Anthroecology
Anthroecology theory explains why and how human societies gained the capacity to transform ecology across our entire planet. The theory couples the dynamics of social and ecological change through evolutionary processes acting on human cultures, ecosystems, and infrastructures. Anthroecology aims to understand the ultimate causes of anthropogenic environmental change, not just the consequences, to help shape a better future for both people and the rest of nature.
Anthroecology is based on Sociocultural Niche Construction, an evolutionary theory introduced in a 2015 Ecological Monograph to explain the long-term coupling of social, cultural, and ecological changes, including the emergence of agricultural societies, domesticated species, and their environmental transformations, through coevolutionary processes described by the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis.
Read the Ecological Monograph for the deep dive into Anthroecology theory.
This general article and this blog post are good readings on the basics of Anthroecology.
This article shows how an Agent-Based Virtual Laboratory could be used to test core hypotheses of Anthroecology theory.
Learn more about Anthroecology
through this 2016 presentation at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
[Video begins at 9 min 35 seconds]
