from the environment with genetic, technological and cultural evolution to increase human ecosystem carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is partially determined by energetic factors such as the net energy a population can acquire from its environment and the efficiency of conversion from energy input to offspring output. These factors are under Darwinian genetic selection in all species, but in humans, they are also determined by technology and culture. If there is genetic or non-genetic heritable variation in the ability of an individual or social group to increase its carrying capacity, then we hypothesize that selection or cultural evolution will act to increase carrying capacity. Furthermore, if this evolution of carrying capacity occurs faster than the biotic components of the ecological system can respond via their own evolution, then we hypothesize that unsustainable ecological changes will result.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian F. Snyder
- Department of Environmental Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
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11
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Fuller DQ, Stevens CJ. Between domestication and civilization: the role of agriculture and arboriculture in the emergence of the first urban societies. VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY 2019; 28:263-282. [PMID: 31118541 PMCID: PMC6499764 DOI: 10.1007/s00334-019-00727-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
The transition to urbanism has long focused on annual staple crops (cereals and legumes), perhaps at the expense of understanding other changes within agricultural practices that occurred between the end of the initial domestication period and urbanisation. This paper examines the domestication and role of fruit tree crops within urbanisation in both Western Asia and China, using a combination of evidence for morphological change and a database that documents both the earliest occurrence of tree fruit crops and their spread beyond their wild range. In Western Asia the domestication of perennial fruit crops likely occurs between 6500 bc and 3500 bc, although it accompanies a shift in location from that of the earliest domestications within the Fertile Crescent to Mesopotamia, where the earliest urban societies arose. For China, fruit-tree domestication dates between ca 4000 and 2500 bc, commencing after millet domestication and rice domestication in Northern and Southern China, respectively, but within the period that led up to the urban societies that characterised the Longshan period in the Yellow River basin and the Liangzhu Culture in the Lower Yangtze. These results place the domestication of major fruit trees between the end of the domestication of staple annual crops and the rise of urbanism. On this basis it is argued that arboriculture played a fundamental role within the re-organisation of existing land use, shifting the emphasis from short-term returns of cereal crops into longer term investment in the developing agricultural landscape in both Western and East Asia. In this respect perennial tree crops can be placed alongside craft specialisation, such as metallurgy and textiles, in the formation of urban centres and the shaping the organisational administration that accompanied the rise of urbanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorian Q. Fuller
- Institute of Archaeology, University of London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY UK
- School of Archaeology and Museology, Northwest University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710069 China
| | - Chris J. Stevens
- Institute of Archaeology, University of London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY UK
- School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
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