Ecological Basis of Conservation

The conservation and management of wild natural resources stand at a junction. Currently conservation policy is shifting away from the preservation of single endangered species toward conservation and management of the interactive networks and large-scale ecosystems on which species depend. This text offers a scientific framework for this new approach, providing a solid basis for future research and the development of stronger links between ecology and public policy. Leaders in the field evaluate the role of theory, including both familiar and novel types of models, indicating how these tools can be employed over the range of scales and processes that conservation must now address. The book also contains diverse practical examples and case studies of how the new thinking in ecology, and the new partnership required for more successful conservation can work and be Improved. Examples span from freshwater to arid, and from subtropical to boreal. In addition, this highly integrated text provides links between ecology and policy and between ecology and management.