Editing Human ecology (section)

==Ecological economics==
{{main|Ecological economics}}
{{See also|Natural capital}}

[[Ecological economics]] is an [[economics|economic science]] that extends its methods of valuation onto nature in an effort to address the inequity between market growth and biodiversity loss.<ref name="de Groot02" /> Natural capital is the stock of materials or information stored in biodiversity that generates services that can enhance the welfare of communities.<ref name="Costanza97">{{Cite journal|author=Costanza, R. |title=The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital |journal=Nature |volume=387 |pages=253–260 |date=1997 |url=http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf |doi=10.1038/387253a0 |issue=6630 |display-authors=1 |last2=d'Arge |first2=Ralph |last3=De Groot |first3=Rudolf |last4=Farber |first4=Stephen |last5=Grasso |first5=Monica |last6=Hannon |first6=Bruce |last7=Limburg |first7=Karin |last8=Naeem |first8=Shahid |last9=O'Neill |first9=Robert V. |last10=Paruelo |first10=Jose |last11=Raskin |first11=Robert G. |last12=Sutton |first12=Paul |last13=Van Den Belt |first13=Marjan |bibcode=1997Natur.387..253C |s2cid=672256 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091226124242/http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf |archive-date=2009-12-26 }}</ref> Population losses are the more sensitive indicator of natural capital than are species extinction in the accounting of ecosystem services. The prospect for recovery in the economic crisis of nature is grim. Populations, such as local ponds and patches of forest are being cleared away and lost at rates that exceed species extinctions.<ref name="Ceballos02">{{Cite journal|last1=Ceballos |first1=G. |last2=Ehrlich |first2=P. R. |title=Mammal Population Losses and the Extinction Crisis |journal=Science |volume=296 |issue=5569 |pages=904–7 |date=2002 |url=http://epswww.unm.edu/facstaff/gmeyer/envsc330/CeballosEhrlichmammalextinct2002.pdf |doi=10.1126/science.1069349 |pmid=11988573 |bibcode=2002Sci...296..904C |s2cid=32115412 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720094351/http://epswww.unm.edu/facstaff/gmeyer/envsc330/CeballosEhrlichmammalextinct2002.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-20 }}</ref> The mainstream growth-based economic system adopted by governments worldwide does not include a price or markets for natural capital. This type of economic system places further [[ecological debt]] onto future generations.<ref name="Wackernagel97">{{Cite journal |last1 = Wackernagel |first1 = M. |last2 = Rees |first2 = W. E. |title = Perceptual and structural barriers to investing in natural capital: Economics from an ecological footprint perspective |journal = Ecological Economics |volume = 20 |issue = 1 |pages=3–24 |date = 1997 |doi = 10.1016/S0921-8009(96)00077-8 |bibcode = 1997EcoEc..20....3W }}</ref><ref name="Pastor98">{{Cite journal |last1 = Pastor |first1 = J. |last2 = Light |first2 = S.|last3 = Sovel|first3 = L.|title = Sustainability and resilience in boreal regions: sources and consequences of variability|journal = Conservation Ecology|volume = 2|issue = 2 |page = 16|date = 1998 |doi = 10.5751/ES-00062-020216 |url = http://www.consecol.org/vol2/iss2/art16/ |hdl = 10535/2686|s2cid = 88880482 |hdl-access = free}}</ref>

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Many human-nature interactions occur indirectly due to the production and use of human-made (manufactured and synthesized) products, such as electronic appliances, furniture, plastics, airplanes, and automobiles. These products insulate humans from the natural environment, leading them to perceive less dependence on natural systems than is the case, but all manufactured products ultimately come from natural systems.<ref name="Liu09" />{{Rp|640}}
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Human societies are increasingly being placed under stress as the [[Common-pool resource|ecological commons]] is diminished through an accounting system that has incorrectly assumed "...&nbsp;that nature is a fixed, indestructible capital asset."<ref name="Dasgupta08">{{Cite journal |last = Dasgupta |first = P. |title = Creative Accounting |journal =   Nature|volume = 456 |page = 44 |date = 2008 |doi = 10.1038/twas08.44a |doi-access = free }}</ref>{{Rp|44}} The current wave of threats, including massive extinction rates and concurrent loss of natural capital to the detriment of human society, is happening rapidly. This is called a biodiversity crisis, because 50% of the worlds species are predicted to go extinct within the next 50&nbsp;years.<ref name="Koh04">{{Cite journal |last1=Koh |first1=LP |title = Species Coextinctions and the Biodiversity Crisis |journal = Science |volume = 305 |pages=1632–4 |date = 2004 |doi = 10.1126/science.1101101 |pmid = 15361627 |issue = 5690 |display-authors = 2 |last2 = Sodhi |first2 = NS |last3 = Colwell |first3 = RK |last4 = Proctor |first4 = HC |last5 = Smith |first5 = VS|bibcode = 2004Sci...305.1632K |s2cid=30713492 }}</ref><ref name="Western92">{{Cite journal |last = Western |first = D. |title = The Biodiversity Crisis: A Challenge for Biology |journal = Oikos |volume = 63 |issue = 1 |pages=29–38 |date = 1992 |doi = 10.2307/3545513 |jstor = 3545513|bibcode = 1992Oikos..63...29W }}</ref> Conventional monetary analyses are unable to detect or deal with these sorts of ecological problems.<ref name="Rees02">{{Cite journal |last = Rees |first = W. |title = An Ecological Economics Perspective on Sustainability and Prospects for Ending Poverty |journal = Population & Environment |volume = 24 |issue = 1 |pages=15–46 |date = 2002 |doi = 10.1023/A:1020125725915 |bibcode = 2002PopEn..24...15R |s2cid = 150950663 }}</ref> Multiple global ecological economic initiatives are being promoted to solve this problem. For example, governments of the [[G8]] met in 2007 and set forth [[The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity]] (TEEB) initiative:

<blockquote>In a global study we will initiate the process of analyzing the global economic benefit of biological diversity, the costs of the [[loss of biodiversity]] and the failure to take protective measures versus the costs of effective conservation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/economics/|title=The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity|publisher=European Union|access-date=4 February 2010}}</ref></blockquote>

The work of [[Kenneth E. Boulding]] is notable for building on the integration between ecology and its economic origins. Boulding drew parallels between ecology and economics, most generally in that they are both studies of individuals as members of a system, and indicated that the "household of man" and the "household of nature" could somehow be integrated to create a perspective of greater value.<ref>Boulding, K.E. 1950. ''An Ecological Introduction''.  In A Reconstruction of Economics, Wiley, New York. pp. 3-17.</ref><ref>Boulding, K.E. 1966. ''Economics and Ecology''.  In Nature Environments of North America, F.F. Darling and J.P. Milton, eds, Doubleday New York. pp.225-231.</ref>