Online multiplayer games as virtual laboratories for collecting data on social-ecological decision making

Abstract

First paragraph: In the Anthropocene, human actions affect the persistence and abundance of nearly all critical natural resources, including the biodiversity on which indispensable ecosystem services depend (Dirzo et al. 2014; Ellis 2019). Sustaining these resources is of global importance for humanity because all humans rely on them to subsist and thrive. Yet, natural resource management has become a difficult, seemingly intractable, challenge (Defries & Nagendra 2017). This is partly caused by an inability to accurately predict social dynamics within social-ecological systems, especially in systems where conflict exists between the interests of human livelihoods and long-term conservation. In such systems, decisions are made by multiple interacting stakeholders with unique and potentially conflicting values, interests, and objectives (Redpath et al. 2013, 2018). To better predict social dynamics in these systems, new tools are needed that can manage the complexity underlying the causes and consequences of human decision making.