Conserving Living Natural Resources - In the Context of a Changing World

Hardcover  442 pages 55 line diagrams 55 figures  ISBN 0521782708      £70.00

Softcover  442 pages 55 line diagrams 55 figures  ISBN 0521788129      £28.00

Conserving Living Natural Resources is an introductory textbook for students of conservation biology and resource management. It presents the historical and conceptual contexts of three seminal approaches to the management of living natural resources: utilitarian management for harvest of featured species and control of unwanted species, protection and restoration of populations and habitats to maintain biodiversity, and management of complex ecosystems to sustain both productivity and biodiversity. The book shows how the first two approaches were grounded in the belief that nature is €in balance€ and that people are outsiders, and then goes on to show how the €flux-of-nature€ paradigm suggests new strategies for conservation grounded in a view of nature as dynamic, and people as participants in the natural world. Rather than endorsing a single approach as the only correct one, this book investigates the historical and philosophical contexts, conceptual frameworks, principal techniques, and the limitations of each approach.

Contents

Introduction - different approaches to managing renewable natural resources; Preface - getting the information we need to manage living natural resources; Part I. Management to Maximise Production of Featured Species - A Utilitarian Approach to Conservation: 1. Historical context - the commodification of resources and the foundations of utilitarian resource management; 2. Central concepts - population growth and interactions between populations; 3. Central concepts - habitats; 4. Techniques - harvest management; 5. Techniques - habitat management; 6. Techniques - management to minimize conflict between pest species and people; Part II. Protection and Restoration of Populations and Habitats - A Preservationist Approach to Conservation: 7. Historical context - the rise of environmental concerns; 8. Central concepts - the causes of extinction; 9. Techniques - protecting and restoring species; 10. Techniques - protecting and restoring ecosystems; Part III. Management to Maintain Processes and Structures - A Sustainable-Ecosystem Approach to Conservation: 11. Historical context - pressures to move beyond protection of species and reserves; 12. Central concepts - the flux of nature; 13. Techniques - conserving processes and contexts; 14. Techniques - including people in the conservation process; Appendix - major types of ecosystems; Conclusions.