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What is Biocultural Diversity? A Theoretical Review

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Human Ecology

Abstract

Over the past decade, scholars from various fields have increasingly emphasized the detrimental effects of global socioeconomic processes on biodiversity. The industrial revolution, the demographic explosion of Homo sapiens, and the rise of the global exchange economy are all implicated as major factors that influence the loss of species diversity. From the late 1980s onward, biosystematics and conservation biology have successfully brought this concern to the attention of the public. Biodiversity is increasingly recognized as an essential resource on which families, communities, and nations depend. Biologists, ecologists, and conservationists have further recognized that solutions to biological problems lie in the mechanisms of social, cultural, and economic systems, which has led to attempts to place a monetary value on species and ecosystems to calculate the cost of using and conserving biodiversity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social and Economic Research, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

    Michelle Cocks

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  1. Michelle Cocks
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Correspondence to Michelle Cocks .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. City University of New York, Department of Anthropology, Hunter College, New York, 10065, USA

    Daniel G. Bates

  2. 124th Avenue 185, Shelbyville, 49344, USA

    Judith Tucker

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Cocks, M. (2010). What is Biocultural Diversity? A Theoretical Review. In: Bates, D., Tucker, J. (eds) Human Ecology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5701-6_5

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