MODELING HUMAN-FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY

Within conservation biology human factors are treated as driving force s of biodiversity loss, yet there are few empirical on how human actio ns affect biodiversity. We developed and tested an interdisciplinary m odel of biodiversity loss using socioeconomic and ecological data from 107 countries and structural equation modeling techniques. Some porti ons of the model fit the data well, other parts were less predictive. Counterintuitive results may be a result of the quality and availabili ty of cross-national data and statistical limitations in testing a mod el of such complex processes. This model test provides insight into fu ture research needs for examining human impacts on biodiversity. Issue s including data quality, temporal and spatial scale, and model refine ment are outlined. The results highlight the importance of relations b etween human social systems and biodiversity and the potential of inte rdisciplinary research. .