Global change ecology

Ecology has expanded from its traditional focus on organisms to include studies of the Earth as an integrated ecosystem. Aided by satellite technologies and computer models of the climate of the Earth, global change ecology now records basic parameters of our planet, including its net primary productivity, biogeochemical cycling and effects of humans on it. As I discuss here, this new perspective shows us what must be done to transform human behaviors to enable the persistence of life on Earth under human stewardship.