The Ecological Basis of Conservation

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

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2. Introduction: The Needs for a Comprehensive Conservation Theory

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Defining the Scientific Issues

      • R. S. Ostfeld, S. T. A. Pickett, M. Shachak, G. E. Likens

      Pages 3-10

   3. Part 1: Science, Conservation, Policy, and the Public

      • Gretchen Long Glickman

      Pages 11-15

   4. Part 2: Providing the Scientific Information that Conservation Practitioners Need

      • H. Ronald Pulliam

      Pages 16-22

   5. Part 3: A Policy Perspective on Biodiversity Protection and Ecosystem Management

      • Michael J. Bean

      Pages 23-28

   6. Conservation and Human Population Growth: What Are the Linkages?

      • Joel E. Cohen

      Pages 29-42

   7. Developing an Analytical Context for Multispecies Conservation Planning

      • Barry Noon, Kevin McKelvey, Dennis Murphy

      Pages 43-59

   8. Operationalizing Ecology under a New Paradigm: An African Perspective

      • Kevin H. Rogers

      Pages 60-77

3. Foundations for a Comprehensive Conservation Theory

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 79-79

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   2. Themes

      • Steward T. A. Pickett, Richard S. Ostfeld, Moshe Shachak, Gene E. Likens

      Pages 81-82

   3. The Paradigm Shift in Ecology and Its Implications for Conservation

      • Peggy L. Fiedler, Peter S. White, Robert A. Leidy

      Pages 83-92

   4. The Emerging Role of Patchiness in Conservation Biology

      • John A. Wiens

      Pages 93-107

   5. Linking Ecological Understanding and Application: Patchiness in a Dryland System

      • Moshe Shachak, S. T. A. Pickett

      Pages 108-119

4. Biodiversity and its Ecological Linkages

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121

      PDF

   2. Themes

      • Richard S. Ostfeld, Steward T. A. Pickett, Moshe Shachak, Gene E. Likens

      Pages 123-124

   3. The Evaluation of Biodiversity as a Target for Conservation

      • M. Philip Nott, Stuart L. Pimm

      Pages 125-135

   4. Conserving Ecosystem Function

      • Judy L. Meyer

      Pages 136-145

   5. The Relationship Between Patchiness and Biodiversity in Terrestrial Systems

      • Lennart Hansson

      Pages 146-155

   6. Reevaluating the Use of Models to Predict the Consequences of Habitat Loss and Fragmentation

      • Peter Kareiva, David Skelly, Mary Ruckelshaus

      Pages 156-166

From its inception, the U.S. Department of the Interior has been charged with a conflicting mission. One set of statutes demands that the department must develop America's lands, that it get our trees, water, oil, and minerals out into the marketplace. Yet an opposing set of laws orders us to conserve these same resources, to preserve them for the long term and to consider the noncommodity values of our public landscape. That dichotomy, between rapid exploitation and long-term protection, demands what I see as the most significant policy departure of my tenure in office: the use of science-interdisciplinary science-as the primary basis for land management decisions. For more than a century, that has not been the case. Instead, we have managed this dichotomy by compartmentalizing the American landscape. Congress and my predecessors handled resource conflicts by drawing enclosures: "We'll create a national park here," they said, "and we'll put a wildlife refuge over there." Simple enough, as far as protection goes. And outside those protected areas, the message was equally simplistic: "Y'all come and get it. Have at it." The nature and the pace of the resource extraction was not at issue; if you could find it, it was yours.

• biodiversity
• biology
• ecology
• ecosystem
• ecosystem processes
• ecotoxicology

`... this book is of great value for anyone interested in ecology or conservation science. It should be on the bookshelves of many libraries at universities, research institutes, management planning agencies to give the opportunity for regular consultation.'
Abstracta Botanica, 22 (199)

• Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum, Millbrook, USA

  S. T. A. Pickett, R. S. Ostfeld, M. Shachak, G. E. Likens

• Mitrani Center for Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker, Israel

  M. Shachak

Policies and ethics