Unifying Framework for Understanding Impacts of Human Developments on Wildlife

Abstract

Natural resource professionals recognize the negative impacts of human developments on the distribution, abundance, and, in some cases, persistence of wildlife populations or species. Indeed, human activity in all its forms (Kerr and Currie 1995) is a primary cause of the global decline in biodiversity in general (Brooks et al.2002; Dudgeon et al. 2006; White and Kerr 2006) and wildlife in particular (Ceballos and Ehrlich 2002; Laliberte and Ripple 2004; Davies et al.2006). This recognition has led to a rapid increase in the number of studies designed to elucidate and document wildlife–human interactions (fig. 3.1).