Human Niche Evolution: pathways, choices and outcomes

TL;DR

This paper explores future scenarios of human niche evolution, emphasizing the importance of adopting sustainable cultural and technological practices to mitigate environmental impacts and promote ecological balance.

Contribution

It introduces three theoretical models outlining possible pathways for human-nature interactions and highlights strategies for fostering sustainable coexistence.

Findings

Natural-Technological Model promotes ecological restoration.

Bio-Anthropogenic Model supports symbiotic ecosystems.

Wear Out Model warns of environmental collapse without change.

Abstract

Humankind has spread worldwide supported by cultural and technological knowledge, but the environmental sustainability on the human niche evolution depends on a new human beings relationship with the biosphere. Human lifestyles nowadays are very Antropocentric and in many ways deleterious to the other life forms. Here we try to identify future scenarios, where the less deleterious is the Natural-Technological Model that points the urgent need to change the evolutionary direction of the human niche seeking the resumption of original ecological relations. New cultural habits and novel technologies, thereby, would reverse the current anthropogenic impacts. The middle way is the Bio-Anthropogenic Model that predicts the success of the emerging ecosystems and the symbiotic relationship of humans and anthropogenic-favored species, hybrids, aliens and genetically modified organisms. For such, we must also change our way of life and adopt new conscious ways of consumption aiming at the socio-environmental good. Lastly, the Wear Out Model, which depends only on maintaining current patterns of human expansion. The lack of investments on new technologies and new cultural habits, added to the current patterns of human niche evolution that are based on the massive exploitation of world resources, will lead to a fearsome scenario with a precarious global health, biodiversity losses and food scarcity. This theoretical models indicates some pathways and can help us to choose a better future.