Intro to Conservation Biology (2).pdf

Introduction to Conservation Biology Soulé, M. E. (1985). What Is Conservation Biology? BioScience, 35(11), 727–734. https://doi.org/10.2307/1310054 Group 1  What is Conservation Biology? The study of preserving earth’s nature and biodiversity from exti...

Introduction to Conservation Biology Soulé, M. E. (1985). What Is Conservation Biology? BioScience, 35(11), 727–734. https://doi.org/10.2307/1310054 Group 1  What is Conservation Biology? The study of preserving earth’s nature and biodiversity from extinction that may occur due to damage caused by humans and other causes. It requires a holistic approach, which assumes that multiple disciplinary approaches will ultimately be the most fruitful. A very profitable field the also focuses on utilizing the actions needed to - preserve. It’s also a crisis discipline; one must act before knowing all the facts (Soule, 1985). Example: a patient is in the emergency room, with no known medical history, you must keep them alive without knowing what the problem is. There are many risks, and improvising is important. Still don’t understand? Check out this video! https://youtu.be/1NHeLdJQQy0?si=IqqzPqxO9zCB7HaF  S What are the goals of Consevation Biology? Protect and conserve living Attempting to restore the species and habitats. damage caused by humans. To find a compromise that doesn’t Provide tools and develop Preserve biodiversity at three cause harm to the environment and techniques and enhanced levels (species, genetic and affect people’s businesses and technology that may aid in the ecosystems) including variation hobbies that rely on the preservation of species. within species. environment. (Ex. Hunting) What is the need for Conservation Biology? Importance of biodiversity What is Biodiversity? It is the variation among living organisms It is divided into 3 levels: 1. Genetic diversity: The differences in DNA content among individuals within species and populations. 2. Species diversity: The number and variety of species in the world or in a particular area. 3. Ecosystem diversity: The number and variety of ecosystems or habitats within a given region. Ex. Rainforest vs. Cornfield. Some aspects of biodiversity have a utilitarian value, providing a benefit to humans. For example: -Food, fiber, medicine, and enjoyment. Etc. -Think about the costs of humans performing the work of bees when it comes to pollination. Some aspects of diversity may have intrinsic value, regardless of their economic importance. Preserve nature for nature, not for humans! What is the need for Conservation Biology? To preserve living organisms for as long as possible. Preservation focuses on the species, ecosystem, as well as the variation (genetic) as they are. Regardless of their economic importance. (as opposed to other fields like wildlife (& fisheries) management ) Maximize human standards but minimize human impact. Preserve nature for nature, not for humans!  Conservation biology is not animal rights! Can you believe it Oo0?! Animal rights focus more on the individual whereas conservation biology focuses on the population as a whole. In fact, conservation biology stands oddly with animal rights. -For example, when it comes to stray cats, in the UAE stray cats have interbreed with the Arabian sand cats so much that finding a pure Arabian sand cat became rare, making it a big issue. Conservation biologist would solve the issue by simply killing stray cats, thus reducing their numbers ☺ Whereas animal right activists would disagree on this solution. What are the problems with definitions of different biodiversity levels? Unclear history, because reasons may seem unclear, therefore, a harder time to fix current issues. Due to the field’s nature being complex and dynamic (unstable), change is bound to happen, hence causing an issue with definitions, different regions may have different interpretations, causing misunderstanding and confusion. It can lead to the elimination of species and ecosystems!! Ecosystems where many of the species that constitute natural communities are the product of co-evolutionary processes (Soule, 1985).  Importance of integrating other fields: Why are they important? There might be situations of urgency, where decisions need to be made at haste or where your advice as a conservation biologist is needed. In those situations, having a broad understanding of society (the way it works, cultures, languages, and the norms) and a proper grasp on the fields that overlap with conservation, help you be quick, accurate, and efficient. One with their limited knowledge and own morals and perspective cannot make these decisions alone, that is why the need for multiple fields that might seem unrelated is important.  Examples of fields: 01 Genetics 02 Politics Ex. Having good background knowledge in genetics can Ex. The Nile river flows through multiple countries, if one aid in understanding biodiversity, variation, as well as of them decides to build a dam, it would stop the flow to identifying different species. This can decrease the the other countries. This could affect the ecosystems chances of conserving the wrong species. across the border and cause political disputes. Having a background in politics could help deal with such issues. 03 Law Laws and regulation put in favor of preserving species 04 Business industry across the world. Example: In the United States, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is a federal law that Ex. Biodiversity loss may affect businesses by regulates the treatment and handling of animals in impacting the number of supplies available, for research, exhibition, transport, and certain instance the food industries and the cutting down of commercial endeavors. trees for the purpose of building.  Problems in terms of practice: There’s not a lot of history behind it (young field, 40 years old), so it's prone to immediate rejection from other people and due to the lack of history. We will need more time for trial and error, and tests to occur to discover any valuable information from such a new field. Repeatability is not likely with ecological experiments, because the same conditions could never be exactly replicated exactly twice (since it’s a dynamic field it makes it harder to have solid findings). Studying the processes (Ex. Photosynthesis, Nutrient cycling. etc.) of the specific specie, population or ecosystem needed poses a practical issue due to specializing in one area.