Ecological Basis of Conservation

The conservation and management of wild natural resources stands at a crossroads. On the one hand, there are the stunning successes of the focus of species, of which the protection of endangered species is the pinnacle. On the other hand, stands the need for conservation to embrace landscapes and ecosystems, and to be more anticipatory and forward looking, rather than responding to manifest endangerment and acute crisis. These needs are the emerging agenda of conservation ecology. To advance the internal agenda of the science, theories, models, and field studies of populations and ecosystems will need to be better integrated. The book attempts to bring these two aspects of ecology closer together in conservation. A new paradigm in ecology paves the way for this integration. The parallel changes in conservation can also enhance the synthesis between ecology and conservation practice. The book explores a broad range of targets for conservation, illustrating the value of the new syntheses. Furthermore, the contributors evaluate the role of theory, and of both familiar and novel types of models, to indicate how such tools can be employed over the range of scales and processes that conservation must now address. The book contains diverse practical examples and case studies of how the new thinking in ecology, and the new partnerships required for more successful conservation, actually work and can be improved. The examples range from freshwater to arid, and from subtropical to boreal. The strongest use of science in conservation requires effective linkage between science and policy, and between science and management. The land ethic motivates the external agenda for science and its application and the resulting activity of scientists in the public discourse. Recommendations for the scope and nature of scientific engagement in the public debate are presented. Interactions with the media and presentation of ecological information to the public are key tools scientists must hone. Analysis of the practical needs and the policy landscape suggest priorities for management and for research. The external agenda to be addressed by science and its application is the complex interaction of human population size, culture, and economics with ecological systems.