ESA, chinook salmon, food web

Chlopyrifos (golf courses), malathion (mosquitoes), diazinon (agriculture)

Today’s Headlines

Conservation Biology

DefinitionHistory & ConnectionsBiodiversity & 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 2

8%

92%1. True2. False

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 populations of organisms, especially in terms of biodiversity, evolution, and environmental biology.

• Island Biogeography: Number of species present = f(rate of immigration & rate of extinction)

Endangered Species Act (1973)Northern Spotted Owl

Salmon

http://www.fws.gov/endangered/

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/Filson.html

‘Mainland’‘Island’SizeTimeEnvironment

Climate Change

CoreCorridorFragmentationConnectivityMountains

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

Earth, we have a problem!Example: Easter Island

Resilience Theory

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

• Critical are the rates of erosion• Need for low tillage farming• Montgomery, D.R. 2007. PNAS 104: 13268

Stable geological crust

Bottom line

• Population• Consumption• View of

nature• Solutions

I = P x A x T

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

ProcessGreater Muskwa-Kechika Ecosystem

Detail: Road Ecology

• Montana State University• University California - Davis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50BvDQnztEU

More Alternative (s)

• Restoration• Working environments

(agriculture, grazing and forestry) (example: Cascade Land Conservancy).