Chapter 1
Defining Conservation Biology ................................... 3
The Nature and Origins of Conservation Biology .................. 5
The philosophical roots of conservation biology .............. 6
Conservation biology's international scope ................... 8
The interdisciplinary approach: A case study ................ 10
Conservation Biology's Ethical Principles ...................... 13
Achievements and Challenges .................................... 14
Summary ........................................................ 15
Chapter 2
What Is Biodiversity? .......................................... 19
Species Diversity .............................................. 20
What is a species? .......................................... 20
Measuring species diversity ................................. 23
Genetic Diversity .............................................. 24
Ecosystem Diversity ............................................ 26
Trophic levels .............................................. 28
Food chains and food webs ................................... 30
Keystone species and guilds ................................. 31
Keystone resources .......................................... 33
Ecosystem dynamics .......................................... 33
Biodiversity Worldwide ......................................... 33
How many species exist? ..................................... 35
Where is the world's biodiversity found? .................... 37
Summary ........................................................ 40
Chapter 3
The Value of Biodiversity ...................................... 43
Ecological Economics ........................................... 45
Direct Economic Values ......................................... 47
Consumptive use value ....................................... 47
Productive use value ........................................ 49
Indirect Economic Values ....................................... 51
Ecosystem productivity ...................................... 52
Water and soil protection ................................... 53
Climate regulation .......................................... 54
Species interrelationships and environmental monitors ....... 55
Amenity value ............................................... 56
Multiple uses of a single resource: A case study ............ 59
The Long-Term View: Option Value ............................... 60
Existence Value ................................................ 62
Environmental Ethics ........................................... 64
Ethical arguments supporting preservation ................... 65
Deep ecology ................................................ 68
Summary ........................................................ 69
Chapter 4
Threats to Biodiversity ........................................ 73
Human Population Growth and its Impact ......................... 74
Habitat Destruction ............................................ 77
Tropical forests ............................................ 79
Temperate grasslands ........................................ 83
Wetlands .................................................... 83
Marine coastal waters ....................................... 84
Desertification ............................................. 86
Habitat Fragmentation .......................................... 86
Threats posed by fragmentation .............................. 88
Edge effects ................................................ 90
Environmental Degradation and Pollution ........................ 92
Pesticides .................................................. 94
Water pollution ............................................. 94
Air pollution ............................................... 96
Global Climate Change .......................................... 98
Climate change and the marine environment .................. 102
The overall effect of global warming ....................... 103
Overexploitation .............................................. 104
Natural resource use in traditional societies .............. 105
International wildlife trade ............................... 105
Commercial harvesting ...................................... 107
Invasive Species .............................................. 109
Invasive species on islands ................................ 111
Invasive species in aquatic habitats ....................... 112
The ability of species to become invasive .................. 113
Genetically modified organisms ............................. 116
Disease ....................................................... 117
Summary ....................................................... 120
Chapter 5
Extinction Is Forever ......................................... 125
The Meaning of "Extinct" ...................................... 127
Rates of Extinction ........................................... 128
Extinction rates in aquatic environments ................... 130
Extinction rates on islands ................................ 131
Island biogeography and extinction rate prediction ......... 133
Local extinctions .......................................... 135
Vulnerability to Extinction ................................... 137
The Problems of Small Populations ............................. 140
Loss of genetic variation .................................. 143
Effective population size .................................. 148
Demographic and environmental stochasticity ................ 151
The extinction vortex ...................................... 153
Summary ....................................................... 154
Chapter 6
Conserving Populations and Species ............................ 157
Applied Population Biology .................................... 158
Background research ........................................ 159
Monitoring populations in the field ........................ 159
Demographic studies ........................................ 163
Population viability analysis .............................. 164
Metapopulation models ...................................... 165
Conservation Categories ....................................... 168
Establishing New Populations .................................. 172
Relocating individuals to establish new populations ........ 172
Considerations for successful establishment programs ....... 173
Establishing new plant populations ......................... 177
The status of new populations .............................. 179
Ex Situ Conservation Strategies ............................... 180
Zoos ....................................................... 182
Aquariums .................................................. 186
Botanical gardens .......................................... 188
Seed banks ................................................. 189
Legal Protection of Species ................................... 191
National laws .............................................. 191
The U.S. Endangered Species Act ............................ 192
International agreements ................................... 196
Summary ....................................................... 198
Chapter 7
Protected Areas ............................................... 201
Establishment and Classification of Protected Areas ........... 202
The Effectiveness of Protected Areas .......................... 205
Prioritization: What should be protected? .................. 206
Measuring effectiveness: Gap analysis ...................... 212
Designing Protected Areas ..................................... 214
The debate over size ....................................... 215
Minimizing edge and fragmentation effects .................. 219
Networks of protected areas ................................ 219
Landscape Ecology and Park Design ............................. 224
Managing Protected Areas ...................................... 226
Monitoring ................................................. 228
Maintaining habitat ........................................ 229
Management and people ...................................... 232
Zoning as a solution to conflicting demands ................ 233
Challenges to Park Management ................................. 236
Summary ....................................................... 237
Chapter 8
Conservation Outside Protected Areas .......................... 241
Unprotected Public and Private Lands .......................... 241
Human-Dominated Landscapes .................................... 242
Working with Local People ..................................... 245
In situ agricultural conservation .......................... 248
Extractive reserves ........................................ 248
Community-based initiatives ................................ 249
Pay men tfor ecosys tern services .......................... 250
Evaluating conservation initiatives ........................ 250
Ecosystem Management .......................................... 251
Restoring Damaged Ecosystems .................................. 253
The need to restore ecosystem function ..................... 254
Approaches to ecosystem restoration ........................ 257
Targets of major restoration efforts ....................... 258
The future of restoration ecology .......................... 264
Summary ....................................................... 264
Chapter 9
The Challenge of Sustainable Development ...................... 267
Sustainable Development at the Local and National Levels ...... 269
Local conservation regulations ............................. 269
National legislation ....................................... 271
Land trusts ................................................ 272
Incentives for conservation ................................ 273
Enforcement and other issues ............................... 274
International Approaches to Sustainable Development ........... 275
International agreements ................................... 275
The Earth Summit ........................................... 278
Funding for Conservation ...................................... 280
Environmental trust funds .................................. 281
Debt-for-nature swaps ...................................... 281
Loans and grants ........................................... 282
Private funding ............................................ 284
The dilemma of conservation funding ........................ 285
Challenges of funding ...................................... 286
Conservation Education ........................................ 287
The Role of Conservation Biologists ........................... 289
Summary ....................................................... 291
Appendix: Selected Environmental Organizations and Sources
of Information ................................................ 295
Glossary ...................................................... 299
Chapter Opening Photograph Credits ............................ 307
Bibliography .................................................. 309
Index ......................................................... 337
About the Author .............................................. 351
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