Article Contentsp. 494p. 495p. 496p. 497p. 498p. 499Issue Table of ContentsScience, New Series, Vol. 277, No. 5325 (Jul. 25, 1997), pp. 445-608Front Matter [pp. 445-580]Editorial: The Scientific Underpinning of Policy [p. 457]Letters"Snowballs" from Space? [p. 459]The Purpose of Glycolysis [pp. 459-460]Sickle Cell Anemia Research and a Recombinant DNA Technique [pp. 460-462]Synergistic Effect of Environmental Estrogens: Report Withdrawn [pp. 462-463]Corrections and Clarifications: Hyperplasia of Lymphatic Vessels in VEGF-C Transgenic Mice [p. 463]Corrections and Clarifications: Acquiring Language [p. 463]Corrections and Clarifications: Microbiology's Scarred Revolutionary [p. 463]ScienceScope [p. 465]News and CommentShowdown Over Clean Air Science [pp. 466-469]NIH Leads Research Gains as Congress Picks Up Pace [pp. 470-471]Chimp Retirement Plan Proposed [p. 471]European Parliament Backs New Biopatent Guidelines [p. 472]Academy Seeks Government Help to Fight Openness Law [p. 473]Research NewsHigh-Speed Materials Design [pp. 474-475]Biologists Cut Reductionist Approach Down to Size [pp. 476-477]Model Explains Internet 'Storms' [p. 477]Gram-Positive Bacterium Sequenced [p. 478]Meteorite Grains Trace Wandering Stars [p. 478]SOHO Probes the Sun's Turbulent Neighborhood [p. 479]How Jet-Lag Hormone Does Double Duty in the Brain [p. 480]Quantum Spookiness Wins, Einstein Loses in Photon Test [p. 481]Random Samples [p. 483]Human-Dominated Ecosystems[Introduction] [p. 485]NewsExtinction on the High Seas [pp. 486-488]'No-Take' Zones Spark Fisheries Debate [pp. 489-491]Brighter Prospects for the World's Coral Reefs? [pp. 491-493]Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems [pp. 494-499]Biotic Control Over the Functioning of Ecosystems [pp. 500-504]Agricultural Intensification and Ecosystem Properties [pp. 504-509]The Management of Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems [pp. 509-515]Hopes for the Future: Restoration Ecology and Conservation Biology [pp. 515-522]Forests as Human-Dominated Ecosystems [pp. 522-525]Book ReviewsReview: A Paradigm in Conservation Biology [pp. 527-528]Review: Assessing Assessments [pp. 528-529]PerspectivesHigh Gains for Polymer Dynamic Holography [pp. 530-531]Proinsulin C-Peptide-Biological Activity? [pp. 531-532]Nuclide Production by Cosmic Rays During the Last Ice Age [pp. 532-533]Ptdlns(3,4,5)P$_3$ Gets Its Message Across [p. 534]ReportsSocial Dilemmas and Internet Congestion [pp. 535-537]Chlorine-36 in Fossil Rat Urine: An Archive of Cosmogenic Nuclide Deposition During the Past 40,000 Years [pp. 538-541]Evidence for a Large-Scale Reorganization of Early Cambrian Continental Masses by Inertial Interchange True Polar Wander [pp. 541-545]Large Enhancement of Magnetoresistance in TI$_2$Mn$_2$O$_7$: Pyrochlore Versus Perovskite [pp. 546-549]Spontaneous Oscillation and Self-Pumped Phase Conjugation in a Photorefractive Polymer Optical Amplifier [pp. 549-552]Formation of a Silicate L$_3$ Phase with Continuously Adjustable Pore Sizes [pp. 552-556]A Di-Acidic Signal Required for Selective Export from the Endoplasmic Reticulum [pp. 556-558]Bcl-2: Prolonging Life in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis [pp. 559-562]Prevention of Vascular and Neural Dysfunction in Diabetic Rats by C-Peptide [pp. 563-566]Dual Role of Phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate in the Activation of Protein Kinase B [pp. 567-570]Transmission of Hepatitis C by Intrahepatic Inoculation with Transcribed RNA [pp. 570-574]Mitosis in Living Budding Yeast: Anaphase A But No Metaphase Plate [pp. 574-578]AAAS News and Notes [pp. 581-582]Back Matter [pp. 583-608]Human Domination of Earth's EcosystemsAuthor(s): Peter M. Vitousek, Harold A. Mooney, Jane Lubchenco, Jerry M. MelilloSource: Science, New Series, Vol. 277, No. 5325 (Jul. 25, 1997), pp. 494-499Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2892536Accessed: 09/11/2009 08:07Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. 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For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected] Association for the Advancement of Science is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve andextend access to Science.http://www.jstor.org..:. ...5 .::.X'j C :' jj : 0 0 ,: ;; ;d A S V D ) 0 Sa ::: C :: dS : :'; : .: : . .SS ;d. :. ;id )fV A .:Q : : :::. - : :: : . ..:. .. :. . . .. :: .. .. .. .. . .. .. . ... .. .. . ....; ...... ... ..... ..:: .. .... ... .. ...... ....; .. ... .: ... .: .... ..0 .....: ... : Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems Peter M. Vitousek, Harold A. Mooney, Jane Lubchenco, Jerry M. Melillo Human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing. Between one-third and one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide con- centration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial sources combined; more than half of all accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction. By these and other standards, it is clear that we live on a human- dominated planet. Aii organisms modify their environment, and humans are no exception. As the hu- man population has grown and the power of technology has expanded, the scope and nature of this modification has changed drastically. Until recently, the term "hu- man-dominated ecosystems" would