Conservation Biology

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The Conservation Biology is a multidisciplinary applied field of science that deals with the analysis of the world's existing biodiversity is concerned as well as their decline, vulnerability and the development of meaningful conservation and protection measures. Biology forms the main part of the scientific disciplines , but elements from other areas, such as economics and social sciences , also make up essential components. The emergence of nature conservation biology is mainly based on the scientific, state and public interest in the subject of sustainability , which has increased significantly in recent years . Under this aspect, both the fulfillment of human needs and the destruction or irreversible change of nature should be prevented.

In nature conservation biology, economic assessments of nature must also be made, centuries-old cultures and their influence must be taken into account, and further precautions must be taken so that ultimately success is achieved. For this, elements from history , philosophy , economics, anthropology and politics are used .

The term nature conservation biology is the literal translation of conservation biology , which was introduced as a scientific discipline in the Anglo-Saxon region .

history

The first scientific approaches to nature conservation were adopted by European forest scientists in the 18th and 19th centuries. Water pollution and forest overexploitation in the colonies of the major European powers led to the first environmental laws. Later in Europe the extinction of species due to human influences was recognized and there was a greater public awareness. The first protected areas were established. In the United States, Henry David Thoreau and John Muir made significant contributions to conservation and conservation biology.

The American biologist Michael E. Soule published an article in 1985 in response to the "Biological Diversity Crisis" entitled What is Conservation Biology? A new synthetic discipline addresses the dynamics and problems of perturbed species, communities, and ecosystems. He is considered a thought leader in nature conservation biology as a so-called "crisis science" and chose a clearly transdisciplinary approach. Primack published the standard work Conservation Biology around ten years later .

Concepts and Approaches

In the case of nature conservation concepts, two basic approaches can be classified: A species can either be protected in situ , i.e. in its natural habitat, or ex situ , outside the natural habitat. In situ conservation includes the protection of the habitat of the species itself. A number of measures can be proposed for this approach, from general environmental protection (avoidance of garbage, toxic contamination, etc.) to the targeted hunting of predators, which endangers the protection goal becomes.

Ex-situ approaches are mostly followed in the case of extensive destruction of the habitats of a species or trade-offs within nature conservation goals . Here zoos play an important role as “last resorts”.

Both approaches complement each other conceptually.

Reason

The justification for the need for conservation biology is closely interwoven with the justification for conservation itself. Primack sees nature conservation as an expression of philosophical and religious value systems and points to the strong interactions between people's physical and spiritual connections with nature in many religions.

Conservation biology is based on certain assumptions that are not accepted by all scientific workers, but about which there is some consensus. This includes the ideas that biodiversity is fundamentally positive and the premature extinction of species and populations is fundamentally negative. The evolution is perceived as something positive. In the opinion of most nature conservation biologists, biodiversity has an intrinsic value (a "value in itself", also: intrinsic value) .

Important people in nature conservation biology

Important people for the development of nature conservation biology and currently active nature conservation biologists are:

  • Raymond Dasmann (* 1919; † November 5, 2002) wrote his first books on nature conservation biology in the late 1950s and developed the UNESCO biosphere program .
  • Paul R. Ehrlich (born May 29, 1932) is Professor of Biology at Stanford University for Ecology. He is a renowned entomologist specializing in butterflies. He is also known as a researcher and writer on overpopulation and conservation biology.
  • Michael E. Soulé (born May 28, 1936 - June 17, 2020) was an American biologist and one of the most renowned proponents of the idea of ​​conservation biology.
  • Richard B. Primack (* 1950) is an American biologist who teaches and researches at Boston University and contributed significantly to the international dissemination of the discipline through his book Essentials of Conservation Biology .

Facilities

In Germany a number of institutes inside and outside the universities deal with aspects of nature conservation biology. Government agencies, national parks and non-governmental nature conservation organizations also work on the basis of nature conservation biology.

Associations

Scientific institutions

Departments at universities and colleges

  • Department for Conservation Biology, Vegetation Science and Landscape Ecology at the University of Vienna

literature

  • Richard B. Primack : Conservation Biology . Spectrum academic publishing house, Heidelberg Berlin Oxford 1995, ISBN 3-86025-281-X .
  • Th. Aßmann, W. Härdtle : Nature conservation biology . In: W. Härdtle (Ed.): Handbuch der Umweltwissenschaften . Volume natural sciences. Springer, Stuttgart, Heidelberg 2002: 113-213.
  • Reinhard Piechocki (2010): Landscape - Homeland - Wilderness: Protection of Nature - but which one and why? Beck's series. Vol. 1711. Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-54152-0 .
  • Jason R. Courter: Graduate students in conservation biology: Bridging the research-implementation gap. Journal for Nature Conservation 20 (2012) 62-64.
  • Eds. Navjot S. Sodhi and Paul R. Ehrlich (2013). Conservation Biology for All Open Access via SCB.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ University of Vienna: Department of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology .