Sixteen years of change in the global terrestrial human footprint and implications for biodiversity conservation.
- Venter O Ecosystem Science and Management Program, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada V2N 4Z9.
- Sanderson EW Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, Bronx New York 10460, USA.
- Magrach A Ecosystem Management, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
- Allan JR Centre for Conservation and Biodiversity Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Queensland 4072, Australia.
- Beher J Centre for Conservation and Biodiversity Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Queensland 4072, Australia.
- Jones KR Centre for Conservation and Biodiversity Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Queensland 4072, Australia.
- Possingham HP Centre for Conservation and Biodiversity Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Queensland 4072, Australia.
- Laurance WF Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia.
- Wood P Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia.
- Fekete BM Department of Civil Engineering, The City College of New York, CUNY Environmental CrossRoads Initiative, City University of New York, New York, New York 10007, USA.
- Levy MA Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964, USA.
- Watson JE Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, Bronx New York 10460, USA.
- 2016-08-24
Published in:
- Nature communications. - 2016
Agriculture
Biodiversity
Conservation of Natural Resources
Geography
Humans
Income
Internationality
Pressure
Socioeconomic Factors
English
Human pressures on the environment are changing spatially and temporally, with profound implications for the planet's biodiversity and human economies. Here we use recently available data on infrastructure, land cover and human access into natural areas to construct a globally standardized measure of the cumulative human footprint on the terrestrial environment at 1 km(2) resolution from 1993 to 2009. We note that while the human population has increased by 23% and the world economy has grown 153%, the human footprint has increased by just 9%. Still, 75% the planet's land surface is experiencing measurable human pressures. Moreover, pressures are perversely intense, widespread and rapidly intensifying in places with high biodiversity. Encouragingly, we discover decreases in environmental pressures in the wealthiest countries and those with strong control of corruption. Clearly the human footprint on Earth is changing, yet there are still opportunities for conservation gains.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- gold
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1038/ncomms12558
- PMID 27552116
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/277265
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