Hunter-Gatherer Societies, Ecological Impact of spatial and temporal variation in plant production, plant life form diversity, and refuge areas for pastoralists These, in turn, contributed to social and ecological persistence by reducing variability of ecosystem energy flow and long-term variations in species diversity Thus, biodiversity was important to ecosystem (which included people) maintenance These systems’ approach to understanding human–environment interactions is a useful way to discern the ecological impact of huntergatherers and, more importantly, to derive appropriate management of lands where hunter-gatherers live The description presented here shows that indigenous concepts of conservation, ecological knowledge, and moral and religious beliefs are fundamental to understanding how hunter-gatherers use resources Not all hunter-gatherers conserve their resources, thus whether or not and to what extent hunter-gatherers effect their environment is an empirical question that needs to be investigated, not a notion to be assumed one way or another It is, however, the case that when hunter-gatherers have short-term strategies for resource use, they may overuse some resources; when long-term goals are in place, they may not Informal institutions control use of some resources in hunter-gatherer societies, but collective action or formal institutions are generally not well developed With major changes in and around the lands inhabited by huntergatherers, it is becoming increasingly necessary for huntergatherers to develop institutions to gain control over their resource base Alliances between hunter-gatherers and others interested in conservation may facilitate resource-management strategies that reduce the impact of negative changes Huntergatherer natural resource-management strategies that include their social system are important attributes of these social–ecological systems and need to be the fundamental components of any plan to conserve biodiversity See also: Biodiversity-Rich Countries Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology Indigenous Peoples and Biodiversity Land-Use Patterns, Historic Religious Traditions and Biodiversity Traditional Conservation Practices References Alvard MS (1998) Evolutionary ecology and resource conservation Evolutionary Anthropology 72: 62–74 Arunatoi N (2006) Moken traditional knowledge: An unrecognized form of natural resources management and conservation International Social Science Journal 58: 139–150 Bailey RC and Aunger Jr R (1989) Significance of the social relationships of Efe Pygmy men in the Ituri Forest, Zaire American Journal of Physical Anthropology 78: 495–507 165 Berkes F and Folke C (1998) Linking Social and Ecological Systems, Management Practices and Social Mechanisms for Building Resilience Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Berkes F (2007) Community-based conservation in a globalized world Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of United States of America 104(23): 15188–15193 Berkes F (2004) Rethinking community-based conservation Conservation Biology 18(3): 621–630 Cane S (1996) Australian aboriginal subsistence in the western desert In: Bates DG and Lees SH (eds.) 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