ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates current and needed usable knowledge related to three major shifts in thinking and uses biodiversity conservation as an example of trained incapacities within the natural resource field. The focus is on the human dimensions of biodiversity management and the potential contribution of the social sciences to a biodiversity research agenda. Cross-disciplinary communication is often confused by unclear concepts and ill-defined terms. Hence a brief set of definitions for biodiversity and the social sciences may be useful. Low-diversity ecosystems (such as European heath lands) may make important contributions to local biodiversity, and “hyperdiverse” ecosystems (such as the Amazonian and Asian tropical forests) play a critical role in overall global biodiversity. Managers could apply this holistic approach to alternative management practices within ecosystems where biodiversity conservation is an important objective. Economics, sociology, and geography can make particularly important contributions toward understanding the new economies and their relationship to biodiversity conservation.
