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Despite being an underpopulated region, Patagonia has attracted the attention of scientists since the very beginning of its settlement. From classical explorers such as Darwin or D´Orbigny, to modern science including nuclear and satellite developments, several disciplines have focused their efforts on unraveling Patagonia's natural and social history. Today, scientific and technological research is shifting from being shaped by northern agendas, towards more locally oriented objectives, such as the management of natural resources, the modernization of energy production and distribution, and the coexistence of rural and cosmopolitan social lifestyles. At the intersection of all these topics, new conflicts concerning the economy, human development, population, and the proper and long-standing planification and management of the landscape and its natural resources have emerged. These conflicts, of course, have also caught the attention of many interdisciplinary research groups.
Natural and Social Sciences of Patagonia is aimed at describing and discussing various aspects of this complex reality, but also at bridging the gaps between the scientific community and governments, policymakers, and society in general. The respective volumes will analyze and synthesize our knowledge of Patagonian biodiversity at different scales, from alleles, genes and species, to ecosystems and the biosphere, including its multilevel interactions. As humans cannot be viewed as being separate from biodiversity, the series' volumes will also share anthropological, archaeological, sociological and historical views of humanity, and highlight the wide range of benefits that ecosystems provide to humanity including provisioning, regulating and cultural services.
