The overkill model and its impact on environmental research

Area of Science:

• Interdisciplinary research
• Human-environment interactions
• Anthropogenic impacts

Background:

• Human-environment interactions research is increasingly interdisciplinary.
• Historical disciplines contribute to understanding long-term human impacts.
• The Pleistocene overkill model is a key example of human impact on the planet.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate how different disciplines interpret and use the Pleistocene overkill model.
• To examine differences in citation patterns between archaeologists and ecologists regarding Paul Martin's work.

Main Methods:

• Citation analysis of selected works by Paul Martin, a proponent of the overkill model.
• Examined how Martin's publications were cited and the arguments used in those citations.

Main Results:

• Archaeologists cite overkill as one of several causes for extinctions.
• Ecologists are more likely to accept human causation of extinctions.
• Ecologists treat aspects of overkill as established ecological processes and analogs for modern human impacts.

Conclusions:

• Disciplinary differences exist in the interpretation of the Pleistocene overkill model.
• Ecological perspectives on overkill inform rewilding and de-extinction movements.
• Interdisciplinary communication may not always be reciprocal, even with increasing collaboration.