Anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem change: An overview

Gerald C. Nelson; Elena Bennett; Asmeret A. Berhe; Kenneth Cassman; Ruth DeFries; Thomas Dietz; Achim Dobermann; Andrew P. Dobson; Anthony Janetos; Marc Levy; Diana Marco; Nebojsa Nakicenovic; Brian O'Neill; Richard Norgaard; Gerhard Petschel-Held; Dennis Ojima; Prabhu Pingali; Robert Watson; Monika Zurek

doi:10.5751/ES-01826-110229

Anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem change: An overview

Gerald C. Nelson, Elena Bennett, Asmeret A. Berhe, Kenneth Cassman, Ruth DeFries, Thomas Dietz, Achim Dobermann, Andrew P. Dobson, Anthony Janetos, Marc Levy, Diana Marco, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Brian O'Neill, Richard Norgaard, Gerhard Petschel-Held, Dennis Ojima, Prabhu Pingali, Robert Watson, Monika Zurek

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

223 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	29
Journal	Ecology and Society
Volume	11
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01826-110229
State	Published - Dec 2006

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Ecology

Keywords

Climate change
Cultural and religious drivers
Demographic drivers
Direct drivers
Diseases
Drivers of change
Economic drivers
Ecosystem services
Indirect drivers
Invasive species
Land conversion
Physical and biological drivers
Plant nutrient use
Scientific and technological drivers
Sociopolitical drivers

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10.5751/ES-01826-110229

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Nelson, G. C., Bennett, E., Berhe, A. A., Cassman, K., DeFries, R., Dietz, T., Dobermann, A., Dobson, A. P., Janetos, A., Levy, M., Marco, D., Nakicenovic, N., O'Neill, B., Norgaard, R., Petschel-Held, G., Ojima, D., Pingali, P., Watson, R., & Zurek, M. (2006). Anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem change: An overview. Ecology and Society, 11(2), Article 29. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01826-110229

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title = "Anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem change: An overview",

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.",

keywords = "Climate change, Cultural and religious drivers, Demographic drivers, Direct drivers, Diseases, Drivers of change, Economic drivers, Ecosystem services, Indirect drivers, Invasive species, Land conversion, Physical and biological drivers, Plant nutrient use, Scientific and technological drivers, Sociopolitical drivers",

author = "Nelson, {Gerald C.} and Elena Bennett and Berhe, {Asmeret A.} and Kenneth Cassman and Ruth DeFries and Thomas Dietz and Achim Dobermann and Dobson, {Andrew P.} and Anthony Janetos and Marc Levy and Diana Marco and Nebojsa Nakicenovic and Brian O'Neill and Richard Norgaard and Gerhard Petschel-Held and Dennis Ojima and Prabhu Pingali and Robert Watson and Monika Zurek",

year = "2006",

month = dec,

doi = "10.5751/ES-01826-110229",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "11",

journal = "Ecology and Society",

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publisher = "The Resilience Alliance",

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Nelson, GC, Bennett, E, Berhe, AA, Cassman, K, DeFries, R, Dietz, T, Dobermann, A, Dobson, AP, Janetos, A, Levy, M, Marco, D, Nakicenovic, N, O'Neill, B, Norgaard, R, Petschel-Held, G, Ojima, D, Pingali, P, Watson, R & Zurek, M 2006, 'Anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem change: An overview', Ecology and Society, vol. 11, no. 2, 29. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-01826-110229

TY - JOUR

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T2 - An overview

AU - Nelson, Gerald C.

AU - Bennett, Elena

AU - Berhe, Asmeret A.

AU - Cassman, Kenneth

AU - DeFries, Ruth

AU - Dietz, Thomas

AU - Dobermann, Achim

AU - Dobson, Andrew P.

AU - Janetos, Anthony

AU - Levy, Marc

AU - Marco, Diana

AU - Nakicenovic, Nebojsa

AU - O'Neill, Brian

AU - Norgaard, Richard

AU - Petschel-Held, Gerhard

AU - Ojima, Dennis

AU - Pingali, Prabhu

AU - Watson, Robert

AU - Zurek, Monika

PY - 2006/12

Y1 - 2006/12

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Climate change

KW - Cultural and religious drivers

KW - Demographic drivers

KW - Direct drivers

KW - Diseases

KW - Drivers of change

KW - Economic drivers

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Indirect drivers

KW - Invasive species

KW - Land conversion

KW - Physical and biological drivers

KW - Plant nutrient use

KW - Scientific and technological drivers

KW - Sociopolitical drivers

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U2 - 10.5751/ES-01826-110229

DO - 10.5751/ES-01826-110229

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:33846050003

SN - 1708-3087

VL - 11

JO - Ecology and Society

JF - Ecology and Society

IS - 2

M1 - 29

ER -

Anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem change: An overview

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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