View source for Conservation biology

{{Short description|Study of threats to biological diversity}}
{{Redirect2|Biological conservation|Conservation ecology|scientific journals|Conservation Biology (journal){{!}}''Conservation Biology'' (journal)|and|Biological Conservation (journal){{!}}''Biological Conservation'' (journal)|and|Ecology and Society{{!}}''Conservation Ecology'' (journal)|the popular movement|Conservation movement}}

[[File:2016 EPI Ecosystem Vitality Objective - Biodiversity and Habitat (26170609028).jpg|thumb|300px|2016 conservation indicator which includes the following indicators: marine protected areas, terrestrial biome protection (global and national), and species protection (global and national)]]
{{TopicTOC-Biology}}

'''Conservation biology''' is the study of the conservation of nature and of [[Earth]]'s [[biodiversity]] with the aim of protecting [[species]], their [[habitat]]s, and [[ecosystem]]s from excessive rates of [[extinction]] and the erosion of biotic interactions.<ref name="SahneyBenton2008RecoveryFromProfoundExtinction">{{cite journal |last1=Sahney |first1=S. |last2=Benton |first2=M. J |title=Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=275 |issue=1636 |pages=759–65 |year=2008 |pmid=18198148 |pmc=2596898 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.1370 }}</ref><ref name=ConsBiol80>{{cite book |author1=Soulé, Michael E. |author2=Wilcox, Bruce A. |title=Conservation biology: an evolutionary-ecological perspective |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland, Mass |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-87893-800-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Soulé |first1=Michael E. |title=What is Conservation Biology? |journal=BioScience |volume=35 |issue=11 |pages=727–734 |year=1986 |url=http://www.michaelsoule.com/resource_files/85/85_resource_file1.pdf |doi=10.2307/1310054 |jstor=1310054 |publisher=American Institute of Biological Sciences }}</ref> It is an [[Interdisciplinarity|interdisciplinary]] subject drawing on [[Natural science|natural]] and [[Social science|social sciences]], and the practice of [[natural resource management]].<ref name="Soule86">{{cite book |last=Soule |first=Michael E. |title=Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity |year=1986 |publisher=Sinauer Associates |page=584 |isbn=978-0-87893-795-0}}</ref><ref name="Hunter96">{{cite book |last=Hunter |first=Malcolm L. |title=Fundamentals of conservation biology |publisher=Blackwell Science |location=Oxford |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-86542-371-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofco00hunt |page= }}</ref>{{pn|date=November 2024}}<ref name="Groom06">{{cite book |last1=Meffe |first1=Gary K. |author2=Martha J. Groom |title=Principles of conservation biology |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland, Mass |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-87893-518-5 |edition=3rd}}</ref><ref name="Dyke08">{{cite book |last=Van Dyke |first=Fred |date=2008 |title=Conservation biology: foundations, concepts, applications |location=New York |publisher=[[Springer-Verlag]] |edition=2nd |isbn=978-1-4020-6890-4 |oclc=232001738 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4020-6891-1 |hdl=11059/14777 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Evh1UD3ZYWcC |page=478}}</ref>

The [[nature conservation|conservation ethic]] is based on the findings of conservation biology.

== Origins ==
[[File:Hopetoun falls.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Efforts are made to preserve the natural characteristics of [[Hopetoun Falls]], Australia, without affecting visitors' access.]]

The term conservation biology and its conception as a new field originated with the convening of "The First International Conference on Research in Conservation Biology" held at the [[University of California, San Diego]] in La Jolla, California, in 1978 led by American biologists Bruce A. Wilcox and [[Michael E. Soulé]] with a group of leading university and zoo researchers and [[Conservation movement|conservationists]] including [[Kurt Benirschke]], Sir [[Otto Frankel]], [[Thomas Lovejoy]], and [[Jared Diamond]]. The meeting was prompted due to concern over tropical deforestation, disappearing species, and eroding [[genetic diversity]] within species.<ref>J. Douglas. 1978. Biologists urge US endowment for conservation. Nature Vol. 275, 14 September 1978. Kat Williams . 1978. Natural Sciences. Science News. September 30, 1978.</ref> The conference and proceedings that resulted<ref name=ConsBiol80/> sought to initiate the bridging of a gap between theory in ecology and [[evolutionary genetics]] on the one hand and conservation policy and practice on the other.<ref>Organization of the meeting itself also entailed bridging a gap between genetics and ecology. Soulé, was an evolutionary geneticist working with wheat geneticist Sir Otto Frankel to advance [[conservation genetics]] as a new field at the time. [[Jared Diamond]], who suggested the idea for a conference to Wilcox was concerned with the application of community ecology and island biogeography theory to conservation. Wilcox and [[Thomas Lovejoy]], who together initiated planning for the conference in June 1977 when Lovejoy secured a commitment of seed funding at [[World Wildlife Fund]], felt both genetics and ecology should be represented. Wilcox suggested use of a new term  ''conservation biology'', complementing Frankel's conception and coining of "conservation genetics",  to encompass the application of biological sciences in general to conservation. Subsequently, Soulé and Wilcox wrote conceived the agenda for the meeting they jointly convened on September 6–9, 1978, titled ''First International Conference on Resesarch in Conservation Biology'', in which the program described "The purpose of this conference is to accelerate and facilitate the development of a rigorous new discipline called conservation biology — a multidisciplinary field drawing its insights and methodology mostly from population ecology, community ecology, sociobiology, population genetics, and reproductive biology." This inclusion of topics at the meeting related to animal breeding reflected participation and support of the zoo and captive breeding communities.</ref>

Conservation biology and the concept of biological diversity ([[biodiversity]]) emerged together, helping crystallize the modern era of conservation science and [[National Environmental Policy Act|policy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kareiva |first1=Peter |last2=Marvier |first2=Michelle |date=November 2012 |title=What Is Conservation Science? |journal=BioScience |volume=62 |issue=11 |pages=962–969 |doi=10.1525/bio.2012.62.11.5 |issn=1525-3244}}</ref> The inherent multidisciplinary basis for conservation biology has led to new subdisciplines including conservation social science, [[conservation behavior]] and conservation physiology.<ref name="Cooke et al 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Cooke |first1=S. J. |last2=Sack |first2=L. |last3=Franklin |first3=C. E. |last4=Farrell |first4=A. P. |last5=Beardall |first5=J. |last6=Wikelski |first6=M. |last7=Chown |first7=S. L. |title=What is conservation physiology? Perspectives on an increasingly integrated and essential science |journal=[[Conservation Physiology]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |article-number=cot001 |year=2013 |pmid=27293585 |pmc=4732437 |doi=10.1093/conphys/cot001 }}</ref> It stimulated further development of [[conservation genetics]] which [[Otto Frankel]] had originated first but is now often considered a subdiscipline as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Otto Frankel: 1960s Trailblazer for Plant Biodiversity Conservation |url=https://www.croptrust.org/news-events/news/otto-frankel-1960s-trailblazer-for-plant-biodiversity-conservation/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.croptrust.org |language=en}}</ref>

== Description ==

The rapid decline of established biological systems around the world means that conservation biology is often referred to as a "Discipline with a deadline".<ref>{{cite book |author=Wilson, Edward Osborne |title=The future of life |publisher=Little, Brown |location=Boston |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-316-64853-0 }}{{page needed|date=October 2016}}</ref> Conservation biology is tied closely to [[ecology]] in researching the [[population ecology]] ([[Biological dispersal|dispersal]], [[wikt:migration|migration]], [[demographics]], [[effective population size]], [[inbreeding depression]], and [[minimum viable population|minimum population viability]]) of [[rare species|rare]] or [[endangered species]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |title=Indigenous Uses, Population Density, and Conservation of Threatened Medicinal Plants in Protected Areas of the Indian Himalayas |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=19 |issue=2 |year=2005 |pages=368–78 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00602.x |jstor=3591249 |bibcode=2005ConBi..19..368K |s2cid=85324142 }}</ref><ref name="SahneyBentonFerry2010LinksDiversityVertebrates">{{cite journal |last1=Sahney |first1=S. |last2=Benton |first2=M. J. |last3=Ferry |first3=P. A. |title=Links between global taxonomic diversity, ecological diversity and the expansion of vertebrates on land |journal=Biology Letters |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=544–7 |year=2010 |pmid=20106856 |pmc=2936204 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2009.1024 }}</ref> Conservation biology is concerned with phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biodiversity and the science of sustaining evolutionary processes that engender [[genetics|genetic]], [[population]], [[species]], and ecosystem diversity.<ref name="Hunter96"/><ref name="Groom06" /><ref name="Dyke08" /><ref name="SahneyBentonFerry2010LinksDiversityVertebrates"/> The concern stems from estimates suggesting that up to 50% of all species on the planet will disappear within the next 50 years,<ref name="Koh">{{cite journal |last1=Koh |first1=Lian Pin |last2=Dunn |first2=Robert R. |last3=Sodhi |first3=Navjot S. |last4=Colwell |first4=Robert K. |last5=Proctor |first5=Heather C. |last6=Smith |first6=Vincent S. |title=Species coextinctions and the biodiversity crisis |journal=Science |volume=305 |issue=5690 |pages=1632–4 |year=2004 |pmid=15361627 |doi=10.1126/science.1101101 |bibcode=2004Sci...305.1632K |s2cid=30713492 }}</ref> which will increase poverty and starvation, and will reset the course of evolution on this planet.<ref>Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). ''Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis.'' World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.[http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf]</ref><ref name="Jackson">{{cite journal |last=Jackson |first=J. B. C. |title=Ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=105 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=11458–65 |year=2008 |pmid=18695220 |pmc=2556419 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0802812105  |bibcode=2008PNAS..10511458J |doi-access=free }}</ref> Researchers acknowledge that projections are difficult, given the unknown potential impacts of many variables, including species introduction to new biogeographical settings and a non-analog climate.<ref name="Fitzpatrick 2255–2261">{{Cite journal |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Matthew C. |last2=Hargrove |first2=William W. |date=2009-07-01 |title=The projection of species distribution models and the problem of non-analog climate |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=2255–2261 |doi=10.1007/s10531-009-9584-8 |bibcode=2009BiCon..18.2255F |s2cid=16327687 |issn=1572-9710}}</ref>

Conservation biologists research and educate on the trends and process of [[biodiversity loss]], species [[extinction]]s, and the negative effect these are having on our capabilities to sustain the well-being of human society. Conservation biologists work in the field and office, in government, universities, non-profit organizations and industry. The topics of their research are diverse, because this is an interdisciplinary network with professional alliances in the biological as well as social sciences. Those dedicated to the cause and profession advocate for a global response to [[Holocene extinction|the current biodiversity crisis]] based on [[morals]], [[ethics]], and scientific reason. Organizations and citizens are responding to the biodiversity crisis through conservation action plans that direct research, monitoring, and education programs that engage concerns at local through global scales.<ref name="Soule86"/><ref name="Hunter96"/><ref name="Groom06" /><ref name="Dyke08"/> There is increasing recognition that conservation is not just about what is achieved but how it is done.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Cooke |first1=S. J. |last2=Michaels |first2=S. |last3=Nyboer |first3=E. A. |last4=Schiller |first4=L. |last5=Littlechild |first5=D. B. R. |last6=Hanna |first6=D. E. L. |last7=Robichaud |first7=C. D. |last8=Murdoch |first8=A. |last9=Roche |first9=D. |last10=Soroye |first10=P. |last11=Vermaire |first11=J. C. |display-authors=5 |date=2022-05-31 |title=Reconceptualizing conservation |journal=PLOS Sustainability and Transformation |volume=1 |issue=5 |article-number=e0000016 |doi=10.1371/journal.pstr.0000016 |issn=2767-3197 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== History ==

{{quote box
|quote= The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others.
|source= – Theodore Roosevelt<ref>Theodore Roosevelt, Address to the Deep Waterway Convention
Memphis, TN, October 4, 1907</ref>
|align=right
|width=25%
|salign=right
}}

=== Natural resource conservation ===

Conscious efforts to conserve and protect ''global'' biodiversity are a recent phenomenon.<ref name="Dyke08"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ffem.fr/lang/en/accueil-FFEM/activites-ffem/biodiversite_protection|title=Biodiversity protection and preservation|website=ffem.fr|access-date=2016-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018140452/http://www.ffem.fr/lang/en/accueil-FFEM/activites-ffem/biodiversite_protection|archive-date=2016-10-18}}</ref> Natural resource conservation, however, has a history that extends prior to the age of conservation. Resource ethics grew out of necessity through direct relations with nature. Regulation or communal restraint became necessary to prevent selfish motives from taking more than could be locally sustained, therefore compromising the long-term supply for the rest of the community.<ref name="Dyke08"/> This social dilemma with respect to natural resource management is often called the "[[Tragedy of the Commons]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hardin |first=G. |title=The Tragedy of the Commons |journal=Science |volume=162 |issue=3859 |pages=1243–8 |date=December 1968 |pmid=5699198 |doi=10.1126/science.162.3859.1243 |bibcode=1968Sci...162.1243H |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>Also considered to be a consequence of evolution, where individual selection is favored over group selection. For recent discussions, see: {{cite journal |author=Kay CE |title=The Ultimate Tragedy of Commons |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=1447–1448 |year=1997 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.97069.x |bibcode=1997ConBi..11.1447K |s2cid=1397580 }}<br />''and'' {{cite journal|vauthors=Wilson DS, Wilson EO |title=Rethinking the theoretical foundation of sociobiology |journal=Quarterly Review of Biology |volume=82 |issue=4 |pages=327–48 |date=December 2007 |pmid=18217526 |url=http://evolution.binghamton.edu/dswilson/resources/publications_resources/Rethinking |doi=10.1086/522809 |s2cid=37774648 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326151243/http://evolution.binghamton.edu/dswilson/resources/publications_resources/Rethinking%20sociobiology.pdf |archive-date=2009-03-26 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

From this principle, conservation biologists can trace communal resource based ethics throughout cultures as a solution to communal resource conflict.<ref name="Dyke08"/> For example, the Alaskan [[Tlingit people|Tlingit]] peoples and the [[Haida people|Haida]] of the [[Pacific Northwest]] had resource boundaries, rules, and restrictions among clans with respect to the fishing of [[sockeye salmon]]. These rules were guided by clan elders who knew lifelong details of each river and stream they managed.<ref name="Dyke08" /><ref name="Mason">Mason, Rachel and Judith Ramos. (2004). Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Tlingit People concerning the Sockeye Salmon Fishery of the Dry Bay Area, A Cooperative Agreement Between Department of the Interior National Park Service and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, Final Report (FIS) Project 01-091, Yakutat, Alaska.{{cite web |url=http://www.ser.org/iprn/pdf/Elaine_Abraham.pdf |title=Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Tlingit People Concerning the Sockeye Salmon Fishery of the Dry Bay Area |access-date=2009-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225013400/http://www.ser.org/iprn/pdf/Elaine_Abraham.pdf |archive-date=2009-02-25 }}</ref> There are numerous examples in history where cultures have followed rules, rituals, and organized practice with respect to communal natural resource management.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Murphree |first=Marshall W. |date=2009-05-22 |title=The strategic pillars of communal natural resource management: benefit, empowerment and conservation |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=18 |issue=10 |pages=2551–2562 |doi=10.1007/s10531-009-9644-0 |bibcode=2009BiCon..18.2551M |s2cid=23587547}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=David Alec |title=Darwin's cathedral: evolution, religion, and the nature of society |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-226-90134-3 }}</ref>

The Mauryan emperor [[Ashoka]] around 250 BC issued edicts restricting the slaughter of animals and certain kinds of birds, as well as opened veterinary clinics.{{cn|date=November 2024}}

Conservation ethics are also found in early religious and philosophical writings. There are examples in the [[Tao]], [[Shinto]], [[Hindu]], [[Islamic]] and [[Buddhist]] traditions.<ref name="Dyke08" /><ref name="Primack 2004">{{cite book |last=Primack |first=Richard B. |title=A Primer of Conservation Biology |edition=3rd |publisher=Sinauer Associates |year=2004 |page=[https://archive.org/details/primerofconserva00rich/page/320 320] |isbn=978-0-87893-728-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/primerofconserva00rich/page/320 }}</ref> In Greek philosophy, Plato lamented about pasture [[land degradation]]: "What is left now is, so to say, the skeleton of a body wasted by disease; the rich, soft soil has been carried off and only the bare framework of the district left."<ref>Hamilton, E., and H. Cairns (eds). 1961. Plato: the collected dialogues. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ</ref> In the bible, through Moses, God commanded to let the land rest from cultivation every seventh year.<ref name="Dyke08" /><ref>The Bible, Leviticus, 25:4-5</ref> Before the 18th century, however, much of European culture considered it a [[Earth religion|pagan view]] to admire nature. Wilderness was denigrated while agricultural development was praised.<ref name="Evans97">{{cite book |last=Evans, David |title=A history of nature conservation in Britain |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-415-14491-9 }}</ref> However, as early as AD 680 a [[wildlife sanctuary]] was founded on the [[Farne Islands]] by [[St Cuthbert]] in response to his religious beliefs.<ref name="Dyke08" />

=== Early naturalists ===

[[File:White Gerfalcons.jpg|thumb|upright|White [[gyrfalcon]]s drawn by [[John James Audubon]] ]]
[[File:On the feet of the canidae and ursidae (1914) fig. 2.png|thumb|upright=1.15|More conservation research is needed for understanding ecology and behaviour of the [[dhole]] in central China.]]

[[Natural history]] was a major preoccupation in the 18th century, with grand expeditions and the opening of popular public displays in [[Europe]] and [[North America]]. By 1900 there were 150 [[natural history museum]]s in [[Germany]], 250 in [[Great Britain]], 250 in the [[United States]], and 300 in [[France]].<ref name="Farber00">{{cite book |last=Farber |first=Paul Lawrence |title=Finding order in nature: the naturalist tradition from Linnaeus to E. O. Wilson |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8018-6390-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/findingorderinna0000farb }}</ref> Preservationist or conservationist sentiments are a development of the late 18th to early 20th centuries.

Before Charles Darwin set sail on HMS ''Beagle'', most people in the world, including Darwin, believed in special creation and that all species were unchanged.<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Mader |first=Sylvia |title=Biology |publisher=McGraw Hill Education |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-07-802426-9 |location=New York |page=262}}</ref> George-Louis Leclerc was one of the first naturalist that questioned this belief. He proposed in his 44 volume natural history book that species evolve due to environmental influences.<ref name=":3" /> Erasmus Darwin was also a naturalist who also suggested that species evolved. Erasmus Darwin noted that some species have vestigial structures which are anatomical structures that have no apparent function in the species currently but would have been useful for the species' ancestors.<ref name=":3" /> The thinking of these early 18th century naturalists helped to change the mindset and thinking of the early 19th century naturalists.

By the early 19th century [[biogeography]] was ignited through the efforts of [[Alexander von Humboldt]], [[Charles Lyell]] and [[Charles Darwin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/biology/macisaac/55-437/intro.htm|title=Introduction to Conservation Biology and Biogeography|website=web2.uwindsor.ca}}</ref> The 19th-century fascination with natural history engendered a fervor to be the first to collect rare specimens with the goal of doing so before they became extinct by other such collectors.<ref name="Evans97" /><ref name="Farber00" /> Although the work of many 18th and 19th century naturalists were to inspire nature enthusiasts and [[Environmental organization|conservation organizations]], their writings, by modern standards, showed insensitivity towards conservation as they would kill hundreds of specimens for their collections.<ref name="Farber00" />

=== Conservation movement ===
{{Main|Conservation movement}}

The modern roots of conservation biology can be found in the late 18th-century [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] period particularly in [[England]] and [[Scotland]].<ref name="Evans97" /><ref name="Cloyd">{{Cite book |last=Cloyd |first=E. L. |year=1972 |title=James Burnett, Lord Monboddo |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=196 |isbn=978-0-19-812437-5 }}</ref> Thinkers including [[Lord Monboddo]] described the importance of "preserving nature"; much of this early emphasis had its origins in [[Christian theology]].<ref name="Cloyd"/>

Scientific conservation principles were first practically applied to the forests of [[British India]]. The conservation ethic that began to evolve included three core principles: that human activity damaged the [[Natural environment|environment]], that there was a [[civic duty]] to maintain the environment for future generations, and that scientific, empirically based methods should be applied to ensure this duty was carried out. Sir [[James Ranald Martin]] was prominent in promoting this ideology, publishing many medico-topographical reports that demonstrated the scale of damage wrought through large-scale deforestation and desiccation, and lobbying extensively for the institutionalization of forest conservation activities in British India through the establishment of [[Indian Forest Service|Forest Departments]].<ref>Stebbing, E.P (1922)''The forests of India'' vol. 1, pp. 72–81</ref>

The [[Madras]] Board of Revenue started local conservation efforts in 1842, headed by [[Alexander Gibson (botanist)|Alexander Gibson]], a professional [[botany|botanist]] who systematically adopted a forest conservation program based on scientific principles. This was the first case of state conservation management of forests in the world.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WDYlNljAP5AC|title=Empire Forestry and the Origins of Environmentalism|first1=Greg |last1=Barton|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=48|isbn=978-1-139-43460-7 }}</ref> [[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]] [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Lord Dalhousie]] introduced the first permanent and large-scale forest conservation program in the world in 1855, a model that soon spread to [[British empire|other colonies]], as well the United States,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/11/05/stories/2007110550080500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108213227/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/11/05/stories/2007110550080500.htm|archive-date=November 8, 2007|title=A life for forestry|last=MUTHIAH|first=S. |date=Nov 5, 2007|access-date=2009-03-09|work=[[The Hindu]]|location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cleghorn|first=Hugh Francis Clarke |title=The Forests and Gardens of South India |publisher=W. H. Allen|location=London|year= 1861|edition=Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Feb 10, 2006|oclc= 301345427|url=http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/301345427?page=frame&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3D_ZbC9FY1JqIC%26checksum%3D374d90c92770a514a51708f07461f0b3&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail=bob}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bennett|first=Brett M.|title=Early Conservation Histories in Bengal and British India: 1875-1922 |url=http://www.asiaticsociety.org.bd/journals/Golden_jubilee_vol/articles/H_468%20(Brett%20M%20Benet).htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304212026/http://www.asiaticsociety.org.bd/journals/Golden_jubilee_vol/articles/H_468%20(Brett%20M%20Benet).htm |archive-date=2012-03-04 |journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |volume=50 |issue=1–2 |year=2005 |pages=485–500|publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |issn=1016-6947}}</ref> where [[Yellowstone National Park]] was opened in 1872 as the world's first national park.<ref>{{cite book|last=Haines|first=Aubrey|title=The Yellowstone Story: A History of Our First National Park: Volume 1 Revised Edition |year=1996 |publisher=Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, History of Education}}</ref>{{pn|date=November 2024}}

The term ''conservation'' came into widespread use in the late 19th century and referred to the management, mainly for economic reasons, of such natural resources as [[timber]], fish, game, [[topsoil]], [[pasture]]land, and minerals. In addition it referred to the preservation of [[forest]]s ([[forestry]]), [[wildlife]] ([[wildlife refuge]]), parkland, [[wilderness]], and [[Drainage basin|watersheds]]. This period also saw the passage of the first conservation legislation and the establishment of the first nature conservation societies. The [[Sea Birds Preservation Act 1869|Sea Birds Preservation Act of 1869]] was passed in Britain as the first nature protection law in the world<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=3540740023 |title=Coastal Dunes: Ecology and Conservation |last1=Baeyens |first1=G. |author2=M. L. Martinez |year=2007 |page=282 |publisher=Springer}}</ref> after extensive lobbying from the Association for the Protection of Seabirds<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/humberside/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_9383000/9383787.stm |title=Protecting seabirds at Bempton Cliffs |work=BBC News |first=Jo |last=Makel |date=2 February 2011}}</ref> and the respected [[ornithology|ornithologist]] [[Alfred Newton]].<ref>Newton A. 1899. The plume trade: borrowed plumes. ''The Times'' 28 January 1876;  and The plume trade. ''The Times'' 25 February 1899. Reprinted together by the Society for the Protection of Birds, April 1899.</ref> Newton was also instrumental in the passage of the first [[Game laws]] from 1872, which protected animals during their breeding season so as to prevent the stock from being brought close to extinction.<ref>Newton A. 1868. The zoological aspect of game laws. Address to the ''British Association'', Section D, August 1868. Reprinted [n.d.] by the Society for the Protection of Birds.</ref>

One of the first conservation societies was the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]], founded in 1889 in [[Manchester]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/about/history/milestones.asp |title=Milestones  |publisher=RSPB |access-date=19 February 2007}}</ref> as a [[advocacy group|protest group]] campaigning against the use of [[great crested grebe]] and [[Black-legged kittiwake|kittiwake]] skins and feathers in [[fur clothing]]. Originally known as "the Plumage League",<ref>{{cite book |last=Penna |first=Anthony N. |location=Armonk, N.Y. U.S. |title=Nature's Bounty: Historical and Modern Environmental Perspectives |year=1999 |publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]] |isbn=978-0-7656-0187-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/naturesbountyhis0000penn/page/99 99] |url=https://archive.org/details/naturesbountyhis0000penn/page/99 }}</ref> the group gained popularity and eventually amalgamated with the Fur and Feather League in Croydon, and formed the RSPB.<ref name="history">{{cite web |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/about/history/index.asp |title=History of the RSPB |publisher=RSPB |access-date=19 February 2007}}</ref> The [[National Trust]] formed in 1895 with the manifesto to "...promote the permanent preservation, for the benefit of the nation, of lands, ... to preserve (so far practicable) their natural aspect." In May 1912, a month after the ''Titanic'' sank, banker and expert naturalist [[Charles Rothschild]] held a meeting at the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] in London to discuss his idea for a new organisation to save the best places for wildlife in the British Isles. This meeting led to the formation of the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, which later became the [[Wildlife Trusts]].{{cn|date=November 2024}}

[[File:Wanton waste of MN native fish by the ton.jpg|alt=In this single-night bowfishing tournament in Minnesota, 85% of individual fish shot and dumped were native fishes.|thumb|Some biodiversity loss is more insidious than others due to systemic neglect. For example, sport killing and wanton waste of tons of native fishes from unregulated 21st century [[bowfishing]] in the United States.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last1=Lackmann |first1=Alec R. |last2=Bielak-Lackmann |first2=Ewelina S. |last3=Jacobson |first3=Reed I. |last4=Andrews |first4=Allen H. |last5=Butler |first5=Malcolm G. |last6=Clark |first6=Mark E. |date=2023-08-30 |title=Harvest trends, growth and longevity, and population dynamics reveal traditional assumptions for redhorse (Moxostoma spp.) management in Minnesota are not supported |journal=Environmental Biology of Fishes |volume=107 |issue=12 |pages=1573–1591 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s10641-023-01460-8}}</ref> New conservation movements are needed to deter irreparable biodiversity loss to fragile freshwater ecosystems.]]

In the [[United States]], the [[Forest Reserve Act of 1891]] gave the President power to set aside forest reserves from the land in the public domain. [[John Muir]] founded the [[Sierra Club]] in 1892, and the [[New York Zoological Society]] was set up in 1895. A series of [[National Park|national forests and preserves]] were established by [[Theodore Roosevelt]] from 1901 to 1909.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/historyculture/theodore-roosevelt-and-conservation.htm|title=Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation - Theodore Roosevelt National Park (U.S. National Park Service)|website=nps.gov|access-date=2016-10-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.runet.edu/~wkovarik/envhist/5progressive.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050223142405/http://www.runet.edu/~wkovarik/envhist/5progressive.html |archive-date=2005-02-23 |title=Environmental timeline 1890–1920 |website=runet.edu }}</ref> The 1916 National Parks Act, included a 'use without impairment' clause, sought by John Muir, which eventually resulted in the removal of a proposal to build a dam in [[Dinosaur National Monument]] in 1959.<ref name="Davis96">{{cite book |author=Davis, Peter |title=Museums and the natural environment: the role of natural history museums in biological conservation |url=https://archive.org/details/museumsnaturalen0000davi |url-access=registration |publisher=Leicester University Press |location=London |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7185-1548-5 }}</ref>

[[File:Muir and Roosevelt restored.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Theodore Roosevelt]] and [[John Muir]] on [[Glacier Point]] in [[Yosemite National Park]]]]

In the 20th century, [[Canadians|Canadian]] civil servants, including [[Charles Gordon Hewitt]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/HEWI1885.htm |title=Chrono-Biographical Sketch: Charles Gordon Hewitt |website=people.wku.edu |access-date=2017-05-07}}</ref> and [[James Bernard Harkin|James Harkin]], spearheaded the movement toward [[wildlife conservation]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foster |first=Janet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KLFOFGXvYQC&q=Janet+Foster+working+for+wildlife%257D%257D |title=Working for Wildlife: The Beginning of Preservation in Canada |date=1998-01-01 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-7969-5 |page= }}</ref>{{pn|date=November 2024}}

In the 21st century professional conservation officers have begun to collaborate with [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous]] communities for protecting wildlife in Canada.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cecco |first1=Leyland |title=Indigenous input helps save wayward grizzly bear from summary killing |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/19/grizzly-bear-canada-indigenous-conservation-british-columbia |access-date=23 April 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=19 April 2020}}</ref> Some conservation efforts are yet to fully take hold due to ecological neglect.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lackmann |first1=Alec R. |last2=Andrews |first2=Allen H. |last3=Butler |first3=Malcolm G. |last4=Bielak-Lackmann |first4=Ewelina S. |last5=Clark |first5=Mark E. |date=2019-05-23 |title=Bigmouth Buffalo Ictiobus cyprinellus sets freshwater teleost record as improved age analysis reveals centenarian longevity |journal=Communications Biology |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=197 |doi=10.1038/s42003-019-0452-0 |issn=2399-3642|doi-access=free |pmid=31149641 |pmc=6533251 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rypel |first1=Andrew L. |last2=Saffarinia |first2=Parsa |last3=Vaughn |first3=Caryn C. |last4=Nesper |first4=Larry |last5=O'Reilly |first5=Katherine |last6=Parisek |first6=Christine A. |last7=Miller |first7=Matthew L. |last8=Moyle |first8=Peter B. |last9=Fangue |first9=Nann A. |last10=Bell-Tilcock |first10=Miranda |last11=Ayers |first11=David |last12=David |first12=Solomon R. |display-authors=5 |date=December 2021 |title=Goodbye to "Rough Fish": Paradigm Shift in the Conservation of Native Fishes |journal=Fisheries |language=en |volume=46 |issue=12 |pages=605–616 |doi=10.1002/fsh.10660 |issn=0363-2415|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021Fish...46..605R }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Scarnecchia |first1=Dennis L. |last2=Schooley |first2=Jason D. |last3=Lackmann |first3=Alec R. |last4=Rider |first4=Steven J. |last5=Riecke |first5=Dennis K. |last6=McMullen |first6=Joseph |last7=Ganus |first7=J. Eric |last8=Steffensen |first8=Kirk D. |last9=Kramer |first9=Nicholas W. |last10=Shattuck |first10=Zachary R. |display-authors=5  |date=December 2021 |title=The Sport Fish Restoration Program as a Funding Source to Manage and Monitor Bowfishing and Monitor Inland Commercial Fisheries |url=https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fsh.10679 |journal=Fisheries |language=en |volume=46 |issue=12 |pages=595–604 |doi=10.1002/fsh.10679 |bibcode=2021Fish...46..595S |issn=0363-2415|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For example in the USA, 21st century [[bowfishing]] of native fishes, which amounts to killing wild animals for recreation and disposing of them immediately afterwards, remains unregulated and unmanaged.<ref name=":7" />

=== Global conservation efforts ===

In the mid-20th century, efforts arose to target individual species for conservation, notably efforts in [[big cat]] conservation in [[South America]] led by the New York Zoological Society.<ref>A.R. Rabinowitz, ''Jaguar: One Man's Battle to Establish the World's First Jaguar Preserve'', Arbor House, New York, N.Y. (1986)</ref> In the early 20th century the New York Zoological Society was instrumental in developing concepts of establishing preserves for particular species and conducting the necessary conservation studies to determine the suitability of locations that are most appropriate as conservation priorities; the work of Henry Fairfield Osborn Jr., [[Carl E. Akeley]], [[Archie Carr]] and his son Archie Carr III is notable in this era.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carr, Marjorie Harris |author2=Carr, Archie Fairly |title=A naturalist in Florida: a celebration of Eden |url=https://archive.org/details/naturalistinflor0000carr |url-access=registration |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Conn |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-300-05589-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/chronob/OSBO1887.htm|title=Chrono-Biographical Sketch: (Henry) Fairfield Osborn, Jr.|website=wku.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=the story of the virungas |url=http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/mgorilla/mgeuropean.html |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=cotf.edu}}</ref><!-- The timings of these two sentences contradict each other. --> Akeley for example, having led expeditions to the [[Virunga Mountains]] and observed the [[mountain gorilla]] in the wild, became convinced that the species and the area were conservation priorities. He was instrumental in persuading [[Albert I of Belgium]] to act in defense of the [[mountain gorilla]] and establish [[Albert National Park]] (since renamed [[Virunga National Park]]) in what is now [[Democratic Republic of Congo]].<ref>Akeley, C., 1923. ''In Brightest Africa'' New York, Doubleday. 188-249.</ref>

By the 1970s, led primarily by work in the United States under the [[Endangered Species Act]]<ref>U.S. Endangered Species Act (7 U.S.C. § 136, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) of 1973, Washington DC, U.S. Government Printing Office</ref> along with the [[Species at Risk Act]] (SARA) of Canada, [[Biodiversity Action Plan]]s developed in [[Australia]], [[Sweden]], the [[United Kingdom]], hundreds of species specific protection plans ensued. Notably the United Nations acted to conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of mankind. The programme was adopted by the General Conference of [[UNESCO]] in 1972. As of 2006, a total of 830 sites are listed: 644 cultural, 162 natural. The first country to pursue aggressive biological conservation through national legislation was the United States, which passed back to back legislation in the Endangered Species Act<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/1531-|title=16 U.S. Code § 1531 - Congressional findings and declaration of purposes and policy|website=LII / Legal Information Institute}}</ref> (1966) and [[National Environmental Policy Act]] (1970),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+42USC4321|title=US Government Publishing Office - FDsys - Browse Publications|website=frwebgate.access.gpo.gov}}</ref> which together injected major funding and protection measures to large-scale habitat protection and threatened species research. Other conservation developments, however, have taken hold throughout the world. India, for example, passed the [[Wildlife Protection Act of 1972]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Paul R. |last1=Krausman |first2=A. J. T. |last2=Johnsingh |year=1990 |title=Conservation and Wildlife Education in India |journal=Wildlife Society Bulletin |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=342–7 |jstor=3782224}}</ref>

In 1980, a significant development was the emergence of the [[urban wildlife|urban conservation]] movement. A local organization was established in [[Birmingham]], UK, a development followed in rapid succession in cities across the UK, then overseas. Although perceived as a [[grassroots movement]], its early development was driven by academic research into urban wildlife. Initially perceived as radical, the movement's view of conservation being inextricably linked with other human activity has now become mainstream in conservation thought. Considerable research effort is now directed at urban conservation biology. The [[Society for Conservation Biology]] originated in 1985.<ref name="Dyke08"/>{{rp|2}}

By 1992, most of the countries of the world had become committed to the principles of conservation of biological diversity with the [[Convention on Biological Diversity]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.biodiv.org/convention/default.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227072411/http://www.biodiv.org/convention/default.shtml|title=Convention on Biological Diversity Official Page|archive-date=February 27, 2007}}</ref> subsequently many countries began programmes of [[Biodiversity Action Plan]]s to identify and conserve threatened species within their borders, as well as protect associated habitats. The late 1990s saw increasing professionalism in the sector, with the maturing of organisations such as the [[Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management]] and the [[Society for the Environment]].

Since 2000, the concept of [[landscape scale conservation]] has risen to prominence, with less emphasis being given to single-species or even single-habitat focused actions. Instead an ecosystem approach is advocated by most mainstream conservationists, although concerns have been expressed by those working to protect some high-profile species.

Ecology has clarified the workings of the [[biosphere]]; i.e., the complex interrelationships among humans, other species, and the physical environment. The [[Human overpopulation|burgeoning human population]] and associated [[agriculture]], [[Industrial sector|industry]], and the ensuing pollution, have demonstrated how easily ecological relationships can be disrupted.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gore, Albert |title=Earth in the balance: ecology and the human spirit |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-395-57821-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/earthinbalanceec00gore }}</ref>

{{cquote|The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.|20px|20px|[[Aldo Leopold]]|''[[A Sand County Almanac]]''}}

== Concepts and foundations ==

=== Measuring extinction rates ===
{{annotated image/Extinction|float=right}}

Extinction rates are measured in a variety of ways. Conservation biologists measure and apply [[statistical measure]]s of [[fossil record]]s,<ref name="SahneyBenton2008RecoveryFromProfoundExtinction"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Regan |first1=Helen M. |last2=Lupia |first2=Richard |last3=Drinnan |first3=Andrew N. |last4=Burgman |first4=Mark A. |title=The Currency and Tempo of Extinction |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=157 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |year=2001 |pmid=18707231 |doi=10.1086/317005 |bibcode=2001ANat..157....1R |s2cid=205983813 }}</ref> rates of [[habitat loss]], and a multitude of other variables such as [[loss of biodiversity]] as a function of the rate of habitat loss and site occupancy<ref>{{cite journal |last1=MacKenzie |first1=Darryl I. |last2=Nichols |first2=James D. |last3=Hines |first3=James E. |last4=Knutson |first4=Melinda G. |last5=Franklin |first5=Alan B. |title=Estimating Site Occupancy, Colonization, and Local Extinction When a Species Is Detected Imperfectly |journal=Ecology |volume=84 |issue=8 |year=2003 |pages=2200–2207 |jstor=3450043 |doi=10.1890/02-3090 |bibcode=2003Ecol...84.2200M |hdl=2027.42/149732 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> to obtain such estimates.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Balmford |first1=Andrew |last2=Green |first2=Rhys E. |last3=Jenkins |first3=Martin |title=Measuring the changing state of nature |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume=18 |issue=7 |year=2003 |pages=326–30 |doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00067-3 |bibcode=2003TEcoE..18..326B |url=http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucessjb/S3%20Reading/balmford%20et%20al%202003.pdf }}</ref> ''[[The Theory of Island Biogeography]]''<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacArthur|first1=R.H.|author-link1= Robert MacArthur|last2=Wilson|first2=E.O.|author-link2= E. O. Wilson|title=The Theory of Island Biogeography |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-691-08836-5|title-link=The Theory of Island Biogeography}}</ref> is possibly the most significant contribution toward the scientific understanding of both the process and how to measure the rate of species extinction. The current [[background extinction rate]] is estimated to be one species every few years.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Raup DM |title=A kill curve for Phanerozoic marine species |journal=Paleobiology |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=37–48 |year=1991 |pmid=11538288 |doi=10.1017/S0094837300010332 |bibcode=1991Pbio...17...37R |s2cid=29102370 }}</ref> Actual extinction rates are estimated to be orders of magnitudes higher.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R.|last3=Barnosky|first3=Anthony D.|last4=García|first4=Andrés|last5=Pringle|first5=Robert M.|last6=Palmer|first6=Todd M.|date=2015-06-01|title=Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction|journal=Science Advances|language=en|volume=1|issue=5|article-number=e1400253|doi=10.1126/sciadv.1400253|pmid=26601195|pmc=4640606|bibcode=2015SciA....1E0253C|issn=2375-2548|doi-access=free}}</ref> While this is important, it's worth noting that there are no models in existence that account for the complexity of unpredictable factors like species movement, a non-analog climate, changing species interactions, evolutionary rates on finer time scales, and many other stochastic variables.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brun |first1=Philipp |last2=Thuiller |first2=Wilfried |last3=Chauvier |first3=Yohann |last4=Pellissier |first4=Loïc |last5=Wüest |first5=Rafael O. |last6=Wang |first6=Zhiheng |last7=Zimmermann |first7=Niklaus E. |date=January 2020 |title=Model complexity affects species distribution projections under climate change |journal=Journal of Biogeography |language=en |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=130–142 |doi=10.1111/jbi.13734 |s2cid=209562589 |issn=0305-0270|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020JBiog..47..130B }}</ref><ref name="Fitzpatrick 2255–2261"/>

The measure of ongoing species loss is made more complex by the fact that most of the Earth's species have not been described or evaluated. Estimates vary greatly on how many species actually exist (estimated range: 3,600,000–111,700,000)<ref name="Wilson00">{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Edward O. |year=2000 |title=On the Future of Conservation Biology |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=14 |issue=1|pages=1–3 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.00000-e1.x|s2cid=83906221 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2000ConBi..14....1W }}</ref> to how many have received a [[Binomial nomenclature|species binomial]] (estimated range: 1.5–8 million).<ref name="Wilson00" /> Less than 1% of all species that have been described beyond simply noting its existence.<ref name="Wilson00" /> From these figures, the IUCN reports that 23% of [[vertebrate]]s, 5% of [[invertebrate]]s and 70% of plants that have been evaluated are designated as [[endangered]] or [[threatened]].<ref name="IUCN">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/info/tables/table1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630054235/http://www.iucnredlist.org/info/tables/table1|title=IUCN Red-list statistics (2006)|archive-date=June 30, 2006}}</ref><ref>The IUCN does not disaggregate endangered from [[critically endangered]] or threatened for the purpose of these statistics.</ref> Better knowledge is being constructed by [[The Plant List]] for actual numbers of species.

=== Systematic conservation planning ===

Systematic conservation planning is an effective way to seek and identify efficient and effective types of reserve design to capture or sustain the highest priority biodiversity values and to work with communities in support of local ecosystems. Margules and Pressey identify six interlinked stages in the systematic planning approach:<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Margules CR, Pressey RL |title=Systematic conservation planning |journal=Nature |volume=405 |issue=6783 |pages=243–53 |date=May 2000 |pmid=10821285 |doi=10.1038/35012251 |s2cid=4427223 |url=http://www.ecology.uq.edu.au/docs/SoC_Brazil_2005/Papers/Margules_and_Pressey_2000.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225013400/http://www.ecology.uq.edu.au/docs/SoC_Brazil_2005/Papers/Margules_and_Pressey_2000.pdf |archive-date=2009-02-25 }}</ref>

# Compile data on the biodiversity of the planning region
# Identify conservation goals for the planning region
# Review existing conservation areas
# Select additional conservation areas
# Implement conservation actions
# Maintain the required values of conservation areas

Conservation biologists regularly prepare detailed conservation plans for [[Grant (money)|grant proposals]] or to effectively coordinate their plan of action and to identify best management practices (e.g.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-07-04|url=http://www.amphibians.org/newsletter/ACAP.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704172505/http://www.amphibians.org/newsletter/ACAP.pdf |title=Amphibian Conservation Action Plan|archive-date=2007-07-04 |access-date=2022-12-29}}</ref>). Systematic strategies generally employ the services of [[Geographic Information Systems]] to assist in the decision-making process. The [[SLOSS debate]] is often considered in planning.

=== Conservation physiology: a mechanistic approach to conservation ===

Conservation physiology was defined by [[Steven J. Cooke]] and colleagues as:<ref name="Cooke et al 2013"/><blockquote>An integrative scientific discipline applying physiological concepts, tools, and knowledge to characterizing biological diversity and its ecological implications; understanding and predicting how organisms, populations, and ecosystems respond to environmental change and stressors; and solving conservation problems across the broad range of taxa (i.e. including microbes, plants, and animals). Physiology is considered in the broadest possible terms to include functional and mechanistic responses at all scales, and conservation includes the development and refinement of strategies to rebuild populations, restore ecosystems, inform conservation policy, generate decision-support tools, and manage natural resources.</blockquote>Conservation physiology is particularly relevant to practitioners in that it has the potential to generate cause-and-effect relationships and reveal the factors that contribute to population declines.

=== Conservation biology as a profession ===

The [[Society for Conservation Biology]] is a global community of conservation professionals dedicated to advancing the science and practice of conserving biodiversity. Conservation biology as a discipline reaches beyond biology, into subjects such as [[philosophy]], [[law]], [[economics]], [[humanities]], [[arts]], [[anthropology]], and [[education]].<ref name="Hunter96"/><ref name="Groom06" /> Within biology, [[conservation genetics]] and [[evolution]] are immense fields unto themselves, but these disciplines are of prime importance to the practice and profession of conservation biology.

Conservationists introduce [[bias]] when they support policies using qualitative description, such as [[Habitat degradation|habitat ''degradation'']], or ''healthy'' [[ecosystem]]s. Conservation biologists advocate for reasoned and sensible management of natural resources and do so with a disclosed combination of [[science]], [[reason]], [[logic]], and [[Value (personal and cultural)|values]] in their conservation management plans.<ref name="Hunter96" /> This sort of advocacy is similar to the medical profession advocating for healthy lifestyle options, both are beneficial to human well-being yet remain scientific in their approach.

There is a movement in conservation biology suggesting a new form of leadership is needed to mobilize conservation biology into a more effective discipline that is able to communicate the full scope of the problem to society at large.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Manolis JC, Chan KM, Finkelstein ME, Stephens S, Nelson CR, Grant JB, Dombeck MP |title=Leadership: A new frontier in conservation science |journal=Conserv. Biol. |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=879–86 |year=2009 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01150.x |pmid=19183215 |bibcode=2009ConBi..23..879M |s2cid=36810103 }}</ref> The movement proposes an adaptive leadership approach that parallels an [[adaptive management]] approach. The concept is based on a new philosophy or leadership theory steering away from historical notions of power, authority, and dominance. Adaptive conservation leadership is reflective and more equitable as it applies to any member of society who can mobilize others toward meaningful change using communication techniques that are inspiring, purposeful, and collegial. Adaptive conservation leadership and mentoring programs are being implemented by conservation biologists through organizations such as the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://leopoldleadership.org/content/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217231043/http://leopoldleadership.org/content|archive-date=2007-02-17|title=Aldo Leopold Leadership Program|publisher=Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University}}</ref>

=== Approaches ===

Conservation may be classified as either [[in-situ conservation]], which is protecting an endangered species in its natural [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]], or [[ex-situ conservation]], which occurs outside the natural habitat.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Kala |first1=Chandra Prakash |title=Medicinal plants conservation and enterprise development |journal=Medicinal Plants - International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries |volume=1 |issue=2 |year=2009 |pages=79–95 |doi=10.5958/j.0975-4261.1.2.011 }}</ref> In-situ conservation involves protecting or restoring the habitat. Ex-situ conservation, on the other hand, involves protection outside of an organism's natural habitat, such as on reservations or in [[gene bank]]s, in circumstances where viable populations may not be present in the natural habitat.<ref name=":2" />

The conservation of habitats like forest, water or soil in its natural state is crucial for any species depending in it to thrive. Making a new environment which looks alike the original is less effective than preserving original habitats. An approach in Nepal named reforestation campaign has helped increase the density and area covered by the original forests which proved to be better than creating entirely new environment after original one is let to lost. [https://www.rff.org/news/press-releases/old-forests-store-more-carbon-than-young-onesand-that-matters-for-us-climate-goals/ Old Forests Store More Carbon than Young Ones] as proved by latest researches, so it is more crucial to protect the old ones. The reforestation campaign launched by Himalayan Adventure Therapy in Nepal basically visits the old forests in periodic basis which are vulnerable to loss of density and the area covered due to unplanned urbanization activities. Then they plant the new saplings of same tree families of that existing forest in the areas where the old forest has been lost and also plant those saplings to the barren areas connected to the forest. This maintains the density and area covered by the forest.

Also, non-interference may be used, which is termed a [[Environmentalism|preservationist]] method. Preservationists advocate for giving areas of nature and species a protected existence that halts interference from the humans.<ref name="Hunter96"/> In this regard, conservationists differ from preservationists in the social dimension, as conservation biology engages society and seeks equitable solutions for both society and ecosystems. Some preservationists emphasize the potential of biodiversity in a world without humans.

=== Ecological monitoring in conservation ===
Ecological monitoring is the systematic collection of data relevant to the [[ecology]] of a species or habitat at repeating intervals with defined methods.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Spellerberg |first=Ian F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=68ap9hdp8D8C&pg=PR7 |title=Monitoring Ecological Change |date=2005-08-18 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-44547-4 |language=en}}</ref> Long-term monitoring for environmental and ecological metrics is an important part of any successful conservation initiative. Unfortunately, long-term data for many [[species]] and [[habitat]]s is not available in many cases.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Lindenmayer |first1=David B. |last2=Lavery |first2=Tyrone |last3=Scheele |first3=Ben C. |date=2022-12-01 |title=Why We Need to Invest in Large-Scale, Long-Term Monitoring Programs in Landscape Ecology and Conservation Biology |journal=Current Landscape Ecology Reports |language=en |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=137–146 |doi=10.1007/s40823-022-00079-2 |s2cid=252889110 |issn=2364-494X|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022CLER....7..137L |hdl=1885/312385 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> A lack of historical data on species [[population]]s, habitats, and ecosystems means that any current or future conservation work will have to make assumptions to determine if the work is having any effect on the population or ecosystem health. Ecological monitoring can provide early warning signals of deleterious effects (from human activities or natural changes in an environment) on an ecosystem and its species.<ref name=":5" /> In order for signs of negative trends in [[ecosystem]] or species health to be detected, monitoring methods must be carried out at appropriate time intervals, and the metric must be able to capture the trend of the population or habitat as a whole.

Long-term monitoring can include the continued measuring of many biological, ecological, and environmental metrics including annual breeding success, population size estimates, water quality, [[biodiversity]] (which can be measured in many way, i.e. [[Diversity index|Shannon Index]]), and many other methods. When determining which metrics to monitor for a conservation project, it is important to understand how an ecosystem functions and what role different species and abiotic factors have within the system.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rodríguez-González |first1=Patricia María |last2=Albuquerque |first2=António |last3=Martínez-Almarza |first3=Miguel |last4=Díaz-Delgado |first4=Ricardo |date=2017-11-01 |title=Long-term monitoring for conservation management: Lessons from a case study integrating remote sensing and field approaches in floodplain forests |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479717300853 |journal=Journal of Environmental Management |series=Piégay & Lamouroux "Enlarging spatial and temporal scales for biophysical diagnosis and sustainable river management" |language=en |volume=202 |issue=Pt 2 |pages=392–402 |doi=10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.01.067 |pmid=28190693 |bibcode=2017JEnvM.202..392R |issn=0301-4797|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is important to have a precise reason for why ecological monitoring is implemented; within the context of conservation, this reasoning is often to track changes before, during, or after conservation measures are put in place to help a species or habitat recover from degradation and/or maintain integrity.<ref name=":5" />

Another benefit of ecological monitoring is the hard evidence it provides scientists to use for advising policy makers and funding bodies about conservation efforts. Not only is ecological monitoring data important for convincing politicians, funders, and the public why a conservation program is important to implement, but also to keep them convinced that a program should be continued to be supported.<ref name=":6" />

There is plenty of debate on how conservation resources can be used most efficiently; even within ecological monitoring, there is debate on which metrics that money, time and personnel should be dedicated to for the best chance of making a positive impact. One specific general discussion topic is whether monitoring should happen where there is little [[Human impact on the environment|human impact]] (to understand a system that has not been degraded by humans), where there is human impact (so the effects from humans can be investigated), or where there is data deserts and little is known about the habitats' and communities' response to human [[Disturbance (ecology)|perturbations]].<ref name=":5" />

The concept of [[bioindicator]]s / [[Bioindicator|indicator species]] can be applied to ecological monitoring as a way to investigate how [[pollution]] is affecting an ecosystem.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burger |first=Joanna |date=July 2006 |title=Bioindicators: A Review of Their Use in the Environmental Literature 1970–2005 |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15555270600701540 |journal=Environmental Bioindicators |language=en |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=136–144 |doi=10.1080/15555270600701540 |bibcode=2006EnvBi...1..136B |issn=1555-5275|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Species like [[amphibian]]s and [[bird]]s are highly susceptible to pollutants in their environment due to their behaviours and physiological features&nbsp;that cause them to absorb pollutants at a faster rate than other species. Amphibians spend parts of their time in the water and on land, making them susceptible to changes in both environments.<ref>Macdonald, N. (2002). [https://www.naturewatch.ca/wp-content/biguploads/senior_guide_712.pdf Frogwatch Teachers' guide to frogs as indicators of ecosystem health].</ref> They also have very permeable skin that allows them to breathe and intake water, which means they also take any air or water-soluble pollutants in as well. Birds often cover a wide range in habitat types annually, and also generally revisit the same nesting site each year. This makes it easier for researchers to track ecological effects at both an individual and a population level for the species.<ref>Begazo, A. (2022). [https://avianreport.com/birds-as-indicators-of-ecosystem-health Birds as indicators of Ecosystem Health]. Retrieved December 14, 2022</ref>

Many conservation researchers believe that having a long-term ecological monitoring program should be a priority for conservation projects, protected areas, and regions where environmental harm mitigation is used.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Soulé |first1=Michael E. |last2=Terborgh |first2=John |date=October 1999 |title=Conserving nature at regional and continental scales—a scientific program for North America |url=https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/1313572 |journal=BioScience |language=en |volume=49 |issue=10 |pages=809–817 |doi=10.2307/1313572 |jstor=1313572 |issn=1525-3244}}</ref>

=== Ethics and values ===
{{See also|Conservation (ethic)|Land ethic}}

Conservation biologists are [[interdisciplinary]] researchers that practice ethics in the biological and social sciences. Chan states<ref name="Chan08">{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Kai M. A. |title=Value and Advocacy in Conservation Biology: Crisis Discipline or Discipline in Crisis? |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=1–3 |year=2008 |pmid=18254846 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00869.x |doi-access=free |bibcode=2008ConBi..22....1C }}</ref> that conservationists must advocate for biodiversity and can do so in a scientifically ethical manner by not promoting simultaneous advocacy against other competing values.

A conservationist may be inspired by the ''resource conservation ethic'',<ref name="Dyke08"/>{{rp|15}} which seeks to identify what measures will deliver "the greatest good for the greatest number of people for the longest time."<ref name="Hunter96" />{{Rp|13}} In contrast, some conservation biologists argue that nature has an [[Intrinsic value (ethics)|intrinsic value]] that is independent of [[anthropocentric]] usefulness or [[utilitarianism]].<ref name="Dyke08"/>{{rp|3,12,16–17}} [[Aldo Leopold]] was a classical thinker and writer on such conservation ethics whose philosophy, ethics and writings are still valued and revisited by modern conservation biologists.<ref name="Dyke08"/>{{rp|16–17}}

=== Conservation priorities ===

{{See also|Biodiversity#Benefits of biodiversity}}

[[File:BiomassCharts.jpg|thumb|upright=1.75|A pie chart image showing the relative biomass representation in a rain forest through a summary of children's perceptions from drawings and artwork (left), through a scientific estimate of actual biomass (middle), and by a measure of biodiversity (right). The biomass of social insects (middle) far outweighs the number of species (right).]]

The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) has organized a global assortment of scientists and research stations across the planet to monitor the changing state of nature in an effort to tackle the extinction crisis. The IUCN provides annual updates on the status of species conservation through its Red List.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iucnredlist.org |title=The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species |access-date=2013-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627094911/http://www.iucnredlist.org/ |archive-date=2014-06-27 }}</ref> The [[IUCN Red List]] serves as an international conservation tool to identify those species most in need of conservation attention and by providing a global index on the status of biodiversity.<ref name="Vié09">{{Cite book |editor-last1 =Vié  |editor-first1=J. C. |editor-last2 =Hilton-Taylor  |editor-first2 =C. |editor-last3 =Stuart  |editor-first3=S.N. |year =2009 |title =Wildlife in a Changing World – An Analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species |location =Gland, Switzerland |publisher =IUCN |page =180 |url =http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/RL-2009-001.pdf |access-date =December 24, 2010 }}</ref> More than the dramatic rates of species loss, however, conservation scientists note that the [[sixth mass extinction]] is a biodiversity crisis requiring far more action than a priority focus on [[Rare species|rare]], [[Endemism|endemic]] or [[endangered species]]. Concerns for biodiversity loss covers a broader conservation mandate that looks at [[ecological processes]], such as migration, and a holistic examination of biodiversity at levels beyond the species, including genetic, population and ecosystem diversity.<ref name="Molnar04">{{Cite journal |last1=Molnar |first1=J. |last2=Marvier |first2=M. |last3=Kareiva |first3=P. |title=The sum is greater than the parts |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=18 |issue=6 |pages=1670–1 |year=2004 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2004.00l07.x |bibcode=2004ConBi..18.1670M }}</ref> Extensive, systematic, and rapid rates of biodiversity loss threatens the sustained well-being of humanity by limiting supply of ecosystem services that are otherwise regenerated by the complex and evolving holistic network of genetic and ecosystem diversity. While the [[conservation status]] of species is employed extensively in conservation management,<ref name="Vié09" /> some scientists highlight that it is the common species that are the primary source of exploitation and habitat alteration by humanity. Moreover, common species are often undervalued despite their role as the primary source of ecosystem services.<ref name="Gaston10">{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1182818 |last=Gaston |first=K.J. |title=Valuing common species |journal=Science |volume=327 |issue=5962 |pages=154–155 |year=2010 |pmid=20056880 |bibcode=2010Sci...327..154G |s2cid=206523787 }}</ref><ref name="Kearns10">{{cite journal |last1=Kearns |first1=Carol Ann |year=2010 |title=Conservation of Biodiversity |journal=Nature Education Knowledge |volume=3 |issue=10 |page=7 |url=http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/conservation-of-biodiversity-13235087 }}</ref>

While most in the community of conservation science "stress the importance" of [[sustainability|sustaining biodiversity]],<ref name="CREOcare">{{Cite web|title=Center for Biodiversity & Conservation &#124; AMNH|url=https://www.amnh.org/research/center-for-biodiversity-conservation|access-date=2022-12-29|website=American Museum of Natural History|language=en-US}}</ref> there is debate on how to prioritize genes, species, or ecosystems, which are all components of biodiversity (e.g. Bowen, 1999). While the predominant approach to date has been to focus efforts on endangered species by conserving ''[[biodiversity hotspots]]'', some scientists (e.g)<ref name="Luck03">{{cite journal |last1=Luck |first1=Gary W. |last2=Daily |first2=Gretchen C. |last3=Ehrlich |first3=Paul R. |title=Population diversity and ecosystem services |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume=18 |issue=7 |year=2003 |pages=331–6 |doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00100-9 }}</ref> and conservation organizations, such as the [[Nature Conservancy]], argue that it is more cost-effective, logical, and socially relevant to invest in ''biodiversity coldspots''.<ref name="Conserving Biodiversity Coldspots">{{cite journal |last1=Kareiva |first1=Peter |last2=Marvier |first2=Michelle |title=Conserving Biodiversity Coldspots |journal=American Scientist |volume=91 |issue=4 |year=2003 |pages=344–51 |doi=10.1511/2003.4.344 }}</ref> The costs of discovering, naming, and mapping out the distribution of every species, they argue, is an ill-advised conservation venture. They reason it is better to understand the significance of the ecological roles of species.<ref name="Molnar04" />

Biodiversity hotspots and coldspots are a way of recognizing that the spatial concentration of genes, species, and ecosystems is not uniformly distributed on the Earth's surface.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Possingham |first1=Hugh P. |last2=Wilson |first2=Kerrie A. |date=August 2005 |title=Turning up the heat on hotspots |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/436919a |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=436 |issue=7053 |pages=919–920 |doi=10.1038/436919a |pmid=16107821 |issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For example, "... 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups are confined to 25 hotspots comprising only 1.4% of the land surface of the Earth."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Myers |first1=Norman |last2=Mittermeier |first2=Russell A. |last3=Mittermeier |first3=Cristina G. |last4=da Fonseca |first4=Gustavo A. B. |last5=Kent |first5=Jennifer |title=Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities |journal=Nature |volume=403 |issue=6772 |pages=853–8 |year=2000 |pmid=10706275 |doi=10.1038/35002501 |bibcode=2000Natur.403..853M |s2cid=4414279 }}</ref>

Those arguing in favor of setting priorities for coldspots point out that there are other measures to consider beyond biodiversity. They point out that emphasizing hotspots downplays the importance of the social and ecological connections to vast areas of the Earth's ecosystems where [[biomass]], not biodiversity, reigns supreme.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Underwood EC, Shaw MR, Wilson KA |title=Protecting Biodiversity when Money Matters: Maximizing Return on Investment |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=3 |issue=1 |article-number=e1515 |year=2008 |pmid=18231601 |pmc=2212107 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0001515 |bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.1515U |editor1-last=Somers |editor1-first=Michael |display-authors=etal|doi-access=free }}</ref> It is estimated that 36% of the Earth's surface, encompassing 38.9% of the worlds vertebrates, lacks the endemic species to qualify as biodiversity hotspot.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Leroux SJ, Schmiegelow FK |title=Biodiversity concordance and the importance of endemism |journal=Conserv. Biol. |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=266–8; discussion 269–70 |date=February 2007 |pmid=17298533 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00628.x|bibcode=2007ConBi..21..266L |s2cid=1394295 }}</ref> Moreover, measures show that maximizing protections for biodiversity does not capture ecosystem services any better than targeting randomly chosen regions.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Naidoo R, Balmford A, Costanza R |title=Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=105 |issue=28 |pages=9495–500 |date=July 2008 |pmid=18621701 |pmc=2474481 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0707823105 |bibcode=2008PNAS..105.9495N |display-authors=etal|doi-access=free }}</ref> Population level biodiversity (mostly in coldspots) are disappearing at a rate that is ten times that at the species level.<ref name="Luck03" /><ref name="Wood08" /> The level of importance in addressing biomass versus endemism as a concern for conservation biology is highlighted in literature measuring the level of threat to global ecosystem carbon stocks that do not necessarily reside in areas of endemism.<ref name="Running08" /><ref name="Kurz08" /> A hotspot priority approach<ref>The [http://web.conservation.org/xp/gcf Global Conservation Fund] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116135224/http://web.conservation.org/xp/gcf |date=2007-11-16 }} is an example of funding organization that excludes biodiversity coldspots in its strategic campaign.</ref> would not invest so heavily in places such as [[steppe]]s, the [[Serengeti]], the [[Arctic]], or [[taiga]]. These areas contribute a great abundance of population (not species) level biodiversity<ref name="Wood08">{{cite journal |vauthors=Wood CC, Gross MR |title=Elemental conservation units: communicating extinction risk without dictating targets for protection |journal=Conserv. Biol. |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=36–47 |date=February 2008 |pmid=18254851 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00856.x |bibcode=2008ConBi..22...36W |s2cid=23211536 |url=http://labs.eeb.utoronto.ca/gross/WoodandGross2008.pdf |access-date=2009-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001072212/http://labs.eeb.utoronto.ca/gross/WoodandGross2008.pdf |archive-date=2018-10-01 }}</ref> and [[ecosystem services]], including cultural value and planetary [[nutrient cycling]].<ref name="Conserving Biodiversity Coldspots"/>

[[File:Status iucn3.1.svg|thumb|Summary of 2006 [[IUCN Red List]] categories:
EX ([[Extinction|Extinct]]) — EW ([[Extinct in the Wild]]) — CR ([[Critically Endangered]]) — EN ([[Endangered species|Endangered]]) — VU ([[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]]) — NT ([[Near-threatened species|Near Threatened]]) — LC ([[Least-concern species|Least Concern]]) ]]

Those in favor of the hotspot approach point out that species are irreplaceable components of the global ecosystem, they are concentrated in places that are most threatened, and should therefore receive maximal strategic protections.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/Pages/default.aspx|title= The Biodiversity Hotspots|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081222043456/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/Pages/default.aspx|archive-date= 2008-12-22}}</ref> This is a hotspot approach because the priority is set to target species level concerns over population level or biomass.<ref name="Wood08" />{{failed verification|date=July 2012}} Species richness and genetic biodiversity contributes to and engenders ecosystem stability, ecosystem processes, evolutionary [[adaptation|adaptability]], and biomass.<ref>The following papers are examples of research showing the relationship between biodiversity, biomass, and ecosystem stability:<br />{{cite journal |last=Bowen |first=B. W. |date=December 1999 |title=Preserving genes, species, or ecosystems? Healing the fractured foundations of conservation policy |journal=[[Molecular Ecology]] |volume=8 |issue=12 Suppl 1 |pages=S5–10 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-294X.1999.00798.x |pmid=10703547 |bibcode=1999MolEc...8.....B |s2cid=33096004 |url=http://nature.berkeley.edu/genomicswg/EE_twentyeight.pdf}}<br />{{cite journal |vauthors=Cardinale BJ, Wright JP, Cadotte MW |title=Impacts of plant diversity on biomass production increase through time because of species complementarity |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=104 |issue=46 |pages=18123–8 |date=November 2007 |pmid=17991772 |pmc=2084307 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0709069104 |bibcode=2007PNAS..10418123C |display-authors=etal|doi-access=free }}</ref> Both sides agree, however, that conserving biodiversity is necessary to reduce the extinction rate and identify an inherent value in nature; the debate hinges on how to prioritize limited conservation resources in the most cost-effective way.

=== Economic values and natural capital ===

[[File:Libya 4985 Tadrart Acacus Luca Galuzzi 2007.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Tadrart Acacus]] desert in western [[Libya]], part of the [[Sahara]] ]]
{{See also|Ecosystem services|Biodiversity<!--#Human benefits-->}}

Conservation biologists have started to collaborate with leading global [[economist]]s to determine how to measure the [[wealth]] and [[Service (economics)|services]] of nature and to make these values apparent in [[International finance|global market transactions]].<ref name="EC08">{{cite book |author=European Communities |title=The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity. Interim Report |publisher=Welzel+Hardt |location=Wesseling, Germany |year=2008 |isbn=978-92-79-08960-2 |url=http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/economics/pdf/teeb_report.pdf }}</ref> This system of accounting is called ''[[natural capital]]'' and would, for example, register the value of an ecosystem before it is cleared to make way for development.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gund Institute for Environment|url=https://www.uvm.edu/gund|access-date=2022-12-29|website=www.uvm.edu|language=en}}</ref> The [[World Wide Fund For Nature|WWF]] publishes its ''[[Living Planet Report]]'' and provides a global index of biodiversity by monitoring approximately 5,000&nbsp;populations in 1,686&nbsp;species of vertebrate (mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians) and report on the trends in much the same way that the stock market is tracked.<ref name="LLP08" />

This method of measuring the global economic benefit of nature has been endorsed by the [[G8+5]] leaders and the [[European Commission]].<ref name="EC08"/> Nature sustains many [[ecosystem services]]<ref>{{cite web|url=  http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html|title=  From the Ecological Society of America (ESA)|access-date=  2008-12-30|archive-url=  https://web.archive.org/web/20100726162725/http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/esa.html|archive-date=  2010-07-26}}</ref> that benefit humanity.<ref name="MEA08">Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005). [http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis]. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.</ref> Many of the Earth's ecosystem services are [[public goods]] without a [[Market (economics)|market]] and therefore no [[price]] or [[value (economics)|value]].<ref name="EC08" /> When the ''stock market'' registers a financial crisis, traders on [[Wall Street]] are not in the business of trading stocks for much of the planet's living natural capital stored in ecosystems. There is no natural stock market with investment portfolios into sea horses, amphibians, insects, and other creatures that provide a sustainable supply of ecosystem services that are valuable to society.<ref name="MEA08" /> The ecological footprint of society has exceeded the bio-regenerative capacity limits of the planet's ecosystems by about 30&nbsp;percent, which is the same percentage of vertebrate populations that have registered decline from 1970 through 2005.<ref name="LLP08">{{cite web |last=WWF |title=World Wildlife Fund |url=http://assets.wwf.ca/downloads/lpr_2008.pdf |access-date=January 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225013400/http://assets.wwf.ca/downloads/lpr_2008.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2009 }}</ref>

{{quote box
|The ecological credit crunch is a global challenge. The ''Living Planet Report 2008'' tells us that more than three-quarters of the world's people live in nations that are ecological debtors – their national consumption has outstripped their country's biocapacity. Thus, most of us are propping up our current lifestyles, and our economic growth, by drawing (and increasingly overdrawing) upon the ecological capital of other parts of the world.
|WWF Living Planet Report<ref name="LLP08" />
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The inherent [[natural economy]] plays an essential role in sustaining humanity,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.millenniumassessment.org/ |title=Millennium Ecosystem Assessment |access-date=2008-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219235544/http://www.millenniumassessment.org/ |archive-date=2008-12-19 }}</ref> including the regulation of global [[atmospheric chemistry]], [[Pollination management|pollinating crops]], [[pest control]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7796138.stm |work=BBC News |title=Bees get plants' pests in a flap |date=2008-12-22 |access-date=2010-04-01 |first=Richard |last=Black}}</ref> [[Soil ecology|cycling soil nutrients]], purifying our [[water supply]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hermoso|first1=Virgilio|last2=Abell|first2=R|last3=Linke|first3=S|last4=Boon|first4=P|title=The role of protected areas for freshwater biodiversity conservation: challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing world.|journal=Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems|year=2016|volume=26|issue=S1|pages=3–11|doi=10.1002/aqc.2681|bibcode=2016ACMFE..26S...3H |s2cid=88786689 }}</ref> supplying medicines and health benefits,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Mitchell R, Popham F |title=Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study |journal=Lancet |volume=372 |issue=9650 |pages=1655–60 |date=November 2008 |pmid=18994663 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61689-X |s2cid=37232884 |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/4767/1/4767.pdf }}</ref> and unquantifiable quality of life improvements. There is a relationship, a [[correlation]], between markets and [[natural capital]], and [[Social inequity aversion|social income inequity]] and biodiversity loss. This means that there are greater rates of biodiversity loss in places where the inequity of wealth is greatest,<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Mikkelson GM, Gonzalez A, Peterson GD |title=Economic Inequality Predicts Biodiversity Loss |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=2 |issue=5 |article-number=e444 |year=2007 |pmid=17505535 |pmc=1864998 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0000444 |bibcode=2007PLoSO...2..444M |editor1-last=Chave |editor1-first=Jerome |doi-access=free }}</ref> an example of this would be the Perdido Key beach mouse. This is an endangered species that its demis started because of continued development along beaches, these mice leave in sand dunes and play an important role within this ecosystem. These mice help the grass grow inside the sandunes, they eat this grass and then this leads to then spreading seeds throughout the beach creating more grass. Sand dunes may not seem that important but they do act as a barrier for any sort of storm coming from the ocean such as hurricanes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-17 |title=The Mouse That Roared {{!}} U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/story/mouse-roared#:~:text=Perdido |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.fws.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Anonymous |date=2016-07-21 |title=Protecting Dunes {{!}} Connecticut Beaches and Dunes: A Hazard Guide for Coastal Property Owners |url=https://beachduneguide.uconn.edu/protecting-dunes/#:~:text=Sand%20dunes%20provide%20natural%20coastal,supplying%20sand%20to%20eroded%20beaches. |access-date=2025-02-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Although a direct market comparison of [[natural capital]] is likely insufficient in terms of [[human value]], one measure of ecosystem services suggests the contribution amounts to trillions of dollars yearly.<ref>Staff of World Resources Program. (1998). [http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/feature/eco_fea_value.pdf ''Valuing Ecosystem Services''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081130114053/http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/feature/eco_fea_value.pdf |date=2008-11-30 }}. World Resources 1998-99.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Perspectives on biodiversity: valuing its role in an everchanging world |publisher=National Academy Press |location=Washington, D.C. |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-309-06581-8 |url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9589&page=114 |vauthors=((Committee on Noneconomic and Economic Value of Biodiversity)),((Board on Biology, Commission on Life Sciences)), ((National Research Council))|doi=10.17226/9589 |pmid=25077215 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ecotrust.org/press/katoomba_backgrounder.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505071048/http://ecotrust.org/press/katoomba_backgrounder.html|title=Valuation of Ecosystem services: A Backgrounder|archive-date=May 5, 2007}}</ref><ref>[http://essp.csumb.edu/esse/ Ecosystem Services: Estimated value in trillions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407114751/http://essp.csumb.edu/esse/ |date=2007-04-07 }}</ref> For example, one segment of [[North America]]n forests has been assigned an annual value of 250 billion dollars;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/642234|title=Carbon capture, water filtration, other boreal forest ecoservices worth estimated $250 billion/year|website=EurekAlert!}}</ref> as another example, [[honey bee]] pollination is estimated to provide between 10 and 18 billion dollars of value yearly.<ref>[http://apis.ifas.ufl.edu/apis92/apnov92.htm APIS, Volume 10, Number 11, November 1992, M.T. Sanford: Estimated value of honey bee pollination] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202162316/http://apis.ifas.ufl.edu/apis92/apnov92.htm |date=2007-02-02 }}</ref> The value of ecosystem services on one [[New Zealand]] island has been imputed to be as great as the [[GDP]] of that region.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Hidden Economy|url=http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/environmental-information/About-the-Waikato-region/Our-economy/The-hidden-economy/|access-date=2022-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719234229/http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/environmental-information/About-the-Waikato-region/Our-economy/The-hidden-economy/|archive-date=2011-07-19|website=www.waikatoregion.govt.nz}}</ref> This planetary wealth is being lost at an incredible rate as the demands of human society is exceeding the bio-regenerative capacity of the Earth. While biodiversity and ecosystems are resilient, the danger of losing them is that humans cannot recreate many ecosystem functions through [[technological innovation]].
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=== Strategic species concepts ===

==== Keystone species ====
{{Main|Keystone species}}

Some species, called a ''keystone species'' form a central supporting hub unique to their ecosystem.<ref name="Society">{{Cite news|url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/keystone-species/ |title= Keystone Species|last=|date=October 19, 2023|newspaper=National Geographic Society}}</ref> The loss of such a species results in a collapse in ecosystem function, as well as the loss of coexisting species.<ref name="Hunter96"/> Keystone species are usually predators due to their ability to control the population of prey in their ecosystem.<ref name="Society"/> The importance of a keystone species was shown by the extinction of the [[Steller's sea cow]] (''Hydrodamalis gigas'') through its interaction with [[sea otter]]s, [[sea urchin]]s, and [[kelp]]. [[Kelp bed]]s grow and form nurseries in shallow waters to shelter creatures that support the [[food chain]]. Sea urchins feed on kelp, while sea otters feed on sea urchins. With the rapid decline of sea otters due to [[overhunting]], sea urchin populations [[urchin barren|grazed unrestricted]] on the kelp beds and the [[ecosystem collapse]]d. Left unchecked, the urchins destroyed the shallow water kelp communities that supported the Steller's sea cow's diet and hastened their demise.<ref>P. K. Anderson. (1996). Competition, predation, and the evolution and extinction of Steller's Sea Cow, ''Hydrodamalis gigas''. Marine Mammal Science, 11(3):391-394</ref> The sea otter was thought to be a keystone species because the coexistence of many ecological associates in the kelp beds relied upon otters for their survival. However this was later questioned by Turvey and Risley,<ref name=pmid17148336>{{cite journal |last1=Turvey |first1=S.T |last2=Risley |first2=C.L |title=Modelling the extinction of Steller's sea cow |journal=Biology Letters |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=94–7 |year=2006 |pmid=17148336 |pmc=1617197 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2005.0415 }}</ref> who showed that hunting alone would have driven the Steller's sea cow extinct.

==== Indicator species ====
{{Main|Indicator species}}

An ''indicator species'' has a narrow set of ecological requirements, therefore they become useful targets for observing the health of an ecosystem. Some animals, such as [[amphibian]]s with their semi-permeable skin and linkages to [[wetland]]s, have an acute sensitivity to environmental harm and thus may serve as a ''[[miner's canary]]''. Indicator species are monitored in an effort to capture [[environmental degradation]] through pollution or some other link to proximate human activities.<ref name="Hunter96"/> Monitoring an indicator species is a measure to determine if there is a significant environmental impact that can serve to advise or modify practice, such as through different forest [[silviculture]] treatments and management scenarios, or to measure the degree of harm that a [[pesticide]] may impart on the health of an ecosystem.

Government regulators, consultants, or [[NGO]]s regularly monitor indicator species, however, there are limitations coupled with many practical considerations that must be followed for the approach to be effective.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Landres PB, Verner J, Thomas JW |title=Ecological Uses of Vertebrate Indicator Species: A Critique |journal=Conserv. Biol. |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=316–28 |year=1988 |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nfma/includes/2007_rule/1988_12_Landres%20et%20al%201988.pdf |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.1988.tb00195.x|bibcode=1988ConBi...2..316L }}</ref> It is generally recommended that multiple indicators (genes, populations, species, communities, and landscape) be monitored for effective conservation measurement that prevents harm to the complex, and often unpredictable, response from ecosystem dynamics (Noss, 1997<ref name="Meffe97">{{cite book |author1=Carroll, C. Dennis |author2=Meffe, Gary K. |title=Principles of conservation biology |publisher=Sinauer |location=Sunderland, Mass |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-87893-521-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/principlesofcons00meff }}</ref>{{Rp|88–89}}).

==== Umbrella and flagship species ====
{{Main|Umbrella species|Flagship species}}

An example of an ''umbrella species'' is the [[monarch (butterfly)|monarch butterfly]], because of its lengthy [[Insect migration|migrations]] and [[Aesthetics|aesthetic]] value. The monarch migrates across North America, covering multiple ecosystems and so requires a large area to exist. Any protections afforded to the monarch butterfly will at the same time umbrella many other species and habitats. An umbrella species is often used as ''flagship species'', which are species, such as the [[giant panda]], the [[blue whale]], the [[tiger]], the [[mountain gorilla]] and the monarch butterfly, that capture the public's attention and attract support for conservation measures.<ref name="Hunter96"/> Paradoxically, however, conservation bias towards flagship species sometimes threatens other species of chief concern.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fedriani |first1=JM |last2=García |first2=L |last3=Sanchéz |first3=M |last4=Calderon |first4=J |last5=Ramo |first5=C |year=2017 |title=Long-term impact of protected colonial birds on a jeopardized cork oak population: conservation bias leads to restoration failure |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |volume=54 |issue=2|pages=450–458 |doi=10.1111/1365-2664.12672 |bibcode=2017JApEc..54..450F |hdl=10261/135920 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

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== Context and trends ==

Conservation biologists study trends and process from the [[paleontological]] past to the [[ecological]] present as they gain an understanding of the context related to [[species extinction]].<ref name="SahneyBenton2008RecoveryFromProfoundExtinction"/> It is generally accepted that there have been five major global mass extinctions that register in Earth's history. These include: the [[Ordovician–Silurian extinction event|Ordovician]] (440 [[mya (unit)|mya]]), [[Late Devonian extinction|Devonian]] (370 mya), [[Permian–Triassic extinction event|Permian–Triassic]] (252 mya), [[Triassic–Jurassic extinction event|Triassic–Jurassic]] (201 mya), and [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]] (66 mya) extinction spasms. Within the last 10,000 years, human influence over the Earth's ecosystems has been so extensive that scientists have difficulty estimating the number of species lost;<ref name="Ehrlich">{{cite book |author1=Ehrlich, Anne H. |author2=Ehrlich, Paul R. |title=Extinction: the causes and consequences of the disappearance of species |publisher=Random House |location=New York |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-394-51312-6 }}{{page needed|date=October 2016}}</ref> that is to say the rates of [[deforestation]], [[Coral reef destruction|reef destruction]], [[Threats to wetlands|wetland draining]] and other human acts are proceeding much faster than human assessment of species. The latest ''[[Living Planet Report]]'' by the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] estimates that we have exceeded the bio-regenerative capacity of the planet, requiring 1.6 Earths to support the demands placed on our natural resources.<ref name="WWFLPR">{{cite book |author=WWF |title=Living Planet Report 2016. Risk and resilience in a new era |url=http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/lpr_living_planet_report_2016.pdf |year=2016 |publisher=WWF International|location=Gland, Switzerland|page=39 |isbn=978-2-940529-40-7|author-link=World Wildlife Fund }}</ref>

=== Holocene extinction ===
{{Main|Holocene extinction}}

[[File:ChildrenPerceptionBiomass.jpg|thumb|An art scape image showing the relative importance of animals in a rain forest through a summary of (a) child's perception compared with (b) a scientific estimate of the importance. The size of the animal represents its importance. The child's mental image places importance on big cats, birds, butterflies, and then reptiles versus the actual dominance of social insects (such as ants).]]

Conservation biologists are dealing with and have published [[evidence]] from all corners of the planet indicating that humanity may be causing the sixth and fastest planetary [[extinction event]].<ref name="Wake08" /><ref>http://www.millenniumassessment.org{{full citation needed|date=October 2016}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=National Survey Reveals Biodiversity Crisis – Scientific Experts Believe We Are In Midst of Fastest Mass Extinction in Earth's History |url=http://www.amnh.org/museum/press/feature/biofact.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607101209/http://www.amnh.org/museum/press/feature/biofact.html |archive-date=2007-06-07 |access-date=2022-12-29}}</ref> It has been suggested that an unprecedented number of species is becoming extinct in what is known as the [[Holocene extinction event]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=May, Robert Lewis |author2=Lawton, John |title=Extinction rates |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-19-854829-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/extinctionrates00lawt }}</ref> The global extinction rate may be approximately 1,000 times higher than the natural background extinction rate.<ref name="Dell'Amore">{{cite web|last1=Dell'Amore|first1=Christine|title=Species Extinction Happening 1,000 Times Faster Because of Humans?|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140529-conservation-science-animals-species-endangered-extinction/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531233644/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/05/140529-conservation-science-animals-species-endangered-extinction|archive-date=May 31, 2014|work=National Geographic|access-date=11 October 2016|date=30 May 2014}}</ref> It is estimated that two-thirds of all [[mammal]] [[genera]] and one-half of all mammal [[species]] weighing at least {{Convert|44|kg|lb}} have gone extinct in the last 50,000 years.<ref name=pmid17148336/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Avise |first1=J. C. |last2=Hubbell |first2=S. P. |last3=Ayala |first3=F. J. |title=In the light of evolution II: Biodiversity and extinction |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=105 |pages=11453–7 |year=2008 |issue=Suppl 1 |pmid=18695213 |pmc=2556414 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0802504105 |bibcode=2008PNAS..10511453A |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7808171.stm |first1=Molly |last1=Bentley |date=January 2, 2009 |title=Diamond clues to beasts' demise |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kennett |first1=D. J. |last2=Kennett |first2=J. P. |last3=West |first3=A. |last4=Mercer |first4=C. |last5=Hee |first5=S. S. Q. |last6=Bement |first6=L. |last7=Bunch |first7=T. E. |last8=Sellers |first8=M. |last9=Wolbach |first9=W. S. |title=Nanodiamonds in the Younger Dryas Boundary Sediment Layer |journal=Science |volume=323 |issue=5910 |page=94 |year=2009 |pmid=19119227 |doi=10.1126/science.1162819 |bibcode=2009Sci...323...94K |s2cid=206514910 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/16088/files/PAL_E3879.pdf }}</ref> The Global Amphibian Assessment<ref>{{cite web |title=An Analysis of Amphibians on the 2008 IUCN Red List. Summary of Key Findings |url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/amphibians/key_findings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706112056/http://www.iucnredlist.org/amphibians/key_findings |archive-date=2009-07-06 |work=Global Amphibian Assessment
|publisher=IUCN }}</ref> reports that [[Decline in amphibian populations|amphibians are declining]] on a global scale faster than any other [[vertebrate]] group, with over 32% of all surviving species being threatened with extinction. The surviving populations are in continual decline in 43% of those that are threatened. Since the mid-1980s the actual rates of extinction have exceeded 211 times rates measured from the [[fossil record]].<ref name="McCallum07">{{cite journal |last1=McCallum |first1=Malcolm L. |title=Amphibian Decline or Extinction? Current Declines Dwarf Background Extinction Rate |journal=Journal of Herpetology |volume=41 |issue=3 |year=2007 |pages=483–91 |jstor=4498614 |doi=10.1670/0022-1511(2007)41[483:ADOECD]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=30162903 }}</ref> However, "The current amphibian extinction rate may range from 25,039 to 45,474 times the background extinction rate for amphibians."<ref name="McCallum07" /> The global extinction trend occurs in every major [[vertebrate]] group that is being monitored. For example, 23% of all [[mammals]] and 12% of all [[bird]]s are [[IUCN Red List|Red Listed]] by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN), meaning they too are threatened with extinction. Even though extinction is natural, the decline in species is happening at such an incredible rate that evolution can simply not match, therefore, leading to the greatest continual mass extinction on Earth.<ref name="Vince">{{cite web|last1=Vince|first1=Gaia|title=A looming mass extinction caused by humans|date=November 2012 |url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121101-a-looming-mass-extinction|publisher=BBC|access-date=11 October 2016}}</ref> Humans have dominated the planet and our high consumption of resources, along with the pollution generated is affecting the environments in which other species live.<ref name="Vince"/><ref name="Tate">{{cite web|last1=Tate|first1=Karl|title=The New Dying: How Human-Caused Extinction Affects the Planet (Infographic)|url=http://www.livescience.com/51280-the-new-dying-how-human-caused-extinction-affects-the-planet-infographic.html|website=Live Science|date=19 June 2015|access-date=11 October 2016}}</ref> There are a wide variety of species that humans are working to protect such as the Hawaiian Crow and the Whooping Crane of Texas.<ref name="Worrall">{{cite web|last1=Worrall|first1=Simon|title=How the Current Mass Extinction of Animals Threatens Humans|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140820-extinction-crows-penguins-dinosaurs-asteroid-sydney-booktalk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823170945/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140820-extinction-crows-penguins-dinosaurs-asteroid-sydney-booktalk/|archive-date=August 23, 2014|work=National Geographic|access-date=11 October 2016|date=20 August 2016}}</ref> People can also take action on preserving species by advocating and voting for global and national policies that improve climate, under the concepts of [[climate mitigation]] and [[climate restoration]]. The Earth's oceans demand particular attention as climate change continues to alter pH levels, making it uninhabitable for organisms with shells which dissolve as a result.<ref name="Dell'Amore"/>

=== Status of oceans and reefs ===
{{See also|Coral reef|Marine pollution|Marine conservation|Human impact on marine life}}

Global assessments of coral reefs of the world continue to report drastic and rapid rates of decline. By 2000, 27% of the world's coral reef ecosystems had effectively collapsed. The largest period of decline occurred in a dramatic "bleaching" event in 1998, where approximately 16% of all the coral reefs in the world disappeared in less than a year. ''[[Coral bleaching]]'' is caused by a mixture of [[environmental stress]]es, including increases in ocean temperatures and [[Ocean acidification|acidity]], causing both the release of [[symbiotic]] [[algae]] and death of corals.<ref name="ausSOE01">{{cite book |title=Australia state of the environment 2001: independent report to the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment and Heritage |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |location=Collingwood, VIC, Australia |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-643-06745-5 |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2001/publications/report/pubs/part03b.pdf |author=Australian State of the Environment Committee.}}</ref> Decline and extinction risk in coral reef biodiversity has risen dramatically in the past ten years. The loss of coral reefs, which are predicted to go extinct in the next century, threatens the balance of global biodiversity, will have huge economic impacts, and endangers food security for hundreds of millions of people.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=K. E. |last2=Abrar |first2=M. |last3=Aeby |first3=G. |last4=Aronson |first4=R. B. |last5=Banks |first5=S. |last6=Bruckner |first6=A. |last7=Chiriboga |first7=A. |last8=Cortes |first8=J. |last9=Delbeek |first9=J. C. |last10=DeVantier |first10=L. |last11=Edgar |first11=G. J. |last12=Edwards |first12=A. J. |last13=Fenner |first13=D. |last14=Guzman |first14=H. M. |last15=Hoeksema |first15=B. W. |last16=Hodgson |first16=G. |last17=Johan |first17=O. |last18=Licuanan |first18=W. Y. |last19=Livingstone |first19=S. R. |last20=Lovell |first20=E. R. |last21=Moore |first21=J. A. |last22=Obura |first22=D. O. |last23=Ochavillo |first23=D. |last24=Polidoro |first24=B. A. |last25=Precht |first25=W. F. |last26=Quibilan |first26=M. C. |last27=Reboton |first27=C. |last28=Richards |first28=Z. T. |last29=Rogers |first29=A. D. |last30=Sanciangco |first30=J. |last31=Sheppard |first31=A. |last32=Sheppard |first32=C. |last33=Smith |first33=J. |last34=Stuart |first34=S. |last35=Turak |first35=E. |last36=Veron |first36=J. E. N. |last37=Wallace |first37=C. |last38=Weil |first38=E. |last39=Wood |first39=E. |title=One-Third of Reef-Building Corals Face Elevated Extinction Risk from Climate Change and Local Impacts |journal=Science |volume=321 |issue=5888 |pages=560–3 |year=2008 |pmid=18653892 |doi=10.1126/science.1159196 |bibcode=2008Sci...321..560C |s2cid=206513451 }}</ref>  Conservation biology plays an important role in international agreements covering the world's oceans<ref name="ausSOE01" /> and other issues pertaining to [[biodiversity]].

{{quote box
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|source=J.B. Jackson<ref name="Jackson"/>{{Rp|11463}}
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The oceans are threatened by acidification due to an increase in CO<sub>2</sub> levels. This is a most serious threat to societies relying heavily upon oceanic [[natural resource]]s. A concern is that the majority of all [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] species will not be able to [[Evolution|evolve]] or [[acclimate]] in response to the changes in the ocean chemistry.<ref>The Royal Society. 2005. Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Policy document 12/05. {{ISBN|0-85403-617-2}} [http://royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.asp?id=13539 Download]</ref>

The prospects of averting mass extinction seems unlikely when "90% of all of the large (average approximately ≥50 kg), open ocean tuna, billfishes, and sharks in the ocean"<ref name="Jackson" /> are reportedly gone. Given the scientific review of current trends, the ocean is predicted to have few surviving [[multi-cellular organism]]s with only [[microbes]] left to dominate [[marine ecosystem]]s.<ref name="Jackson" />

=== Groups other than vertebrates ===

Serious concerns also being raised about [[Taxonomic rank|taxonomic groups]] that do not receive the same degree of social attention or attract funds as the vertebrates. These include [[fungus|fungal]] (including [[lichen]]-forming species),<ref name="fungal-conservation">{{cite web|url=http://www.fungal-conservation.org/blogs/orphans-of-rio.pdf |title=Orphans of Rio |publisher=fungal-conservation.org |access-date=2011-07-09}}</ref> invertebrate (particularly [[insect]]<ref name="Koh"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=JA |last2=Telfer |first2=MG |last3=Roy |first3=DB |last4=Preston |first4=CD |last5=Greenwood |first5=JJ |last6=Asher |first6=J |last7=Fox |first7=R |last8=Clarke |first8=RT |last9=Lawton |first9=JH |title=Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis |journal=Science |volume=303 |issue=5665 |pages=1879–81 |year=2004 |pmid=15031508 |doi=10.1126/science.1095046 |bibcode=2004Sci...303.1879T |s2cid=22863854 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dunn |first1=Robert R. |title=Modern Insect Extinctions, the Neglected Majority |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=19 |issue=4 |year=2005 |pages=1030–6 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00078.x |bibcode=2005ConBi..19.1030D |s2cid=38218672 }}</ref>) and [[plant]] [[Community (ecology)|communities]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mustajärvi |first1=Kaisa |last2=Siikamäki |first2=Pirkko |last3=Rytkönen |first3=Saara |last4=Lammi |first4=Antti |date=2001 |title=Consequences of plant population size and density for plant-pollinator interactions and plant performance: Plant-pollinator interactions |journal=Journal of Ecology |language=en |volume=89 |issue=1 |pages=80–87 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2745.2001.00521.x|s2cid=84923092 |doi-access=free }}</ref> where the vast majority of biodiversity is represented. Conservation of fungi and conservation of insects, in particular, are both of pivotal importance for conservation biology. As mycorrhizal symbionts, and as decomposers and recyclers, fungi are essential for sustainability of forests.<ref name="fungal-conservation" /> The value of insects in the [[biosphere]] is enormous because they outnumber all other living groups in measure of [[species richness]]. The greatest bulk of [[biomass]] on land is found in plants, which is sustained by insect relations. This great ecological value of insects is countered by a society that often reacts negatively toward these aesthetically 'unpleasant' creatures.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Edward O. |title=The Little Things That Run the world (The Importance and Conservation of Invertebrates) |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=1 |issue=4 |year=1987 |pages=344–6 |jstor=2386020 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.1987.tb00055.x |bibcode=1987ConBi...1..344W }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Samways |first1=Michael J. |title=Insects in biodiversity conservation: some perspectives and directives |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=2 |issue=3 |year=1993 |pages=258–82 |doi=10.1007/BF00056672 |bibcode=1993BiCon...2..258S |s2cid=43987366 }}</ref>

One area of concern in the insect world that has caught the public eye is the mysterious case of missing [[honey bee]]s (''Apis mellifera''). Honey bees provide an indispensable ecological services through their acts of pollination supporting a huge variety of agriculture crops. The use of honey and wax have become vastly used throughout the world.<ref>Society, National Geographic. "Honeybee." National Geographic. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 11 October 2016.</ref> The sudden disappearance of bees leaving empty hives or [[colony collapse disorder]] (CCD) is not uncommon. However, in 16-month period from 2006 through 2007, 29% of 577 [[beekeeper]]s across the United States reported CCD losses in up to 76% of their colonies. This sudden demographic loss in bee numbers is placing a strain on the agricultural sector. The cause behind the massive declines is puzzling scientists. [[Pest (organism)|Pests]], [[pesticide]]s, and [[global warming]] are all being considered as possible causes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Holden |first1=C. |title=Ecology: Report Warns of Looming Pollination Crisis in North America |journal=Science |volume=314 |issue=5798 |page=397 |year=2006 |pmid=17053115 |doi=10.1126/science.314.5798.397 |s2cid=30877553 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokstad |first1=E. |title=Entomology: The Case of the Empty Hives |journal=Science |volume=316 |issue=5827 |pages=970–2 |year=2007 |pmid=17510336 |doi=10.1126/science.316.5827.970 |s2cid=170560082 }}</ref>

Another highlight that links conservation biology to insects, forests, and climate change is the [[mountain pine beetle]] (''Dendroctonus ponderosae'') [[epidemic]] of [[British Columbia]], Canada, which has infested {{convert|470000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} of forested land since 1999.<ref name="Running08">{{cite journal |last1=Running |first1=S. W. |title=Climate Change: Ecosystem Disturbance, Carbon, and Climate |journal=Science |volume=321 |issue=5889 |pages=652–3 |year=2008 |pmid=18669853 |doi=10.1126/science.1159607 |s2cid=206513681 }}</ref> An action plan has been prepared by the Government of British Columbia to address this problem.<ref>{{cite web |title=British Columbia's Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan 2006-2011 |url=http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/mountain_pine_beetle/actionplan/2006/Beetle_Action_Plan.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419001655/https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/mountain_pine_beetle/actionplan/2006/Beetle_Action_Plan.pdf |archive-date=2013-04-19 |work=Province of British Columbia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mountain pine beetle |url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/forestry/managing-our-forest-resources/forest-health/forest-pests/bark-beetles/mountain-pine-beetle |work=Province of British Columbia |date=January 26, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221213155346/https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/forestry/managing-our-forest-resources/forest-health/forest-pests/bark-beetles/mountain-pine-beetle |archive-date= Dec 13, 2022 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|This impact [''pine beetle epidemic''] converted the forest from a small net [[carbon sink]] to a large net carbon source both during and immediately after the outbreak. In the worst year, the impacts resulting from the beetle outbreak in British Columbia were equivalent to 75% of the average annual direct forest fire emissions from all of Canada during 1959–1999.|Kurz ''et al''.<ref name="Kurz08">{{cite journal |last1=Kurz |first1=W. A. |last2=Dymond |first2=C. C. |last3=Stinson |first3=G. |last4=Rampley |first4=G. J. |last5=Neilson |first5=E. T. |last6=Carroll |first6=A. L. |last7=Ebata |first7=T. |last8=Safranyik |first8=L. |title=Mountain pine beetle and forest carbon feedback to climate change |journal=Nature |volume=452 |issue=7190 |pages=987–90 |year=2008 |pmid=18432244 |doi=10.1038/nature06777 |bibcode=2008Natur.452..987K |s2cid=205212545 }}</ref>}}

=== Conservation biology of parasites ===
{{Main|Conservation biology of parasites}}

A large proportion of parasite species are threatened by extinction. A few of them are being eradicated as pests of humans or domestic animals; however, most of them are harmless. Parasites also make up a significant amount of global biodiversity, given that they make up a large proportion of all species on earth,<ref name="Kwak 108696">{{Cite journal |last1=Kwak |first1=Mackenzie L. |last2=Heath |first2=Allen C. G. |last3=Cardoso |first3=Pedro |date=2020-08-01 |title=Methods for the assessment and conservation of threatened animal parasites |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320720307540 |journal=Biological Conservation |language=en |volume=248 |article-number=108696 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108696 |bibcode=2020BCons.24808696K |s2cid=225517357 |issn=0006-3207|url-access=subscription }}</ref> making them of increasingly prevalent conservation interest. Threats include the decline or fragmentation of host populations,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Riitters |first1=Kurt |last2=Wickham |first2=James |last3=O'Neill |first3=Robert |last4=Jones |first4=K. Bruce |last5=Smith |first5=Elizabeth |date=2000-09-29 |title=Global-Scale Patterns of Forest Fragmentation |url=https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol4/iss2/art3/ |journal=Conservation Ecology |language=en |volume=4 |issue=2 |doi=10.5751/ES-00209-040203 |issn=1195-5449|hdl=10535/3416 |hdl-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref> or the extinction of host species. Parasites are intricately woven into ecosystems and food webs, thereby occupying valuable roles in ecosystem structure and function.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carlson |first1=Colin J. |last2=Hopkins |first2=Skylar |last3=Bell |first3=Kayce C. |last4=Doña |first4=Jorge |last5=Godfrey |first5=Stephanie S. |last6=Kwak |first6=Mackenzie L. |last7=Lafferty |first7=Kevin D. |last8=Moir |first8=Melinda L. |last9=Speer |first9=Kelly A. |last10=Strona |first10=Giovanni |last11=Torchin |first11=Mark |last12=Wood |first12=Chelsea L. |date=October 2020 |title=A global parasite conservation plan |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006320719319937 |journal=Biological Conservation |language=en |volume=250 |article-number=108596 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108596|bibcode=2020BCons.25008596C |s2cid=225345547 |hdl=10919/102428 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Kwak 108696"/>

=== Threats to biodiversity ===
{{Main|Biodiversity threats}}

Today, many threats to biodiversity exist. An acronym that can be used to express the top threats of present-day H.I.P.P.O stands for Habitat Loss, Invasive Species, Pollution, Human Population, and Overharvesting.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog030/node/394|title=Threats to Biodiversity {{!}} GEOG 030: Geographic Perspectives on Sustainability and Human-Environment Systems, 2011|website=www.e-education.psu.edu|access-date=2016-10-07}}</ref> The primary threats to biodiversity are [[habitat destruction]] (such as [[deforestation]], [[agricultural expansion]], [[Urban planning|urban development]]), and [[overexploitation]] (such as [[wildlife trade]]).<ref name="Ehrlich" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Freckleton |first1=Rob |last2=Sodhi |first2=Navjot S. |last3=Bickford |first3=David |last4=Diesmos |first4=Arvin C. |last5=Lee |first5=Tien Ming |last6=Koh |first6=Lian Pin |last7=Brook |first7=Barry W. |last8=Sekercioglu |first8=Cagan H. |last9=Bradshaw |first9=Corey J. A. |title=Measuring the Meltdown: Drivers of Global Amphibian Extinction and Decline |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=3 |issue=2 |article-number=e1636 |year=2008 |pmid=18286193 |pmc=2238793 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0001636 |bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.1636S |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Longcore |first1=Travis |last2=Rich |first2=Catherine |s2cid=33259398 |title=Ecological light pollution |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment |volume=2 |issue=4 |year=2004 |pages=191–8 |jstor=3868314 |doi=10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0191:ELP]2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Asia's biodiversity vanishing into the marketplace |publisher=Wildlife Conservation Society |date=February 9, 2004 |url=http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Asias-biodiversity-vanishing-into-the-marketplace-2548-1/ |access-date=October 13, 2016 |archive-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823125652/http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Asias-biodiversity-vanishing-into-the-marketplace-2548-1/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Greatest threat to Asia's wildlife is hunting, scientists say |publisher=Wildlife Conservation Society |date=April 9, 2002 |url=http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Greatest-threat-to-Asias-wildlife-is-hunting--scientists-say-7889-1/ |access-date=October 13, 2016 |archive-date=July 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725080253/http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Greatest-threat-to-Asias-wildlife-is-hunting--scientists-say-7889-1/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Knozowski |first1=P. |last2=Górski |first2=A. |last3=Stawicka |first3=A. M. |last4=Nowakowski |first4=J. J. |date=2022-12-31 |title=Long-term changes in the diversity of amphibian communities inhabiting small water bodies in the urban area of Olsztyn (NE Poland) |journal=The European Zoological Journal |language=en |volume=89 |issue=1 |pages=791–812 |doi=10.1080/24750263.2022.2087773 |s2cid=250940055 |issn=2475-0263|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Habitat fragmentation]] also poses challenges, because the global network of protected areas only covers 11.5% of the Earth's surface.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rodrigues |first1=Ana S. L. |last2=Andelman |first2=Sandy J. |last3=Bakarr |first3=Mohamed I. |last4=Boitani |first4=Luigi |last5=Brooks |first5=Thomas M. |last6=Cowling |first6=Richard M. |last7=Fishpool |first7=Lincoln D. C. |last8=da Fonseca |first8=Gustavo A. B. |last9=Gaston |first9=Kevin J. |last10=Hoffmann |first10=Michael |last11=Long |first11=Janice S. |last12=Marquet |first12=Pablo A. |last13=Pilgrim |first13=John D. |last14=Pressey |first14=Robert L. |last15=Schipper |first15=Jan |last16=Sechrest |first16=Wes |last17=Stuart |first17=Simon N. |last18=Underhill |first18=Les G. |last19=Waller |first19=Robert W. |last20=Watts |first20=Matthew E. J. |last21=Yan |first21=Xie |title=Effectiveness of the global protected area network in representing species diversity |journal=Nature |volume=428 |issue=6983 |pages=640–3 |year=2004 |pmid=15071592 |doi=10.1038/nature02422 |bibcode=2004Natur.428..640R |s2cid=4320526 |url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1529/2/Rodrigues_et_al_2004.pdf }}</ref>  A significant consequence of fragmentation and lack of [[Wildlife corridor|linked protected areas]] is the reduction of animal migration on a global scale.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chapin III |first1=F. Stuart |last2=Zavaleta |first2=Erika S. |last3=Eviner |first3=Valerie T. |last4=Naylor |first4=Rosamond L. |last5=Vitousek |first5=Peter M. |last6=Reynolds |first6=Heather L. |last7=Hooper |first7=David U. |last8=Lavorel |first8=Sandra |last9=Sala |first9=Osvaldo E. |last10=Hobbie |first10=Sarah E. |last11=Mack |first11=Michelle C. |last12=Díaz |first12=Sandra |date=May 2000 |title=Consequences of changing biodiversity |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/35012241 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=405 |issue=6783 |pages=234–242 |doi=10.1038/35012241 |pmid=10821284 |issn=1476-4687|hdl=11336/37401 |hdl-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Considering that billions of tonnes of biomass are responsible for [[nutrient cycling]] across the earth, the reduction of migration is a serious matter for conservation biology.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wilcove |first1=David S |last2=Wikelski |first2=Martin |title=Going, Going, Gone: Is Animal Migration Disappearing |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=6 |issue=7 |article-number=e188 |year=2008 |pmid=18666834 |pmc=2486312 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0060188 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Becker |first1=C. G. |last2=Fonseca |first2=C. R. |last3=Haddad |first3=C. F. B. |last4=Batista |first4=R. F. |last5=Prado |first5=P. I. |title=Habitat Split and the Global Decline of Amphibians |journal=Science |volume=318 |issue=5857 |pages=1775–7 |year=2007 |pmid=18079402 |doi=10.1126/science.1149374 |bibcode=2007Sci...318.1775B |s2cid=22055213 }}</ref>

{{quote box
|Human activities are associated directly or indirectly with nearly every aspect of the current extinction spasm.
|Wake and Vredenburg<ref name="Wake08">{{cite journal |last1=Wake |first1=D. B. |last2=Vredenburg |first2=V. T. |title=Are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=105 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=11466–73 |year=2008 |pmid=18695221 |pmc=2556420 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0801921105 |bibcode=2008PNAS..10511466W |doi-access=free }}</ref>
|width=25%
|align=left}}

However, human activities need not necessarily cause irreparable harm to the biosphere. With [[Conservation management system|conservation management and planning]] for biodiversity at all levels, from [[gene]]s to ecosystems, there are examples where humans mutually coexist in a sustainable way with nature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmidt |first1=Gerald |year=2005 |title=Ecology & Anthropology: A Field Without Future? |journal=Ecological and Environmental Anthropology |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=13–5 |url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdmeea/33/ |oclc=729066337 }}</ref> Even with the current threats to biodiversity there are ways we can improve the current condition and start anew.

Many of the threats to biodiversity, including disease and climate change, are reaching inside borders of protected areas, leaving them 'not-so protected' (e.g. [[Yellowstone National Park]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McMenamin |first1=S. K. |last2=Hadly |first2=E. A. |last3=Wright |first3=C. K. |title=Climatic change and wetland desiccation cause amphibian decline in Yellowstone National Park |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=105 |issue=44 |pages=16988–93 |year=2008 |pmid=18955700 |pmc=2579365 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0809090105 |bibcode=2008PNAS..10516988M |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Climate change]], for example, is often cited as a serious threat in this regard, because there is a [[feedback loop]] between species extinction and the release of [[carbon dioxide]] into the [[atmosphere]].<ref name="Running08" /><ref name="Kurz08" /> Ecosystems store and [[Carbon cycle|cycle]] large amounts of carbon which regulates global conditions.<ref>{{cite book|title=Global climate change and life on earth|publisher=Routledge, Chapman and Hall|year=1991|isbn=978-0-412-02821-2|location=New York|author=Wyman, Richard L.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/globalclimatecha0000unse_i6d1}}</ref> In present day, there have been major climate shifts with temperature changes making survival of some species difficult.<ref name=":0" /> The [[effects of global warming]] add a catastrophic threat toward a mass extinction of global biological diversity.<ref name=":1" /> Numerous more species are predicted to face unprecedented levels of extinction risk due to population increase, climate change and economic development in the future.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tilman |first1=David |last2=Clark |first2=Michael |last3=Williams |first3=David R. |last4=Kimmel |first4=Kaitlin |last5=Polasky |first5=Stephen |last6=Packer |first6=Craig |date=2017 |title=Future threats to biodiversity and pathways to their prevention |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22900 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=546 |issue=7656 |pages=73–81 |doi=10.1038/nature22900 |pmid=28569796 |bibcode=2017Natur.546...73T |s2cid=4400396 |issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Conservationists have claimed that not all the species can be saved, and they have to decide which their efforts should be used to protect. This concept is known as the Conservation Triage.<ref name=":0" /> The extinction threat is estimated to range from 15 to 37 percent of all species by 2050,<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Chris D. |last2=Cameron |first2=Alison |last3=Green |first3=Rhys E. |last4=Bakkenes |first4=Michel |last5=Beaumont |first5=Linda J. |last6=Collingham |first6=Yvonne C. |last7=Erasmus |first7=Barend F. N. |last8=de Siqueira |first8=Marinez Ferreira |last9=Grainger |first9=Alan |last10=Hannah |first10=Lee |last11=Hughes |first11=Lesley |last12=Huntley |first12=Brian |last13=van Jaarsveld |first13=Albert S. |last14=Midgley |first14=Guy F. |last15=Miles |first15=Lera |last16=Ortega-Huerta |first16=Miguel A. |last17=Townsend Peterson |first17=A. |last18=Phillips |first18=Oliver L. |last19=Williams |first19=Stephen E. |title=Extinction risk from climate change |journal=Nature |volume=427 |issue=6970 |pages=145–8 |year=2004 |pmid=14712274 |doi=10.1038/nature02121 |bibcode=2004Natur.427..145T |s2cid=969382 |url=https://pure.qub.ac.uk/ws/files/733227/Thomas&Cameron_Extinctions_Cover&Article_Nature_2004.pdf}}
* {{cite magazine |author=John Roach |date=July 12, 2004 |title=By 2050 Warming to Doom Million Species, Study Says |magazine=National Geographic |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/01/0107_040107_extinction.html}}</ref> or 50 percent of all species over the next 50 years.<ref name="Koh" /> The current extinction rate is 100–100,000 times more rapid today than the last several billion years.<ref name=":0" />

{{clear}}

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* {{annotated link|Applied ecology}}
* {{annotated link|Bird observatory}}
* {{annotated link|Conservation-reliant species}}
* {{annotated link|Ecological extinction}}
* {{annotated link|Gene pool}}
* {{annotated link|Genetic erosion}}
* {{annotated link|Genetic pollution}}
* {{annotated link|In-situ conservation}}
* {{annotated link|Indigenous peoples#Environmental and economic benefits of the Indigenous stewardship of land|Indigenous peoples: environmental benefits}}
* {{annotated link|List of basic biology topics}}
* {{annotated link|List of biological websites}}
* {{annotated link|List of biology topics}}
* {{annotated link|List of nature conservation organizations|List of conservation organisations}}
* {{annotated link|List of conservation topics}}
* {{annotated link|Mutualisms and conservation}}
* {{annotated link|Natural environment}}
* {{annotated link|Nature conservation}}
* {{annotated link|Protected area}}
* {{annotated link|Regional Red List}}
* {{annotated link|Renewable resource}}
* {{annotated link|Restoration ecology}}
* {{annotated link|Tyranny of small decisions}}
* {{annotated link|Water conservation}}
* {{annotated link|Welfare biology}}
* {{annotated link|Wildlife disease}}
* {{annotated link|Wildlife management}}
* {{annotated link|World Conservation Monitoring Centre}}
* [[:Category:Nature conservation organizations by country]]
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
'''Scientific literature'''
* {{cite journal |last1=Bowen |first1=Brian W. |title=Preserving genes, species, or ecosystems? Healing the fractured foundations of conservation policy |journal=Molecular Ecology |volume=8 |issue=s1 |year=1999 |pages=S5–S10 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-294X.1999.00798.x |pmid=10703547 |bibcode=1999MolEc...8.....B |s2cid=33096004 }}
* {{cite journal |author1=Brooks T. M. |author2=Mittermeier R. A. |author3=Gerlach J. |author4=Hoffmann M. |author5=Lamoreux J. F. |author6=Mittermeier C. G. |author7=Pilgrim J. D. |author8=Rodrigues A. S. L. |year=2006 |title=Global Biodiversity Conservation Priorities |journal=Science |volume=313 |issue=5783|pages=58–61 |bibcode=2006Sci...313...58B |doi=10.1126/science.1127609 |pmid=16825561 |s2cid=5133902 }}
* {{cite journal |author1=Kareiva P. |author2=Marvier M. |year=2003 |title=Conserving Biodiversity Coldspots |url=http://www.nau.edu/~envsci/sisk/courses/env440/readings/Kareiva+et+al+2003+Am+Sci.pdf |journal=American Scientist |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=344–351 |doi=10.1511/2003.4.344 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906162035/http://www.nau.edu/~envsci/sisk/courses/env440/readings/Kareiva%20et%20al%202003%20Am%20Sci.pdf |archive-date=September 6, 2006 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Manlik |first1=Oliver |title=Reproductive Sciences in Animal Conservation |chapter=The Importance of Reproduction for the Conservation of Slow-Growing Animal Populations |volume=1200|year=2019 |pages=13–39 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-23633-5_2|pmid=31471793 |isbn=978-3-030-23633-5 |series=Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology |publisher= Springer |s2cid=201756810|editor1= Pierre Comizzoli|editor2= Janine L. Brown|editor3=William V. Holt}}
* {{cite journal |author=McCallum M. L. |year=2008 |title=Amphibian Decline or Extinction? Current Declines Dwarf Background Extinction Rate |url=https://www.herpconbio.org/~herpconb/McCallum/amphibian%20extinctions.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217133741/https://www.herpconbio.org/~herpconb/McCallum/amphibian%20extinctions.pdf |archive-date=2008-12-17 |journal=Journal of Herpetology |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=483–491 |doi=10.1670/0022-1511(2007)41[483:ADOECD]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=30162903 }}
* {{cite journal |author=McCallum M. L. |year=2015 |title=Vertebrate biodiversity losses point to a sixth mass extinction|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-015-0940-6?zanpid=20487846442748446727 |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=24 |issue=10 |pages=2497–2519 |doi=10.1007/s10531-015-0940-6 |bibcode=2015BiCon..24.2497M |s2cid=254285797 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10531-021-02140-8 |title=Turtle biodiversity losses suggest coming sixth mass extinction |date=2021 |last1=McCallum |first1=Malcolm L. |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=1257–1275 |bibcode=2021BiCon..30.1257M |s2cid=233903598 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Myers |first1=Norman |last2=Mittermeier |first2=Russell A. |last3=Mittermeier |first3=Cristina G. |last4=da Fonseca |first4=Gustavo A. B. |last5=Kent |first5=Jennifer |title=Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities |journal=Nature |volume=403 |issue=6772 |pages=853–8 |year=2000 |pmid=10706275 |doi=10.1038/35002501 |bibcode=2000Natur.403..853M |s2cid=4414279 }}
* {{cite journal |author1=Brooks T. M. |author2=Mittermeier R. A. |author3=Gerlach J. |author4=Hoffmann M. |author5=Lamoreux J. F. |author6=Mittermeier C. G. |author7=Pilgrim J. D. |author8=Rodrigues A. S. L. |year=2006 |title=Global Biodiversity Conservation Priorities |journal=Science |volume=313 |issue=5783|pages=58–61 |bibcode=2006Sci...313...58B |doi=10.1126/science.1127609 |pmid=16825561 |s2cid=5133902 }}
* {{cite journal |author1=Kareiva P. |author2=Marvier M. |year=2003 |title=Conserving Biodiversity Coldspots |url=http://www.nau.edu/~envsci/sisk/courses/env440/readings/Kareiva+et+al+2003+Am+Sci.pdf |journal=American Scientist |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=344–351 |doi=10.1511/2003.4.344 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906162035/http://www.nau.edu/~envsci/sisk/courses/env440/readings/Kareiva%20et%20al%202003%20Am%20Sci.pdf |archive-date=September 6, 2006 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Mccallum |first1=Malcolm L. |last2=Bury |first2=Gwendolyn W. |title=Google search patterns suggest declining interest in the environment |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=22 |issue=6–7 |year=2013 |pages=1355–67 |doi=10.1007/s10531-013-0476-6 |bibcode=2013BiCon..22.1355M |s2cid=15593201 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Myers |first1=Norman |last2=Mittermeier |first2=Russell A. |last3=Mittermeier |first3=Cristina G. |last4=da Fonseca |first4=Gustavo A. B. |last5=Kent |first5=Jennifer |title=Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities |journal=Nature |volume=403 |issue=6772 |pages=853–8 |year=2000 |pmid=10706275 |doi=10.1038/35002501 |bibcode=2000Natur.403..853M |s2cid=4414279 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Wake |first1=D. B. |last2=Vredenburg |first2=V. T. |title=Are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=105 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=11466–73 |year=2008 |pmid=18695221 |pmc=2556420 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0801921105 |bibcode=2008PNAS..10511466W |doi-access=free }}

'''Textbooks'''
* {{Cite book |author1=Groom, Martha J. |author2=Meffe, Gary K. |author3=Carroll, C. Ronald. |title=Principles of Conservation Biology |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland, Mass |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-87893-597-0 }}
* {{Cite book |editor=Norse, Elliott A. |editor2=Crowder, Larry B. |title=Marine conservation biology: the science of maintaining the sea's biodiversity |publisher=Island Press |location=Washington, DC |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-55963-662-9 }}
* {{Cite book |author=Primack, Richard B. |title=A primer of Conservation Biology |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland, Mass |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-87893-728-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/primerofconserva00rich }}
* {{Cite book |author=Primack, Richard B. |title=Essentials of Conservation Biology |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland, Mass |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-87893-720-2 }}
* {{Cite book |author1=Wilcox, Bruce A. |author2=Soulé, Michael E. |author3=Soulé, Michael E. |title=Conservation Biology: an evolutionary-ecological perspective |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunderland, Mass |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-87893-800-1 }}
* {{Cite book |author1=Kleiman, Devra G. |author2=Thompson, Katerina V. |author3=Baer, Charlotte Kirk |title=Wild Mammals in Captivity |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago, Illinois |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-226-44009-5}}
* {{cite book |author1=Scheldeman, X. |author2=van Zonneveld, M. |year=2010 |title=Training Manual on Spatial Analysis of Plant Diversity and Distribution |publisher=Bioversity International |url=http://www.bioversityinternational.org/training/training_materials/gis_manual.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927164904/http://www.bioversityinternational.org/training/training_materials/gis_manual.html |archive-date=2011-09-27 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Sodhi, Navjot S.   |author2=Ehrlich, Paul R. |year=2010 |title= Conservation biology for all |publisher= Oxford University Press |url=  http://www.mongabay.com/conservation-biology-for-all.html}} A free textbook for download.
* {{cite book |author= Sutherland, W. |editor1-first=William J |editor1-last=Sutherland |editor2-first=Lynn V |editor2-last=Dicks |editor3-first=Nancy |editor3-last=Ockendon |editor4-first=Rebecca K |editor4-last=Smith |year=2015 |title= What Works in Conservation |publisher= Open Book Publishers |doi=10.11647/OBP.0060 |isbn=978-1-78374-157-1 |url=  http://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/347/what-works-in-conservation|display-authors=etal |doi-access=free }} A free textbook for download.

'''General non-fiction'''
* {{Cite book |last=Christy |first=Bryan |title=The Lizard King: The true crimes and passions of the world's greatest reptile smugglers |publisher=Twelve |location=New York |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-446-58095-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/lizardkingtruecr00chri }}
* {{cite web |last=Nijhuis |first=Michelle |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/conservationists-triage-determine-which-endangered-species-to-save/ |title=Conservationists use triage to determine which species to save and not: Like battlefield medics, conservationists are being forced to explicitly apply triage to determine which creatures to save and which to let go |date=July 23, 2012 |work=Scientific American |access-date=2017-05-07}}

'''Periodicals'''
* ''Animal Conservation'' [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291469-1795]
* ''[[Biological Conservation (journal)|Biological Conservation]]''
* ''Conservation'' [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291936-6779], a quarterly magazine of the [[Society for Conservation Biology]]
* ''[[Conservation and Society]]''
* ''[[Conservation Biology (journal)|Conservation Biology]]'', a [[peer-reviewed]] [[Academic journal|journal]] of the [[Society for Conservation Biology]]
* ''[[Conservation Letters]]''
* ''[[Diversity and Distributions]]''
* ''[[Ecology and Society]]''

'''Training manuals'''
* {{Cite book |author1=White, James Emery |author2=Kapoor-Vijay, Promila |title=Conservation biology: a training manual for biological diversity and genetic resources |publisher=Commonwealth Science Council, Commonwealth Secretariat |location=London |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-85092-392-6 }}

== External links ==
* [https://consbio.org/ Conservation Biology Institute (CBI)]
* [https://www.unep-wcmc.org/ United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)]
* [https://www.amnh.org/research/center-for-biodiversity-conservation The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation] – American Museum of Natural History
* {{cite SEP |url-id=conservation-biology |title=Conservation Biology |last=Sarkar |first=Sahotra}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060909070826/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-59 Dictionary of the History of Ideas]
* [http://www.conservationevidence.com Conservationevidence.com] – Free access to conservation studies

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