CHAPTER 1

Defining Conservation Biology

W e are living in a period of unprecedented loss of biological

diversity. Around the globe, biological communities that
took millions of years to develop—including tropical rain
forests, coral reefs, old-growth forests, prairies, and coastal
wetlands—have been devastated as a result of human actions.
Biologists predict that tens of thousands of species and millions of
unique populations will go extinct in the coming decades (Millenium
Ecosystem Assessment 2005a; Brown and Laband 2006). The
overwhelming cause of all this loss is the rapidly expanding human
population.
During the last 150 years, the human population has exploded.
It took more than 10,000 years for the number of Homo sapiens to
Female Green sea turtle on its nesting ground on the coast of Makran, Pakistan (see p. 10)
reach 1 billion, an event that occurred sometime around the year
1850. Estimates for 2008 put the number of humans at 6.6 billion;
at this size, even a modest rate of population increase adds tens of
The Nature and Origins of Conservation Biology’s Ethical millions of individuals each year (Figure 1.1). The threats to
Conservation Biology Principles
biodiversity are accelerating due to the demands of the rapidly
The philosophical roots of Achievements and Challenges increasing human population and its rising material consumption.
conservation biology
Conservation biology’s People use natural resources such as firewood, coal, oil, timber,
international scope fish, and game, and they convert natural habitats to land dominated
The interdisciplinary approach: by agriculture, cities, housing developments, logging, mining,
A case study
industrial plants, and other human activities.
Worsening the situation is the fact that as countries develop and
industrialize, the consumption of resources by its citizens increases.
For example, the average citizen of the United States
4 Chapter 1
FIGURE 1.1 The human population in
2008 stands at around 6.6 billion. The World
Resources Institute estimates current annual
population growth at 1.1%, but even this
modest growth rate will add more than 72
million people to the planet in the next year.
This number will escalate each year as the
increase is compounded. (Data from U.S.
Census Bureau, www.census.gov/ipc/www/
idb/worldpopinfo.html)
uses almost 18 times more energy that the average citizen of Pakistan (WRI
2001). The ever increasing number of human beings and their intensifying
use of natural resources have direct and harmful consequences for the
diversity of the living world.
The mass extinctions now underway are unlike the mass extinctions of
the geological past, in which tens of thousands of species died out following
catastrophes such as asteroid collisions, widespread volcanic and earthquake
activity, and sudden dramatic temperature changes (see Chapter 5). Today’s
extinctions have a human face. Never before has such devastation been
caused by beings who claim reason, a moral sense, and free will as their
unique and defining characteristics.
Unless something is done to reverse the trend of human-caused extinctions,
species that exemplify the natural world for us—animals like giant pandas,
whales, and many kinds of songbirds—will be lost forever from what remains
of their wild habitats. Many thousands, possibly millions, of less conspicuous
bacteria, fungus, and invertebrate species will join them in extinction unless
their habitats are protected. The loss of these seemingly inconspicuous
species may prove to be devastating to the planet and its human inhabitants
because of the role such species play in recycling nutrients and maintaining
a healthy balance of species.
Many of the threats to biodiversity are synergistic, which means that the
negative effects of several separate factors—such as logging, overhunting,
Defining Conservation Biology 5
drought, fire, climate change, and poverty—combine additively or even
multiplicatively to destroy biodiversity (WRI 2005). Threats to biodiversity
will almost certainly threaten human populations as well, because humans
depend on the natural environment for raw materials, food, medicines, and
even clean air and water.
Although many of us feel discouraged by the approaching avalanche of
species extinctions and the wholesale habitat destruction taking place in the
world today, it is possible—indeed, it is necessary—to feel challenged to
find ways to stop the destruction (Orr 2007). The actions taken or not taken
during the next few decades will determine how many of the world’s species,
ecological communities, and natural areas will survive. People may someday
look back on the early decades of the twenty-first century as a time when
a handful of determined people saved numerous species and entire biological
communities. Examples of such conservation efforts are described later in
this chapter and throughout this book.
The Nature and Origins of
Conservation Biology
Conservation biology is an integrated, multidisciplinary scientific field that
has developed in response to the challenge of preserving species and
ecosystems (Robinson 2006). It has three goals:
• To document the full range of biological diversity on Earth
• To investigate human impact on species, communities, and ecosystems
• To develop practical approaches to prevent the extinction of species,
maintain genetic diversity within species, and protect and restore biological
communities and their associated ecosystem functions
The first two of these goals involve the dispassionate search for factual
knowledge typical of scientific research. The third goal, however, defines
conservation biology as a normative discipline—that is, it embraces certain
values and attempts to apply scientific methods to achieving those values.
Like medical science, which applies knowledge gleaned from physiology,
anatomy, biochemistry, and genetics to the goal of achieving human health
and eliminating illness, conservation biologists intervene to prevent the
human-enhanced loss of biodiversity because they believe the preservation
of species and natural communities to be an ultimate good.
The modern science of conservation biology arose in the 1980s because
by themselves the traditional applied disciplines of resource management,
including forestry, agriculture, fisheries biology, and wildlife management,
were not comprehensive enough to address the rapidly escalating threats
to biological diversity. Conservation biology complements the applied
disciplines and provides a more general theoretical approach to protecting
the entire range of biodiversity. It differs from the applied disciplines in its
emphasis on long-term preservation of the entire biological community
6 Chapter 1 Defining Conservation Biology 7

accompanied by economic sustainability. The academic disciplines of FIGURE 1.2 Conservation

population biology, taxonomy, ecology, evolution, and genetics merge with biology represents a synthesis of
the applied disciplines to form the core of conservation biology, and many many basic sciences (left) that
conservation biologists have been drawn from these ranks. In addition, many provide principles and new
approaches for the applied fields of
leaders in conservation biology have come from zoos, aquariums, and resource management (right).
botanical gardens, bringing with them experience in maintaining and Experience gained in the field in
propagating species in captivity. turn influences the direction of the
Conservation biology is also closely associated with environmentalism, basic sciences. (After Temple 1991.)
a widespread movement characterized by political and educational activism
with the goal of protecting the natural environment from destruction and
pollution. Conservation biology, however, is a scientific discipline whose
findings often contribute to the environmentalist movement but differ from
it by being based in biological research.
Because much of the biodiversity crisis has arisen from human pressures,
conservation biology also incorporates ideas and expertise from a broad
range of other fields. For example, environmental law and policy provide
the basis for government protection of endangered
species and critical habitats. Environmental ethics
Conservation biology merges applied and provides a rationale for preserving biodiversity.
theoretical biology and incorporates ideas and Ecological economists provide analyses of the
expertise from a broad range of fields outside economic value of various aspects of biodiversity
the natural sciences, toward the goal of to support arguments for preservation. Ecologists,
preserving biodiversity. environmental scientists, and climatologists
monitor the biological and physical characteristics
given the sacred responsibility to be guardians of nature. Recently, some
of the environment and develop models to predict
Christian and Jewish leaders have begun to encourage preservation of God’s
environmental responses to disturbance, especially climate change. Social
creation as part of humanity’s moral duties.
sciences, including anthropology, sociology, and geography, provide methods
In the United States, nineteenth-century philosophers such as Ralph Waldo
to understand the actions of local people and involve them in protecting
Emerson and Henry David Thoreau saw wild nature as an important element
their immediate environment. Conservation education links academic study
in human moral and spiritual development (Merchant 2002). Sharing this
and fieldwork to solve environmental problems by teaching people about
viewpoint during that century were the prolific artists of the Hudson River
science and helping them realize the value of the natural environment.
School (Figure 1.3). These painters were noted for their romantic depictions
Because it draws on the ideas and skills of so many separate fields,
of “scenes of solitude from which the hand of nature has never been lifted”
conservation biology is a truly multidisciplinary science (Figure 1.2)
(Cole 1835). In a more scientific approach, wilderness advocates John Muir
The philosophical roots of conservation biology (1838–1914) and Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) argued for preserving natural
Conservation biology can be grounded in religious and philosophical beliefs landscapes and maintaining the health of natural ecosystems.
that describe the relationship between human societies and the natural world In the latter half of the twentieth century, Rachel Carson’s 1962 book
(Berkes 2001; McNeely 2001). In many of the world’s religions, people are Silent Spring, which described the linkages between pesticide use and the
seen as both physically and spiritually connected to the plants and animals decline in wildlife, was instrumental in triggering the modern
in the surrounding environment. In Eastern philosophies such as Taoism, environmentalist movement. Later, metaphysical and scientific perspectives
Shinto, Hinduism, and Buddhism, wilderness areas and natural settings are merged in the Gaia hypothesis, which views the Earth as having the
protected and valued for their capacity to provide intense spiritual experiences. properties of a “superorganism” whose biological, physical, and chemical
These philosophies see a direct connection between the natural world and components interact to regulate characteristics of the atmosphere and climate
the spiritual world, a connection that breaks when the natural world is (Lovelock 1988). Modern wilderness proponents, such as members of the
altered or destroyed by human activity. In Islamic teachings, people are deep ecology movement discussed in Chapter 3, often advocate the reduction
or complete cessation of practices and industries that disrupt the natural
8 Chapter 1 Defining Conservation Biology 9

hunting led to a marked reduction in the numbers of wild animals. In the

FIGURE 1.3 Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite
National Park was a favorite subject of Albert Bierstadt, United Kingdom, one of the early leaders in nature conservation, these
one of the most noted of the Hudson River School of dramatic changes stimulated the formation of the British conservation
“wilderness” artists. This scene was completed in 1875. movement, leading to the founding of the Commons, Open Spaces and
Forty years later, pioneer environmentalist John Muir Footpaths Preservation Society in 1865, the National Trust for Places of
led a protracted but ultimately losing legal battle to
Historic Interest or Natural Beauty in 1895, and the Royal Society for the
stop the construction of a dam that, in the 1920s,
submerged Hetch Hetchy beneath a reservoir that Protection of Birds in 1899. Altogether, these groups have preserved over
provides water and electric power for the city of San 500,000 hectares (ha) of open land. (For an explanation of the term hectare
Francisco. (Courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Art and other metric measurements used in the natural sciences, see Table 1.1.)
Museum.) In the twentieth century, government action in Great Britain produced
laws such as the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, passed
in 1949 for the “protection and public enjoyment of the wider countryside,”
and the Wildlife and Countryside Act, passed in 1981, for the protection of
endangered species, their habitats, and the marine environment.
Many other developed countries also have strong traditions of nature
conservation and land protection, most notably Austria, the Netherlands,
Germany, Switzerland, Australia, and Japan. In these countries as well,
conservation is both enacted by the government and supported by private
conservation organizations. Over the last two decades, regional initiatives
to protect species, habitats, and ecosystem processes have been coordinated
by the European Union and, increasingly, by international organizations
interaction of Earth’s components. This American focus on untouched such as the World Wildlife Fund.
wilderness stands in contrast to conservation efforts in other countries that
seek to protect nature within a landscape that encompasses traditional uses
by humans. TABLE 1.1
Paralleling these preservationist and ecology-focused orientations was Some useful units of measurement
an influential forester, Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946), the first head of the U.S.
Forest Service. Pinchot defined natural resources as the commodities and
1 meter (m) 1 m = 39.4 inches = ~3.3 feet
qualities found in nature—including timber, fodder, clean water, wildlife,
1 kilometer (km) 1 km = 1000 m = 0.62 mile
and even beautiful landscapes. Pinchot believed
1 centimeter (cm) 1 cm = 1/100 m = 0.39 inch
that the goal of land management is to use these 1 millimeter (mm) 1 mm = 1/1000 m = 0.039 inch
Discussions of natural resources, ecosystem
natural resources for the greatest good of the
management, and sustainable development are AREA
greatest number of people for the longest time.
major themes throughout this textbook. square meter (m2) Area encompassed by a square, each side of which is 1
Pinchot’s and Leopold’s ideas have been combined meter
and extended in the concept of ecosystem 1 hectare (ha) 1 ha = 10,000 m2 = 2.47 acres
management, which places the highest management priority on the health 100 ha = 1 square kilometer (km2)
of ecosystems and wild species. The current paradigm of sustainable
MASS
development also advocates an integrated approach, calling for development 1 kilogram (kg) 1 kg = 2.2 pounds
that meets present and future human needs without damaging the 1 gram (g) 1 g = 1/1000 kg = 0.035 ounce
environment or diminishing biodiversity. 1 milligram (mg) 1 mg = 1/1000 g = 0.000035 ounce

TEMPERATURE
Conservation biology’s international scope degree Celsius (ºC) ºC = 5/9 (ºF – 32)
In Europe, expression of concern for the protection of wildlife began to 0ºC = 32º Fahrenheit (the freezing point of water)
spread widely in the late nineteenth century, when many species began to 100ºC = 212º Fahrenheit (the boiling point of water)
20ºC = 68º Fahrenheit (“room temperature”)
go locally extinct (Galbraith et al. 1998). The combination of both an increasing
area of land under cultivation and more widespread use of firearms for
10 Chapter 1
Awareness of the value of biological diversity greatly increased following
the international Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. At
this meeting, representatives of 178 countries formulated and eventually
signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which obligates
countries to protect their biodiversity but also allows them to obtain a share
in the profits of new products developed from that diversity. Tropical
countries such as Brazil, Costa Rica, and Indonesia have responded to the
CBD and related international initiatives by expanding the numbers and
areas of their national parks. The economic value of these protected areas
is constantly increasing because of their importance for tourism and for the
valuable ecosystem services they provide, such as purifying water and
absorbing carbon dioxide (see Chapter 3). Many tropical countries have
established agencies to regulate the exploration and use of their biodiversity.
A related movement works to provide benefits to the indigenous peoples
who have developed the knowledge of which species are valuable and how
to use them.
Marine Turtles in Pakistan: A case study
Marine turtles are an endangered species listed under the IUCN Red List of
threatened species as many turtle populations have shrunk to a small
percentage of their original size. Marine turtles spend their lives at sea, with
only females returning to land to lay their eggs. Once they emerge, the
hatchlings make their way into the sea. In Pakistan, up to five species of the
marine turtle including the Green sea turtle Chelonia mydas (Figure 1.4),
Loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta, Hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricate,
Olive Ridley turtle Lepidochelys olivacea and the Leatherback turtle Dermochelys
coriacea exist and are occasionally found trapped in fishing nets but only
two of these; the Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) and the Green sea
turtle(Chelonia mydas) species are found nesting at the Sandspit-Hawkesbay
beach on the Karachi coast (Sindh) and Jiwani, Astola Island and Ormara
on the Balochistan coast.
The Sindh Wildlife Department, is actively involved in their conservation,
and declared marine turtles as a protected species vide Sindh Wildlife
Protection Ordinance 1972 and Sindh Wildlife Protection Act 1993. Under
this ordinance trade involving marine turtles or their meat, their export or
possession is punishable by a fine or imprisonment. Despite their legally
protected status in Pakistan, these turtles are constantly under threat by
various factors including illegal trade in turtles and turtle parts; their use
as meat and medicine; entanglement in fishing gear; habitat degradation;
beach pollution and the predation of turtle eggs.
In light of this, the World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan (WWF - P)
took the initiative and joined hands with the Sindh Wildlife Department
(SWD) in 1979 and designed a comprehensive, inter-disciplinary approach
Defining Conservation Biology 11
FIGURE 1.4 Newly hatched
green sea turtle making its way to
the ocean for the first time.
targeting socio-economic aspects such as education, community involvement
and awareness; so as to save these fascinating, mysterious creatures from
extinction. The outcome was the launching of a Research and Conservation
project on the Sandspit and Hawkesbay beaches in Karachi; where 1500
hundred female turtles were indicated to be nesting annually through data
reports. Under this project, nesting zones were identified and enclosures
established along them to protect turtle eggs and hatchlings. Turtle nests
were protected by covering them with wire mesh cages.
The beach visitors’ actions were observed to be disturbing towards the
nesting turtles and the polluting of the beaches by the large number of
visitors was identified as a threat. Thus the need for developing the local
community’s interest in turtle conservation and garnering their involvement
was recognized as pivotal by WWF - Pakistan and efforts were undertaken
to achieve this goal. As a result, locals were appointed as community turtle
guards who patrolled the nesting areas as well as spreading awareness
among beach visitors. They have been trained in turtle identification and
monitoring, turtle nesting process, transfer of eggs into hatcheries, etc. These
patrollers are also on duty at night to aid turtle protection and rescue.
Surveys are regularly conducted at WWF- Pakistan project sites at Sandspit
and Jiwani in Balochistan, where a project was initiated in 1999, by WWF -
Pakistan personnel and local turtle guards during the nesting season from
September to February. These surveys allow turtle populations to be
monitored and mean populations to be calculated.
12 Chapter 1 Defining Conservation Biology 13

a genetic predisposition, called biophilia, to

Month (July 2007 to June 2008) Mean Population feel an affinity for biodiversity (Kellert and This set of ethical and ideological statements
Wilson 1993). In addition, many people forms the philosophical foundation of the
July 2007 02 discipline and suggests research approaches and
acknowledge the economic value of
biodiversity (see Chapter 3). practical applications.
August 2007 91
2. The untimely extinction of populations and species
should be prevented.
September 2007 125
The ordinary extinction of species and populations as a result of
natural processes is an ethically neutral event. In the past, the local
October 2007 190
loss of a population was usually offset by the establishment of a new
population through dispersal. However, as a result of human activity,
November 2007 265
the loss of populations and the extinction of species has increased
by more than a hundredfold with no simultaneous increase in the
December 2007 108 generation of new populations and species (MEA 2005; see Chapter 5).
3. Ecological complexity should be maintained. Many of the most valuable
January 2008 20 properties of biodiversity are expressed only in natural environments.
For example, plants with unusual flowers are pollinated by specialized
February 2008 05 insects. These relationships would no longer exist if the animals and
plants were housed separately and in isolation at zoos and botanical
March 2008 07 gardens. Although the biodiversity of species may be partially preserved
in zoos and gardens, the ecological complexity that exists in natural
April 2008 02 communities will be lost without the preservation of wild lands.
4. Evolution should continue. Evolutionary adaptation eventually leads
May 2008 01 to new species and increased biodiversity. Therefore, continued
evolution of populations in nature should be supported. Likewise,
June 2008 15 human processes that limit or prevent populations from evolving
should be avoided. Although preserving endangered species in captivity
Total Mean Population 831 is important, these species are cut off from the natural evolutionary
processes and may not be able to survive if returned to the wild.
5. Biological diversity has intrinsic value. Species and the biological
communities in which they live possess value of their own, regardless
of their economic, scientific, or aesthetic value to human society. This
Conservation Biology’s Ethical Principles value is conferred not just by their evolutionary history and unique
ecological role, but by their very existence. (See Chapter 3 for a more
Earlier in the chapter, we mentioned that conservation biology is a normative complete discussion of this topic.)
Not every conservation biologist accepts every one of these principles, and
discipline in which certain value judgments are inherent. The field rests on
there is no hard-and-fast requirement to do so. Individuals or organizations
an underlying set of principles that is generally agreed on by practitioners
who agree with even two or three of these principles are often willing to
of the discipline (Soulé 1985) and can be summarized as follows:
support conservation efforts.
1. The diversity of species and biological communities should be preserved.
In general, most people agree with this principle simply because they
appreciate biodiversity. The hundreds of millions of visitors each year Achievements and Challenges
to zoos, national parks, botanical gardens, and aquariums testify to the In many ways, conservation biology is a crisis discipline. Decisions about
general public’s interest in observing different species and biological park design, species management, and other aspects of conservation are
communities. It has even been suggested that humans may have made every day under severe time pressure. Conservation biologists and
14 Chapter 1
FIGURE 1.5 The Society for
Conservation Biology logo. The
design is meant to represent the
circle of life, within which we all live.
The ocean waves in the center
symbolize the changes that lie
ahead. The logo can also be viewed
as a bird whose wings are rustling
leaves. (Courtesy of Society for
Conservation Biology.)
Summary
1. Thousands of species are going extinct, genetic variation is being
lost, millions of populations are disappearing, and entire ecosystems
are being destroyed as a result of human activities.
2. Conservation biology is a synthesis of scientific disciplines. It
describes biodiversity, identifies the threats biodiversity faces from
scientists in related fields are well suited to provide the advice that
governments, businesses, and the general public need in order to
make crucial decisions, but because of time constraints, scientists
are often compelled to make recommendations without thorough
investigation. Decisions must be made, with or without scientific
input, and conservation biologists must be willing to express
opinions and take action based on the best available evidence and
informed judgment (Marris 2007; Chan 2008). They must also
articulate a long-term conservation vision that extends beyond the
immediate crisis (Redford and Sanjayan 2003; Grenak et al. 2005).
The field of conservation biology has set itself some imposing—
and absolutely critical—tasks: to describe the Earth’s biological
diversity; to protect what is remaining; and to restore what is
degraded. The field is growing in strength, as indicated by increased
governmental participation in conservation activities, increased
funding of conservation organizations and projects, and an
expanding professional society, the Society for Conservation Biology
(Figure 1.5). The prominence of environmental concerns was
highlighted by the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to former
U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change for bringing the issue of global climate change to
public attention.
We can detect many positive signs that allow conservation
biologists to remain cautiously hopeful. The number of people
living in poverty has declined over the last few decades, and the
rate of human population growth has slowed (Sachs 2005). The
number of protected areas around the globe continues to increase,
with a dramatic expansion in the number of marine protected
areas.
Ultimately, however, conservation biology must be judged on
its ability to preserve biodiversity. When conservation biologists
can confidently point to species and biological communities that
have been protected and restored successfully using their methods—
and not simply the methods of the field’s parent disciplines—only
then should conservation biology be considered a success.
Defining Conservation Biology 15
human activities, and develops methods to protect and restore
biodiversity. Most conservation biologists accept a set of ethical
principles that help to guide their practice.
3. Conservation biology draws on scientific, religious, economic, and
philosophical ideas and traditions to accomplish its goals. The
current paradigm of sustainable development advocates an
integrated approach to development of natural resources that meets
present and future human needs without damaging either the
environment or biological diversity.
For Discussion
1. How is conservation biology fundamentally different from other
branches of biology, such as physiology, genetics, or cell biology?
How is it different from environmentalism?
2. What do you think are the major conservation and environmental
problems facing the world today? What are the major
problems facing your local community? What ideas for solving these
problems can you suggest? (Try answering this question now, and
once again when you have completed this book.)
3. How would you characterize your own viewpoint about the
conservation of biodiversity and the environment? Which of the
religious or philosophical viewpoints of conservation biology stated
here do you agree or disagree with? How do you, or could you,
put your viewpoint into practice?
Suggested Reading
Chan, K. M. A. 2008. Value and advocacy in conservation biology: Crisis discipline
or discipline in crisis? Conservation Biology 22: 1–3. Conservation biologists should
be discussing how to most effectively advocate on behalf of biodiversity.
Diamond, J. 2005. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Viking Press, New
York. An evolutionary biologist and professor of biogeography describes patterns
of environmental catastrophe that have destroyed human societies in the past
and that threaten us today.
Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press, New York. Many
reprint editions of this classic and influential work are available. Leopold’s
evocative essays mix memoir and polemic as they describe his experiences in the
natural world and articulate his “land ethic,” defining a human duty to conserve
the land and the animals and plants that thrive upon it.
Marris, E. 2007. What to let go. Nature 450: 152–155. In this time of crisis, scientists
are identifying species and ecosystems that are the highest priorities for funding
and conservation action.
Orr, D. W. 2007. Optimism and hope in a hotter time. Conservation Biology 21:
16 Chapter 1

1392–1395. Hope means to learn the truth and then have the courage to act
accordingly.
Redford, K. H. and M. A. Sanjayan. 2003. Retiring Cassandra. Conservation Biology
17: 1473–1474. In a short but highly influential essay, the authors argue that
conservation biology needs to develop a long-term, positive vision.
Robinson, J. G. 2006. Conservation biology and real-world conservation. Conservation
Biology 20: 658–669. In order to achieve its goals, conservation biology needs to
increase its impact beyond the profession itself and become more relevant to
people and to society as a whole.
key journals in the field Biodiversity and Conservation, Biological Conservation,
BioScience, Conservation Biology, Ecological Applications, Journal of Applied
Ecology, National Geographic