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What is Conservation
Biology?
A historical overview
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Conservation biology is…
…branch of biology that deals with the
effects of humans on the environment and
with the conservation of biological
diversity.
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www.answers.com
Conservation biology is…
…an interdisciplinary, mission-oriented
science with the goal of alleviating the
extinction crisis and fostering biological
diversity.
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www.encyclopedia.com
Conservation biology is…
…the scientific study of the conservation of
biological diversity and the effects of
humans on the environment.
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www.thefreedictionary.com
Conservation biology is…
…a ‘crisis discipline’, in which tactical
decisions must sometimes be made in the
face of uncertain knowledge.
Soulé, 2001
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Conservation biology is…
Scientific discipline that draws on diverse fields
to carry out research on biodiversity, identify
threats to biodiversity, and play an active role
in the preservation of biodiversity. (Glossary)
An integrated, multidisciplinary scientific field
that has developed in response to the challenge
of preserving species and ecosystems. (P. 5)
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Conservation biology is…
…the scientific study of the phenomena
that affect the maintenance, loss, and
restoration of biological diversity.
Society for Conservation Biology
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Historical Overview
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Use of the land has always been
part of human culture and
activity
– Prehistoric hunters
– Early hunter-gatherers
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Use of the land has always been
part of human culture and
activity
“By the law of nature these things are
common to all mankind: the air, running
water, the sea, and consequently the
shores of the sea”
Emperor Justinian (ca 500 BC)
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Use of the land has always been
part of human culture and
activity
Concept expanded to include fish and
wildlife.
Magna Carta, 1215
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Use of the land has always been
part of human culture and
activity
Government maintains resources in trust
for the people.
Public Trust Doctrine,
US Supreme Court decision,1842
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Use of the land has always been
part of human culture and
activity
Sovereign lands of a state are held in
trust by the State for all present and
future generations; such land may not
be sold for development
US Supreme Court, 1892
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Use of the land has always been
part of human culture and
activity
– Prehistoric hunters
– Early hunter-gatherers
– Population levels
sufficiently low that
impact was, by
definition, minimal
• Use was sustainable
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Population growth=greater
impact
– With time, territorial expansion,
population growth, industrialization,
impact on the environment grew.
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Figure 1.1 The human population in 2019 stood at about 7.8 billion
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Implications of expanding
population
• Growing demands on resources
– Depletion of “game”  game and fisheries
management
– Deforestation  forestry
– Soil erosion, overgrazing  watershed and
range management, soil and water
conservation
How to manage resources?
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Developing perspectives
• Preservationist Ethic
– Emerson, Thoreau, Muir
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Developing perspectives
• Preservationist Ethic
– Emerson, Thoreau, Muir
• Resource Conservation Ethic
– Pinchot
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Developing perspectives
• Preservationist Ethic
– Emerson, Thoreau, Muir
• Resource Conservation Ethic
– Pinchot
• Land Ethic
– Leopold
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“Managing” Resources
Utilitarian perspective
•
US Forest Service:
1905 (grew from USDA
Forest Department)
–
Early effort to manage
harvests and control key
economic resource for
long-term use
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Bureau of Land Management
• 1946
• General Land Office +
US Grazing Service
= BLM
• Within Department of
the Interior
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“Multiple-use” management of
public lands
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Broader perspective
• 1940 US Fish
and Wildlife
Service of the
Department of
the Interior
formed
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Land=multiple use
Land=commodity
Land=complete biota, complex interactions
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Global conservation efforts
• 1946: United Nations
– UNESCO (educational, scientific, and cultural
organization)
– UNEP (environmental program) (1973)
• 1948: IUPN (International Union for the
Protection of Nature)
– Governmental and non-governmental
participation (“GONGO”)
– Became IUCN (Int’l Union for the
Conservation of Nature)
– “Survival Service” (later Species
Survival Commission)
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1985: Society for Conservation
Biology
• Mission-oriented
– To advance the science and practice of
conserving the Earth's biological diversity.
●
Crisis-driven
– A world where people understand, value, and
conserve the diversity of life on Earth.
• Highly interdisciplinary
– resource managers, educators, government and
private conservation workers, and students
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http://www.conbio.org/AboutUs/
5 key underlying principles of
conservation biology: #1
Scientific foundations bring together
systematics, genetics, ecology, and
evolutionary biology.
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5 key underlying principles of
conservation biology: #2
Attention to biodiversity is key: diversity at all
levels of biological organization, patterns of
diversity at various temporal and spatial
scales, and the processes that maintain
diversity.
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5 key underlying principles of
conservation biology: #3
More inclusive, due to its strong interdisciplinary
organization from its inception. Provided
better, broader perspective than earlier,
single-discipline efforts at conservation.
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5 key underlying principles of
conservation biology: #4
Rather than suppressing or ignoring ethical aspects
of conservation (as being non-scientific),
conservation biology acknowledged and
embraced them: a “value-laden” field.
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5 key underlying principles of
conservation biology: #5
Unlike most scientific endeavors, conservation
biology recognized that there was a “close
linkage” (unavoidable) between biodiversity
conservation and economic development.
Compromise recognized as key.
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Figure 1.2 Conservation biology represents a synthesis of many basic sciences that
provide principles and new approaches for the applied fields of resource management
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• Consider the conservation organizations
you are familiar with; do you think they
more closely embrace the preservation
ethic, the resource conservation ethic, or
the land ethic?
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