Abstract
Among organisms that inhabit Earth, the human species is unique for three reasons. First, our population size and the extent of our geographic distribution gives us an impact that is unprecendented in the history of life on Earth. Five times in the last 600 million years, cataclysmic events, driven by major geological or astronomical forces such as meteorite strikes or climate change, have set back the evolutionary process with a spasm of extinction that was global in scope (Wilson 1992). As we move into the 21st century, the human species, a biological agent, is likely to be responsible for the next massive extinction event.
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Karr, J.R. (1995). Using Biological Criteria to Protect Ecological Health. In: Rapport, D.J., Gaudet, C.L., Calow, P. (eds) Evaluating and Monitoring the Health of Large-Scale Ecosystems. NATO ASI Series, vol 28. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79464-3_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-79464-3_9
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