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Jun 23, 2016 · In this entry, we explore questions regarding the ontology, theoretical structure, and values central to conservation biology. First, conservation biology as a discipline has expended a great deal of intellectual effort in articulating exactly what is its object of study and has settled on biodiversity as the answer.
- Abstract
- Still A Crisis Discipline But Evidence Based
- Humans and Conservation Science
- Soulé's Guiding Principles
- How The Global Context For Conservation Has Changed Since 1985
- New Postulates For Conservation Science
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgments
Soulé (1985) helped define the emerging field ofconservation biology with an essay that has been read by generations of students and that is now a science citation classic. However, a lot has happened in the world since 1985, and conservation, like any professional and scientific endeavor, needs to continually refresh its intellectual and academic ...
Soulé (1985) argued that conservation biology differs from many other scientific endeavors because it is a “crisis discipline.” According to this line of reasoning, conservation biologists, like medical doctors, are often called on to act rapidly and without complete knowledge of the situation. We agree. However, since Soulé's essay, medicine has u...
In our view, the major shortcoming of Soulé's framing of conservation is its inattention to human well-being. In the traditional view of conservation, people play one of two roles: The vast majority of people are a threat to biodiversity, and a relatively small number—mostly Western biologists—act as biodiversity's protectors and, one hopes, savior...
To help guide the then-nascent discipline of conservation biology, Soulé laid out four core principles, which he called functional postulates, and four core values, or normative postulates (see box 1). Soulé's functional postulates are no less true today than they were in 1985, but they are not necessarily what one would consider the essential prin...
In 1985, the global human population was 4.8 billion people. Last year, in 2011, the population raced past 7 billion—an increase of more than 40% in one human generation. Pertinent to conservation, this population growth has been and will continue to be most rapid in the very areas of the planet that harbor the highest levels of biodiversity (Cinco...
As Soulé (1985)did in his essay, we offer a set of fundamental axioms about nature. These axioms help define the context within which conservation science must work.
In the concluding paragraph of his essay, Soulé acknowledged that we cannot reverse history and restore the world to a prelapsarian past. He suggested that conservation can potentially reduce the rate of extinction, improve the management of wildlands, and mitigate the impacts of technologies. Conservation as it was defined by Soulé is reactive and...
We are grateful to Sahotra Sarkar for his helpful review and suggestions and to the many conservation scientists at The Nature Conservancy, who have opened our eyes to where the future lies for conservation science.
- Peter Kareiva, Michelle Marvier
- 2012
Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like What is the ultimate goal of all science considered as one pursuit?, The pursuit of knowledge is the fundamental goal of what discipline?, A systematic program or approach with defined steps that include careful observation and experimentation is called? and more.
Conservation biology may be seen as a multidisciplinary science addressing the current biodiversity crisis (Primack 1993). Its main goal is to understand the impacts of human activities on species, communities, and ecosystems, and to develop approaches to prevent species extinction—indeed to reinsert species into functional ecosystems.
Conservation biology has two central goals: 1. to evaluate human impacts on biological diversity and 2. to develop practical approaches to prevent the extinction of species (Soulé 1986, Wilson...
We define conservation as a broad approach to preserving what is already there and the due care and attention to protecting it for the future (1). It is also dedicated to restoring something to a natural state and maintaining equilibrium.
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Jul 8, 2020 · Conservation scientists gain knowledge of what “is” from empirical studies. But conservation demands choices. Every choice requires a decision about what is “good” or “best” to achieve a given conservation goal. Conservation derives its purpose by understanding its outcomes as expressions of value.
