Ecologists are increasingly interacting with social scientists to address questions related to global environmental change. Most ecosystems are strongly influenced by human activities. Human activities in turn dynamically change in response to degradation of ecosystems. Because of this feedback, the study of coupled social and ecological dynamics has become an important research field.

Studies in social sciences have reported that human decision-making is greatly influenced by social and psychological factors as well as economic payoffs. The importance of social factors in human decision-making also has been emphasized in theoretical studies of the evolution of cooperation. These findings encourage us to integrate economic, social, and psychological factors in models of human decision-making, in order to inform successful ecosystem management. We will introduce several examples at the interface of ecology and social sciences.

Commentator: Ayumi Onuma (Keio Univ.)