1. Anthropogenic Drivers of Ecosystem Change: an Overview
- Author
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Gerald C. Nelson, Elena Bennett, Asmeret A. Berhe, Kenneth Cassman, Ruth DeFries, Thomas Dietz, Achim Dobermann, Andrew Dobson, Anthony Janetos, Marc Levy, Diana Marco, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Brian O'Neill, Richard Norgaard, Gerhard Petschel-Held, Dennis Ojima, Prabhu Pingali, Robert Watson, and Monika Zurek
- Subjects
ecosystem services ,drivers of change ,direct drivers ,indirect drivers ,demographic drivers ,economic drivers ,sociopolitical drivers ,cultural and religious drivers ,scientific and technological drivers ,physical and biological drivers ,climate change ,plant nutrient use ,land conversion ,diseases ,invasive species ,Biology (General) ,QH301-705.5 ,Ecology ,QH540-549.5 - Abstract
This paper provides an overview of what the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) calls "indirect and direct drivers" of change in ecosystem services at a global level. The MA definition of a driver is any natural or human-induced factor that directly or indirectly causes a change in an ecosystem. A direct driver unequivocally influences ecosystem processes. An indirect driver operates more diffusely by altering one or more direct drivers. Global driving forces are categorized as demographic, economic, sociopolitical, cultural and religious, scientific and technological, and physical and biological. Drivers in all categories other than physical and biological are considered indirect. Important direct drivers include changes in climate, plant nutrient use, land conversion, and diseases and invasive species. This paper does not discuss natural drivers such as climate variability, extreme weather events, or volcanic eruptions.
- Published
- 2006
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