Introduction: Influences of Human Population on Biological Diversity

Abstract

Current trends in human population’s parameters – its size, growth, distribution, and density – are assumed to be detrimental to the persistence of the present global pool of biotic species. Yet the precise nature of these parameters’ relationships with native species populations and their habitats remain poorly understood, and the theories and methodologies that would facilitate their study are sorely underdeveloped. The first part of this chapter discusses the potential that this field – the study of aspects of human population and their interactions with native species and ecosystems – holds for contributing to conservation efforts and identifies major challenges that impede its research agenda. After reviewing the objectives and status of research in this field, the chapter turns to the organization of the volume: explorations of general theories and broad empirical relationships in specific biomes and the analyses of interactions in specific settings. It briefly summarizes the chapters to provide a sense of the focus in each and closes with reflections on lessons learned from the broad set of perspectives and inquiries contained in the volume.