Behavioral Mediators of the Human Population Effect on Global Biodiversity Losses

Abstract

By combining the time depth provided by the fossil and archeological records with contemporary data of global reach, we can begin to dissect out the most relevant factors that threaten the future of all levels of biodiversity on this planet. It is our contention that the size of the human population and the scale of the human endeavor led to a dramatic rise in extinctions over the past 10,000 years. Analyses of contemporary data demonstrate that current species threats are best attributed to variability in species richness, human population density, and agricultural land use. Continued exponential growth in the human population and our resultant environmental dominance, due to cultural development and ecological contingencies, is rapidly leading to a global mass extinction.