Socioecology Research Today

In 2010, formicologist E.O. Wilson proposed his theory of group selection as the explanation for the evolution of complex altruistic social behaviors. As described by Paul Bloom in the New York Times Book Review, it is “the notion that a gene for helping behavior can thrive even if it’s disadvantageous for the individual—so long as [...]

The demographic transition is an ongoing global phenomenon in which high fertility and mortality rates are replaced by low fertility and mortality. Despite intense interest in the causes of the transition, especially with respect to decreasing fertility rates, the underlying mechanisms motivating it are still subject to much debate. The literature is crowded with competing [...]

Human use of land has transformed ecosystem pattern and process across most of the terrestrial biosphere, a global change often described as historically recent and potentially catastrophic for both humanity and the biosphere. Interdisciplinary paleoecological, archaeological, and historical studies challenge this view, indicating that land use has been extensive and sustained for millennia in some [...]

Marine geophysical techniques and geological measurement of sea-level change allow detailed mapping of seafloor archeological sites and development of models. In the northwestern Gulf of Maine, the lowstand of sea level is only at − 60 m depth, but a prolonged stasis during the late Quaternary sea-level rise, herein termed the slowstand, occurred between 11,500 [...]

The bushmeat trade, or the illegal acquisition and exchange of wild meat, has long been recognised as a severe problem in forest biomes, but receives little attention in savannas, perhaps due to a misconception that bushmeat hunting is a low-impact subsistence activity. Though data on impacts are scarce, indications are that bushmeat hunting is a [...]

Our analysis shows that Indigenous people not only have more to lose from ‘development’ which erodes natural capital than do non-Indigenous people, but they also have significantly less to gain. Under current institutional arrangements it thus seems that, at best, ‘development’ may have a relatively benign impact on their well-being. At worst, it may have [...]

We present a novel “Lab-on-DVD” system and demonstrate its capability for rapid and low-cost HIV diagnostics by counting CD4+ cells isolated from whole blood. We show that a commercial DVD drive can, with certain modifications, be turned into an improved DVD-based laser scanning microscope (DVD-LSM). The system consists of a multi-layered disposable polymer disc and [...]

From childhood to adulthood we receive a lot of information on animal key species with a high charismatic value. Flagships species are also frequently used to raise awareness, stimulate conservation and to increase political support for conservation issues. Since flagship species do not, in many cases, represent the local ecological community, there is the risk [...]

The non-linear, unexpected and severe responses of ecosystems to the environmental changes crossing ecological thresholds or environmental limits, necessitate the regular monitoring of the human-induced pressures to the urban ecosystems. The present study aims to introduce a spatial decision support system for sustainable environmental planning and management of urban ecosystems by establishing an Urban Carrying [...]

Since Fukushima, few people still consider nuclear power as a safe technology. The explosion of Deepwater Horizon was yet another incident revealing the dangers involved in the hunt for fossil fuels. Despite the public attention and outrage at these events, neither the concept of environmental citizenship, nor the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [...]