Consequences of changing biodiversity.
Human alteration of the global environment has triggered the sixth major extinction event in the history of life and caused widespread changes in the global distribution of organisms. These changes in biodiversity alter ecosystem processes and change the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change. This has profound consequences for services that humans derive from ecosystems. The large ecological and societal consequences of changing biodiversity should be minimized to preserve options for future solutions to global environmental problems.
Chapin
F S
FS
Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks 99775, USA. fschapin@lter.uaf.edu
Zavaleta
E S
ES
Eviner
V T
VT
Naylor
R L
RL
Vitousek
P M
PM
Reynolds
H L
HL
Hooper
D U
DU
Lavorel
S
S
Sala
O E
OE
Hobbie
S E
SE
Mack
M C
MC
Díaz
S
S
D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D012961:Sociology