Conservation
Biology
Photo from Greg Dimijian
Instrumental Value
Value that Nature has
as a means to another’s
(i.e., mankind’s) end
Anthropocentric viewpoint
(i.e., from the perspective of
Homo sapiens as “possessor”)
Map from pubs.usgs.gov; photo of grizzlies from Wikimedia Commons
Intrinsic Value
Value that Nature has
as an end in itself
Biocentric or ecocentric viewpoint
(i.e., from the perspective of Nature
as “possessor”)
E.g., biodiversity is valuable simply
because it exists
E.g., non-human species
have rights
Photos from Wikimedia Commons
Conservation Biologists / Environmentalists
in the U. S.
Gifford Pinchot (1865 – 1946)
First Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (1905 – 1910)
Coined “conservation ethic”
Resource Conservation Ethic
Utilitarian, anthropocentric “natural resource” philosophy;
“the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time”
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Conservation Biologists / Environmentalists
in the U. S.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)
Nature (1836)
Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
Walden (1854)
John Muir (1838 – 1914)
Founded Sierra Club (1892)
Romantic-Transcendental Conservation Ethic
“Nature has uses other than human economic gain;” biophilia
Image of Emerson, photos of Thoreau and T. Roosevelt with Muir from Wikimedia Commons
Conservation Biologists / Environmentalists
in the U. S.
Aldo Leopold (1887 – 1948)
A Sand County Almanac (1949)
Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic
Arose together with the Modern Synthesis and maturing ecological
theory; recognizes the complexity, interconnectedness (including
humans) and dynamism of Nature
Photo from Oregon State University
Conservation Biologists / Environmentalists
in the U. S.
Rachel Carson (1907 – 1964)
Silent Spring (1962) – motivated creation of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Photo of Carson from Wikimedia Commons
Conservation Biologists / Environmentalists
in the U. S.
Michael Soulé
Co-founder of the Society for Conservation Biology (1985)
Conservation Biology is a “crisis discipline”
Photo of Soulé from hawaiiconservation.org
Extinction in the Geologic Record
?
Current mass extinction
could result in ~ 50% of species
going extinct in 100 years
(Wilson 2002)
Image from Wikimedia Commons
K/T (Cretaceous-Tertiary)
Mass Extinction
~ 65 m.y.a.;
Ended the reign of
the dinosaurs
P/Tr (Permian-Triassic)
Mass Extinction
~ 251 m.y.a.;
~ 96% of all marine species &
~ 70% of all terrestrial species
Historic Extinction – Conservation Biology is a
“Crisis Discipline”
“Martha” – the last
living passenger
pigeon – died on
Sept. 1, 1914 in
captivity in
Cincinnati, OH
Image of Passenger Pigeon (extinct North American bird, once found in Louisiana) from Wikimedia Commons
Threats to Biodiversity
Habitat destruction
Invasive species
Pollution
Human Population
Overexploitation
E. O. Wilson
(b. 1929)
Photo from Wikimedia Commons; For more information on HIPPO, see: E. O. Wilson (2002) The Future of Life
HIPPO
Habitat Destruction & Degradation
Photos of forest destruction in Brazil & Malaysia
HIPPO
Habitat Destruction & Degradation
“An ever-expanding network of roads, railways, rivers, and shipping lanes
means that only 10 percent of the earth’s surface is now remote, defined as
being at least 48 hours away from a major city. More than half of the world‘s
population lives within an hour of a major city…”
Image from Discover Magazine, Jan-Feb 2010 Special Issue, “Top 100 Stories of 2009” –
“#92: Nowhere to Hide from the Buzz of Civilization
HIPPO
Invasive Species
Kudzu
Snakehead
Walking
catfish
HIPPO
Pollution
“Photoshopped” image of airplanes from www.surfersvillage.com
HIPPO
Pollution
NASA image from May 24, 2010 posted on Wikimedia Commons
HIPPO
Human Population
“More people means more of all the other HIPPO effects” (Wilson, 2002)
12
11
2100
10
9
Old
Stone
7 Age
8
Billions of
People
New Stone Age
Bronze
Age
Iron
Age
6
Modern
Age
Middle
Ages
2000
?
Future
5
4
1975
3
1950
2
1
Black Death —The Plague
1900
1800
1+ million 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 A.D. A.D. A.D. A.D. A.D. A.D.
years B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. B.C. 1 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Image from the Population Reference Bureau © 2006
HIPPO
Overexploitation
Atlantic Cod
HIPPO
Overexploitation
Parrots
Monetizing the Instrumental Value of Nature
Costanza et al. (1997, Nature) provide this estimate for the value of these
ecosystem goods & services:
~ $33,000,000,000,000 / yr
[…and the gross world product (the sum of all nations’ gross national products)
is ~ $18,000,000,000,000 / yr]
Ecosystem goods & services illustrated with photos of wetland, pollinator & “decomposer” – Wikimedia Commons