Today’s Headlines
Chlopyrifos (golf courses), malathion
(mosquitoes), diazinon (agriculture)
ESA, chinook salmon,
food web
Conservation Biology
Definition
History & Connections
Biodiversity & threats
Approaches to Solutions
Definitions
• … pursuit of a coherent goal: the protection and
perpetuation of the Earth’s biological
diversity. A mission-oriented, crisis-driven
discipline comprising both pure and applied
science
– Meine et al. 2006
• …not defined by a discipline but by its goal —
to halt or repair the undeniable, massive
damage that is being done to ecosystems,
species, and the relationships of humans to the
environment.
– Ehrenfeld 1992
Critique
• …effort by “an elite group of biologists” who
“[aimed] to change science, conservation,
cultural habits, human values, our ideas
about nature, and ultimately, nature itself.”
– Takacs 1996
Not without controversy
• “I have read many definitions of what is a
conservationist & the best one is written not
with a pen, but an axe.”
-- Aldo Leopold
Is the following statement true or false:
Conservation biology does acknowledge
the fact that it is a “value-laden” field.
1. True
2. False
92%
8%
1
2
History
•
•
•
•
Muir vs. Pinchot
Wilderness Act (1964)
Environmental Laws: Jan. 1, 1970 (NEPA)
Science and the funding agencies
– NSF: Ecosystems (1970)
– LTER (1980)
– Urban LTER (1997)
• Emergence of Conservation Biology
• Lecture by Andrea Woody:
– Anthropocentric view
– Biocentric view
Foundation - 1
• Population biology: a study of biological
Endangered
Speciesespecially
Act (1973)
populations
of organisms,
in
Northern Spotted
Owl
terms of biodiversity,
evolution,
and
Salmon
environmental biology.
‘Mainland’
Core Biogeography:
• Island
Number of species
‘Island’
Corridor = f(rate
present
of immigration & rate of
Climate Change
Size
Fragmentation
extinction)
Connectivity
Mountains
Time
Environment
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/Filson.html
Foundation - 2
• The worst thing that can happen during the
1980s is not energy depletion, economic collapse,
limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian
government. As terrible as these catastrophes
would be for us, they can be repaired within a
few generations. The one process ongoing in the
1980s that will take millions of years to correct is
the loss of genetic and species diversity by
the destruction of natural habitats. This is the
folly that our descendents are least likely to
forgive us.
– E.O. Wilson 1985
Conceptual Background
Resilience Theory
Earth, we have a problem!
Example: Easter Island
Hypothesized
examples of collapse
• Example from Jared Diamond’s (2006)
book: “Collapse: How Societies Choose
to Fail or Succeed” (e.g., Easter Island)
• Loss of the forest (over utilization)
Agricultural Systems
• In order to maintain simplified
biological systems, one must use
extensive quantities of energy
–
–
–
–
–
Water
Fuel
Fertilizers
Pesticides
Intensity: Erosion
Global Loss of Soil
World is losing 1% of its arable
land each year
Stable geological crust
• Critical are the rates of erosion
• Need for low tillage farming
• Montgomery, D.R. 2007. PNAS 104: 13268
Bottom line
• Population
• Consumption
• View of
nature
• Solutions
I=PxAxT
Solutions
• Ex-situ (off-site) conservation:
Arboreta, zoos, plant collections, seed
banks
• In-situ conservation: Preserves,
reserves
– SLOSS: Single large or several small.
– Working farms and forests
• Restoration
Small Reserves
• Focus on ‘hot spots’
Example
Large Reserves
• Uncertainty
• Anticipate climate change
• Provides latitudinal and elevational
opportunities for migration
• Three examples
– Y to Y
– Panda reserves in the eastern Himalayas
– Australia
Concept
• Umbrella
species
• Food chain
and trophic
pyramid
Pluie, the Wandering Wolf
Penelope Pierce,
US Regional Director
See also http://wolfquest.org/
Epic Journey
The Y to Y
• A corridor of
connected
protected areas
• Effort:
Identification of
– Prime habitat
– Areas at risk
Process
Greater Muskwa-Kechika Ecosystem
Detail: Road Ecology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50BvDQnztEU
• Montana State University
• University California - Davis
More Alternative (s)
• Restoration
• Working environments (agriculture,
grazing and forestry) (example:
Cascade Land Conservancy).