Conservation in the Context of a Changing World : Concepts, Strategies, and Evidence

✍ Scribed by Bertie J. Weddell

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 406
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Recent developments in ecological theory point the way to a stewardship approach that promotes biocultural diversity and ecosystem resilience. In addition, the escalating pace of anthropogenic environmental change makes it clear that conservation strategies which incorporate social as well as ecological dimensions are essential.

This thoroughly updated version of Conservation in the Context of a Changing World covers a broader geographic, historical, and cultural scope that integrates material from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Contemporary and comprehensive, this book provides essential material for understanding trade-offs between different options for resolving complex issues, including climate policy, the contrasting interests of different groups, the changing roles of Indigenous peoples, biopiracy, human-wildlife conflict, and new governance models such as co-management. Sources of evidence about the natural world and the roles of local and traditional people are emphasized. This is a vital resource for making informed decisions about controversial issues in conservation.

✦ Table of Contents

Preface page xi
Acknowledgments xxiv

Introduction: Getting and Evaluating Information for Making Decisions about Conservation 1
Sources of Information about the Natural World 1
Evaluating Information about the Natural World 10

Part I Maintaining Populations of Featured Species: A Utilitarian Approach to Conservation

1 Historical Context: Beginnings of Formal Utilitarian Conservation 15
1.1 Royal Reserves and Sacred Groves 15
1.2 Colonial Expansion 18
1.3 Changes from 1800 to 1950 22
1.4 Diagnosing the Problem 32
1.5 Response 33

2 Central Concepts: Populations, Succession, and Ecosystems 38
2.1 Populations 38
2.2 Succession 55
2.3 Ecosystems 59
2.4 Implications: Equilibrium and Stability 63

3 Strategies: Managing Harvests and Habitats for Valued Species 64
3.1 Classifying Species and Habitats on the Basis of Utilitarian Values 64
3.2 Managing Harvest 64
3.3 Managing Habitats 80
3.4 Conserving Soil 86
3.5 Managing Habitats for Multiple Uses 87
3.6 Evaluating Harvest and Habitat Management 87

4 Strategies: Managing to Minimize Conflicts between Pests and People 88
4.1 What Is a Pest? 88
4.2 Types of Control 89
4.3 Historical Background 92
4.4 Integrated Pest Management 97
4.5 Pests That Compete with People or Valued Species 99
4.6 Pests That Transmit Diseases to People or Domestic Animals 102
4.7 Pests with Recreational Value 105
4.8 Pests That Are Both Rare and Dangerous 107
4.9 Values and Tradeoffs 110
4.10 Evaluating Pest Management 112

Part II Protecting and Restoring Populations and Habitats: A Preservationist Approach to Conservation

5 Historical Context: Rising Concerns about Human Impacts 117
5.1 Economic, Demographic, and Technological Changes after World War II 117
5.2 Awareness of Environmental Impacts 118
5.3 Diagnosing the Problem 135
5.4 Response: Protection of Species and Habitats 140

6 Central Concepts: Evolution, Adaptation, and Extinction 141
6.1 Natural Selection 141
6.2 Speciation: The Formation of Species 146
6.3 Classifying Species 148
6.4 Extinction: The Disappearance of Species 155
6.5 Contemporary Extinctions 159
6.6 Implications: Connections between Evolution and Conservation 171

7 Strategies: Protecting and Restoring Species 173
7.1 Overview of Options: Strategies for Preventing Extinctions 173
7.2 Keeping Track of Species in Trouble 173
7.3 Addressing Immediate Causes of Rarity 176
7.4 Managing Intrinsic Limits on Population Growth 182
7.5 Enhancing or Restoring Population Size and Geographic Range: Reintroduction 187
7.6 Managing Genetic Diversity in Reintroduced Populations 190
7.7 Setting Priorities: Which Species Should We Try to Save? 193
7.8 Evaluating Efforts to Protect and Restore Species 194

8 Strategies: Protecting and Restoring Ecosystems 196
8.1 What Is a Reserve? 196
8.2 Historical Background 197
8.3 Designing Reserves 200
8.4 Setting Priorities: Which Ecosystems Should We Save? 206
8.5 Managing Reserves 212
8.6 Restoring Ecosystems 214
8.7 Rewilding: A Landscape Approach to Restoring Large Animal Populations 216
8.8 Evaluating Ecosystem Conservation 218

Part III Promoting Biocultural Diversity and Resilience: A Stewardship Approach to Conservation

9 Historical Context: New Opportunities and Challenges 223
9.1 Practical Considerations: What Is Feasible? 224
9.2 Scientific Considerations: Science for a Complex and
Rapidly Changing World 224
9.3 Socioeconomic and Political Considerations:
Contrasting Interests and Perspectives 226
9.4 Ethical Considerations 234
9.5 Philosophical Considerations: People and Nature 238
9.6 Legal Considerations: Indigenous Rights 241
9.7 Diagnosing the Problem 244
9.8 Response: Stewardship Conservation 244

10 Central Concepts: Complexity and Change 246
10.1 Revisiting Equilibrium Theories 247
10.2 Before the Wilderness: Anthropogenic Landscapes 260
10.3 Climate Change 262
10.4 An Alternative Perspective: Nature in Flux 270
10.5 Implications: Stewardship 271

11 Strategies: Stewardship to Conserve Complex, Resilient Ecosystems 273
11.1 Responses to Disturbances 273
11.2 Restoring Natural Disturbance Agents: Fire and Water 282
11.3 Restoring Interactions 285
11.4 Managing Ecosystem Structures 287
11.5 Managing Ecosystems for Carbon Storage 292
11.6 Evaluating Management for Complex, Resilient Ecosystems 295

12 Strategies: Stewardship to Integrate Conservation of Biological and Cultural Diversity 297
12.1 Introduction 297
12.2 Extractive Reserves 298
12.3 Economic Incentives for Conservation 303
12.4 Conserving Biocultural Diversity 311
12.5 The Kuna-Yala’s PEMASKY: An Uneasy Alliance 314
12.6 Co-management following Indigenous Challenges to
Regulatory Agencies 316
12.7 Local Management of a Small-Scale Fishery in Costa Rica 319
12.8 Evaluating Conservation of Biocultural Diversity 322

Postscript 324
Appendix: Types of Ecosystems 325
Bibliography 337
Index 362

✦ Subjects

Ecosystem management; Biodiversity conservation; Conservation of natural resources; Conservation biology; Natural resources--Management