Human impact: Ecological footprints

Human Footprints in the Ecological Landscape

In this chapter we explore how the evolution of human behavior has led to the current condition, the quantitative impact of humans on ecological and biogeochemical processes, and potential strategies for developing a sustainable partnership between humans and the ecosystems in which they operate. Our basic thesis is that humans appear to have uniquely escaped from the Red Queen constraint of ad...

Ecological Footprints and Energy

biocapacity The potential productivity of the biologically productive space within a specified country, region, or territory. biologically productive space Areas of land and water capable of supporting photosynthesis at sufficient rates to provide economically useful concentrations of biomass. Marginal and unproductive regions, such as deserts, tundra, and the deep oceans, are excluded. The glo...

Household ecological footprints – moving towards sustainability?

Does the Shoe Fit? Real versus Imagined Ecological Footprints

land unit (global hectares or gha), representing the bioproductivity of a world-averaged hectare [15,16]. On the global scale, when the footprint of consumption exceeds biocapacity, the interpretation is that humans are exceeding the regenerative capacity of Earth’s ecosystems and therefore depleting stocks of natural capital, a state known as ‘‘over-

Ecological footprints of Benin, Bhutan, Costa Rica and the Netherlands

The ecological footprint (EF) has received much attention as a potential indicator for sustainable development over the last years. In this article, the EF concept has been applied to Benin, Bhutan, Costa Rica and the Netherlands in 1980, 1987 and 1994. The results of the assessment are discussed and used to discuss the current potential and limitations of the EF as a sustainable development in...