Outline: What is

Conservation Biology?
• Philosophy and Origins of Conservation
Biology
• Conservation Biology Defined
– Contrast with Traditional Biology
– Conservation Biology as a Crisis-Oriented
Science
– Conservation Biology as “Value Laden”
• Course Philosophy
 Conservation vs. Preservation

Environment Environment

sustainable
use of
natural
resources
X hands-off

Biota Biota
Transcendentalism
• “Nature is the incarnation
of thought. The world is
the mind precipitated.”
• “What is a farm but a
mute gospel?”
• “The greatest delight
which the fields and
woods minister is the
suggestion of an occult
relation.”
Preservation
• Argued for removal of
technology from natural
areas - hands off pristine
wilderness
• Enjoy nature for intrinsic
value; leave it untouched.
• “Environmentalists” of
today – John Muir
founded “The Sierra
Club”.
Conservation
• “The first principle of
conservation is
development, the use of
the natural resources now
existing on this continent
for the benefit of the
people who live here now”
• Utilitarian conservation
ethic
The Land Ethic
• “In short, a land ethic
changes the role of Homo
sapiens from conqueror of
the land-community to
plain member and citizen
of it. It implies respect for
his fellow-members, and
also respect for the
community as such.”
• Not based on economics
 Historical Conservation
• Only the “utilitarian” ethic has been persuasive to
those not already committed to conservation.
• Most conservation efforts prior to 1960 were
concerned with:
– Land conservation – setting aside parcels of land for
protection and public enjoyment.
– Wildlife management of game animal populations to
provide opportunities for hunting, fishing, and
observation.
Conservation Biology?
 Definition
“Conservation biology seeks to integrate
evolutionary theory with environmental reality
to predict how an animal/population/species
will react to future/current changes, usually
human caused, in its environment/density/
distribution. Most importantly, whether it will
survive and what to do to prevent extinction.”

- Michael Soule, 1978

 Modern Conservation Biology
• Conserving endangered species
– Demographic and genetic consequences of small
population size, PVA, biology of small populations,
manipulative techniques that enhance survival
probability and design of nature reserves for particular
species.
• Conserving functional and structural aspects of
important ecosystems
– Diversity and stability of ecological communities,
habitat fragmentation, landscape ecology, island
biogeography, and restoration ecology
 Basic Biology
• To what extent does mutualism structure
ecological communities?
• Is inbreeding depression due primarily to
the expression of recessive deleterious
alleles or to loss of heterozygosity?
• What are phylogenetic constraints and to
what extent do they determine the form of
animals and plants?
 Conservation Biology
• Basic biology
– Identify a problem of interest, then select
methods of investigation.
• Conservation biology
– Problems are chosen for us, must select
methods of response (management) and
identify what we need to know to select those
methods.
Spotted Owls
• How much forest is
required to prevent
extinction of the
spotted owl?
 Type I vs. Type II Error
• Null Hypothesis (H0): We do not need
1000+ acres to prevent extinction of the
spotted owl.
• Type I Error: Reject H0 when true.
• Type II Error: Accept H0 when false.
 Crisis Discipline
• Up to ½ of the Earth’s biodiversity will be
lost in the next several decades.
• We don’t have time to collect all the
relevant information for all species.
• Deciding to recommend further study is a
decision. It is a decision that if there is a
problem, we can still correct it later.
 Conservation Biology:
“Value Laden”
• Mission: Develop new guiding principles
and technologies to allow society to
preserve biological diversity before that
biodiversity disappears forever.
• Traditional scientific disciplines do not have
missions
• Is this a detriment to conservation biology?
– Reading assignment on web.
 Multidisciplinary

Basic Biology
Population Genetics Management
Population Biology Conservation Wildlife
Evolution Biology Forestry
Systematics Fisheries

Physical Environment Implementation Social Environment

Chemistry Planning, Education Economics, Sociology
Geology, Physics Law, Communication Political Science
Geography Public Health,Engineering Anthropology, Philosophy
Veterinary Science
Course Philosophy
• NOT tree-hugging 101
• Objective: to apply
principles of
population genetics,
population ecology,
community ecology,
and systematics to the
conservation of
biological diversity.
 Special Role of Biology in
Conservation
• Provide rough and ready guidelines for
decisions made with little data.
• Identify what data will be most useful for
future decisions.
• Develop adaptive strategies that begin with
information already available and build on
it in a way to increase the chances of
success.