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Related Concept Videos

Sustainable Development01:43

Sustainable Development

As the human population continues to grow and use resources, we must be mindful of our planet’s natural limits. Sustainable development provides a pathway to maintain and improve human life now while also ensuring that future generations will have the resources that they need. The long-term success of sustainability efforts rests on understanding the interplay between human actions and ecological systems.
Biodiversity and Human Values01:24

Biodiversity and Human Values

Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather patterns and therefore human civilizations.
Methods to Assess Microbial Communities01:19

Methods to Assess Microbial Communities

Microbial communities, comprising bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotic microorganisms, inhabit diverse ecosystems and play crucial roles in environmental and biological processes. Their diversity is defined by three main parameters: species richness (the number of distinct species), species abundance (the relative quantity of each species), and species evenness (how uniformly individual species are distributed in various locations). These factors together shape the structure and ecological balance...
Habitat Fragmentation02:31

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
Environmental Applications of Microorganisms01:30

Environmental Applications of Microorganisms

Microorganisms play a pivotal role in maintaining ecosystem balance by recycling essential elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, as well as supporting processes like bioremediation, wastewater treatment, and biofuel production.Microbes in Elemental CyclesIn the carbon cycle, microorganisms decompose organic matter, releasing carbon dioxide via aerobic respiration. This carbon dioxide is subsequently used by photosynthetic organisms to synthesize organic compounds, closing the...
Global Climate Change01:50

Global Climate Change

Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework
12:44

Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework

Published on: July 24, 2016

Finding hope in the millennium ecosystem assessment.

Richard B Norgaard1

  • 1Energy and Resources Group, 310 Barrows Hall, MC 3050, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3050, USA.

Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
|April 16, 2008
PubMed
Summary

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reveals widespread ecosystem degradation. Integrating fragmented scientific knowledge for complex systems remains a challenge, yet a deliberative democratic approach shows promise.

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Integrating Remote Sensing with Species Distribution Models; Mapping Tamarisk Invasions Using the Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling (SAHM)

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Last Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Watershed Planning within a Quantitative Scenario Analysis Framework
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Published on: October 11, 2016

Area of Science:

  • Socio-ecological systems analysis
  • Environmental science
  • Policy-integrated science

Background:

  • Emergence of large-scale, interdisciplinary scientific assessments over the past 25 years.
  • The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) as a landmark initiative in scope and analytical depth.
  • Growing recognition of the need to understand human-nature interrelations for effective policy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the state of global ecosystems and human interactions.
  • To analyze the dynamics of socio-ecological systems.
  • To explore the potential of collective scientific assessments for policy-informing.

Main Methods:

  • Comprehensive review and synthesis of existing scientific knowledge across diverse disciplines.
  • In-depth analysis of socio-ecological system dynamics.
  • Facilitation of collective assessment through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Main Results:

  • Widespread and ongoing degradation of nearly all global ecosystems.
  • Projections indicate continued degradation for decades, even with immediate policy interventions.
  • Significant challenges in aggregating fragmented, disciplinary knowledge to understand complex systems.

Conclusions:

  • The findings highlight an urgent need for global environmental action.
  • Interdisciplinary scientific collaboration faces inherent difficulties in holistic system understanding.
  • Deliberative democratic processes offer a viable framework for addressing complex environmental challenges.