This page presents key terms related to the study of human-environment interactions. Some terms link to pages that explore and explain further concepts inherent to the multiple scientific disciplines used to study how humans interact with the natural environment around them. This includes historical interactions between humans and their environs, the legacy of those interactions, the present changing relationships between humans and their environment, and the future of Earth’s landscapes.
Glossary of key terms:
The growing of trees and crops on the same piece of land.
The study of human activities and the interactions between societies and their environment.
The study of humans, their behaviour, culture, and society by investigating material remains and any physical, chemical, and biological evidence directly and indirectly associated with humans. Due to the nature of this type of research, it crosses multiple disciplines in the humanities and social sciences and physical sciences (Renfrew & Bahn, 2008). It can be used to understand past relationships between humans and nature, and how they co-evolved.
An assumed or fixed point used as a reference from which calculations or measurements may be taken (Glossary of Geology, 5th Edition Revised).
The study of the interactions between living organisms and the environment.
The study of interactions between humans and their environment over long time periods using data/evidence from various scientific fields.
All palynomorphs found in a sample that are not pollen, typically referring to fungal and algal spores. See Palynology.
A much more robust understanding of past environmental conditions can be established by examining multiple lines of evidence through the analysis of a number of proxies.
The study of ecological relationships throughout the past (Brewer et al., 2012). This type of research helps us understand how the current landscapes evolved into what we see today and can be used to inform land management decisions for the future.
A group of multi-disciplinary studies aimed at reconstructing past environemntal conditions and understanding the methods and interactions of Earth system processes operating and interacting at multiple spatial and temporal scales. These interactions are critical to our understanding of the environmental around us and how humans impact ecosystems. See the palaeoenvironmental sciences glossary for additional key terms.
In certain environments, materials accumulate or grow and contain a signal of the surrounding environmental conditions at the time of deposition (Brewer et al., 2012).
The study of microscopic organic remains (“palynomorphs“), including pollen and spores. Siliceous and calcareous remains of organisms, such as the exoskeletons of diatoms and foraminifera are not included in this field. An integral part of palaeoecological research, palynology can yield important data on species composition and change therein over time, and acts as a proxy for different environmental factors.
Microscopic organic plant and animal remains found in sedimentary rock and sediment cores. These include pollen, vascular plant spores, fungal spores, algal spores, dinoflagellate cysts, and arthropod remains. Palynomorphs typically range in size from about 5 μm to 500 μm.
A broad and interdisciplinary collection of thoughts covering the idea that the reality and potential of a natural resource depends on its social, economic and political context. The concept is used to explain how nature and culture interact and how nature’s reality has been reduced to a by‐product of societal and cultural actions and systems, and hence adapted to the necessities of the human actors (Escobar, 1999; Biersack, 2006).
An indirect measure of a variable that cannot be directly measured. For example, we cannot directly measure past drought conditions using sediments, but we can quantify the abundance of desert plants based on the pollen they produced and was subsequently deposited, and this gives us details about changes to the vegetation and acts as one proxy for understanding droughts.
A view of the layers of sedimentary deposits. Sedimentary layers from a variety of depositional environments archive a wealth of proxy information about past environmental and climate history of an area.
An organizing principle aimed at creating, implementing and maintaining an economic future balancing multiple stakeholders’ interests in a region and desirable social, political, aesthetic and ecological conditions. Sustainable development relies on inclusivity, scientifically-informed policy and consensus building.
Biersack, A, ‘Reimagining Political Ecology: Culture/Power/History/Nature’, in A Biersack & J Greenberg (eds.), Reimagining Political Ecology. Durham: Duke University Press, 2006, pp. 3—40.
Brewer S., Jackson S.T., Williams J.W. 2012. Paleoecoinformatics: applying geohistorical data to ecological questions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 27 (2): 104-112.
Escobar, A, ‘After Nature: Steps to an Antiessentialist Political Ecology’ in Current Anthropology, Vol. 40(1), 1999, pp. 1-16.
Neuendorf, K.E.K., Mehl Jr., J.P., Jackson, J.A. 2011. Glossary of Geology. Fifth Edition (revised). American Geosciences Institute, 800 pp.
Renfrew, C. & Bahn, P. (2008) Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice (London: Thames & Hudson).