Deep-time, large-scale perspectives on biodiversity and ecosystems - implications for biosphere stewardship in the Anthropocene

We are facing climate conditions unseen in the history of civilization. They pose strong risks for society and biodiversity, but risks that are also difficult to forecast. Here, an integrated large-scale, long-term perspective offers important insights. The last few million years have experienced severe instability in climate and the rise of humans as a global ecological force. These climate variations drove strong ecosystem reorganization, with strong shifts to novel climates causing massive biodiversity losses. Further, there is a consistent pattern of strong ecological changes in the wake of the global spread of Homo sapiens. Extirpation of large vertebrates were, and are, typical, and the associated trophic downgrading had profound ecological effects. Looking ahead, we can forecast intensifying impacts from human activities and human-driven climate change, with potential to cause ecosystem breakdowns and massive biodiversity losses. Achieving a more positive future requires intensified, integrative efforts to solve the climate and biodiversity crises alongside sustainable, democratic development.

About the Speaker

Jens-Christian Svenning is an ecologist and biogeographer, and a Professor at the Department of Biology at Aarhus University, Denmark where he also serves as the Director of DNRF Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO; https://econovo.au.dk/  ). Alongside basic curiosity about nature, Jens-Christian Svenning is highly motivated to contribute to help overcome the climate and biodiversity crises and promote sustainable societal development. His research includes strong foci on fundamental drivers of biodiversity, climate change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems, human-nature interactions from the past to the future, and the rising emergence of novel ecosystems, with strong interest in fundamental issues such as disequilibrium dynamics and top-down trophic effects. Key applied research foci include predictive modelling, the application of informatics and space-borne and other remote sensing technology to ecological and sustainability research, human dependence on and benefits from nature, and rewilding as a promising approach to ecosystem restoration under global change.

Seminar Recording