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2 Nicholas School of the Environment and Department of Zoology, Duke University Marine Laboratory, 135 Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516–9721, U.S.A., email lcrowder@mail.duke.edu

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... Conservation science can be rhetorically easy to dismiss if such values are not named and accounted for as objectively as possible. In one of the seminal papers on conservation ethics, Callicott et al. (2000) created a conceptual model of normative concepts in conservation. They divided these normative concepts into two normative paradigms along a continuum from compositionalist to functionalist values. ...
... This thesis strongly emphasizes compositionalist conservation norms (Callicott, Crowder & Mumford, 2000;Ladle & Whittaker, 2011, pp. 31-32) and places the greatest weight on preserving and protecting biota native to a given region. ...
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The core premise of the Anthropocene is that we have unintentionally altered the earth so much that we have entered a new geological period. One of the most concerning of these unintentional consequences is the widespread movement of species across continents. This movement is causing natural communities to become simpler and more self-similar, a process called biotic homogenization. This thesis explores how much biotic homogenization is occurring and could occur in the future within the flora of the San Juan Island archipelago of Washington State, which is a hotspot of floristic diversity. This thesis addresses five main questions 1) what proportion of the flora are alien species, 2) are rare species disproportionately impacted by alien species, 3) what factors influence the number and distribution of alien species, 4) how much biotic homogenization could occur in the future, and 5) is biotic homogenization occurring now? Currently, alien species comprise between 38 and 47% of the San Juan Island flora, and most alien species present are invasive in other parts of the United States. Invasive species are most common in meadow habitats which also have the greatest number of rare and imperiled species. The most important factors determining the frequency of alien species are residence time, invasiveness, island size, and how impacted the island is by human development. In addition, because most of the alien flora has recently arrived, the future flora could become up to 20% more similar by 2079. Finally, current evidence suggests the most diverse small meadow islands are rapidly losing native species and being mostly colonized by alien species. The synergistic impacts of invasive annual grass, introduced Canada geese, and over-abundant black-tailed deer are hastening this change. However, each island is changing uniquely, currently causing no directional change towards homogenization or differentiation.
... Callicott et al. (1999) proposed a dichotomous approach in which biological integrity or "compositionalism" is the conservation baseline for natural reserves, while ecosystem health or "functionalism" is followed in human inhabited or exploited areas. This approach has since been criticized (Callicott et al. 2000;Hunter 2000;Willers 2000). Hunter (2000) pointed to the importance of human modified ecosystems, e.g. ...
... Hunter (2000) pointed to the importance of human modified ecosystems, e.g. managed forests, and argued the integrity baseline to most adequate for these, a notion which was accepted by Callicott et al. (2000). ...
... conservation biology, epitomizing a long intellectual tradition in conservation biology of focusing on wilderness, wild species in natural ecosystems -a philosophical approach termed by Callicott et al. (2000) as compositionalism, in which human impact fall outside the sphere of interest or even ignite rejection to biodiversity thriving in human-dominated systems (Riascos et al., 2020). Recognizing that the future of some threatened species may be defined beyond the boundaries of parks and reserves is an uncomfortable truth that emphasized the long-established need to address conservation in human-dominated systems (see Robinson, 2006). ...
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Land use changes are heralded as a major driver of biodiversity loss. However, recent findings show that cities, perhaps the most radical habitat transformation, sustain increasing numbers of threatened species. This emerging trend has been mostly chronicled for vertebrates from landlocked cities, although loss of biodiversity and rates or urbanization are higher in coastal marine systems. To advance our understanding on how threatened species may conquer human‐dominated systems, we studied the threatened edible crab Cardisoma guanhumi and assessed how it is proliferating in croplands and urban systems at different spatial scales and whether populations show consequences of long‐term exploitation. We gathered the data on crab populations covering the whole distribution range, including three countries reporting this as a threatened species. The abundance, distribution, and size structure of crab populations among different land uses at local scales were compared and published data for populations thriving in different habitats throughout their distribution range were compiled. We found that at local scale this species is able to thrive in natural and human‐disturbed habitats, where food sources are heavily altered. At larger scales, the species showed no differences in abundance and size structure among natural and anthropogenic habitats. In areas near the southern distribution edge, crab populations were more abundant and composed of larger animals in urban areas and croplands than those in natural habitats, suggesting that human‐disturbed systems are stepping stones to extend the geographic range. However, we found a long‐term reduction in maximum body size, exacerbated by land use changes, that likely reflects exploitation regimes consistently targeting larger crabs. Despite its status as a threatened species, the long history of human exploitation combined with livestock farming practices may explain the proliferation of this crab in human‐dominated systems, which emphasize the need to consider conservation in human‐dominated systems.
... If, for example, joint forest management becomes the new order of the day for foresters, then the danger exists that local people will be coerced into forming groups simply to meet quotas (Sarin 2001). Yet this spread of ideas and concepts is also an inevitable part of any transformation process (Callicott et al. 2000 ). Just because some groups are captured by the wealthy or run by government staff with only passive participation does not mean that all groups are flawed. ...
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The knowledge and values of local communities are now being acknowledged as valuable for biodiversity conservation. Relationships of trust, reciprocity and exchange, common rules, norms and sanctions, and connectedness in groups are what make up social capital, which is a necessary resource for shaping individual action to achieve positive biodiversity outcomes. Agricultural and rural conservation programs address biodiversity at three levels: agrobiodiversity on farms, nearby nature in landscapes, and protected areas. Recent initiatives that have sought to build social capital have shown that rural people can improve their understanding of biodiversity and agroecological relationships at the same time as they develop new social rules, norms, and institutions. This process of social learning helps new ideas to spread and can lead to positive biodiversity outcomes over large areas. New ideas spread more rapidly where there is high social capital. There remain many practical and policy difficulties, however, not least regarding the need to invest in social capital formation and the many unresolved questions of how the state views communities empowered to make their own decisions. Nonetheless, attention to the value of social relations, in the form of trust, reciprocal arrangements, locally developed rules, norms and sanctions, and emergent institutions, has clearly been shown to deliver a biodiversity dividend in many contexts. This suggests a need to blend both the biological and social elements of conservation.
... If, for example, joint forest management becomes the new order of the day for foresters, then the danger exists that local people will be coerced into forming groups simply to meet quotas (Sarin 2001). Yet this spread of ideas and concepts is also an inevitable part of any transformation process (Callicott et al. 2000). Just because some groups are captured by the wealthy or run by government staff with only passive participation does not mean that all groups are flawed. ...
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For as long as people have managed natural resources, they have engaged in collective action. But development assistance has paid too little attention to how social and human capital affects environmental outcomes. Social capital comprises relations of trust, reciprocity, common rules, norms and sanctions, and connectedness in institutions. Recent years have seen remarkable advances in group formation, with in the past decade some 408,000–478,000 groups emerging with 8.2–14.3 million members in watershed, irrigation, microfinance, forest, and integrated pest management, and for farmers' research. A new typology describes the evolution of groups through three stages, and indicates what kinds of policy support are needed to safeguard and spread achievements.
... The low weight on species rights contrasts with the strong emphasis on this topic in recent literature on environmental philosophy and conservation biology (for example Ayers 1986;Callicott et al. 2000). The abatement measures related to the six environmental themes did not show one-to-one correspondence with end-points like preservation of large carnivore species, endangered species, or holistic end-points related to land ethics (for example Leopold 1949). ...
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Implementation of measures to protect and improve the environment requires knowledge about people's preferences, both to ensure economic means and to gain public support for the measures. Since environmental legislation and protection measures become increasingly cross-national, knowledge of benefit perception among people across countries is important. This study addresses the aggregated preferences of environmentally-concerned individuals in France, USA, Norway, Russia, China and Spain. The aggregated preferences in all groups showed emphasis on pollution issues (rank I out of six issues in all six countries). The groups were least concerned with animal rights, which here included the right for top predators like tigers and wolf to roam the wilderness in a way that may cause statistical fatalities (rank 4-6). The group's concern for pollution decreased with the buying power of the country to which they belonged (r(2) = 0.967). Also, agreement among the individuals in the groups tended to be less when the buying power was large (r(2) = 0.940). The study shows that benefits accrued in one country may not have the same weight in another country, in particular if countries have different economic development status. It also suggests that efforts to preserve species diversity may require other types of public motivation than efforts to reduce pollution or to use non-renewable resources.
... This approach more explicitly recognized that human influence on the world is pervasive (Vitousek et al. 1986;Sanderson et al. 2002b), and has generated concepts such as ecosystem health, ecological sustainability, and sustainable development. Functionalism, when taken to the extreme, considers all anthropogenic modification of ecosystems as natural as any other change, no matter how massive and destructive (Callicott 1990, Callicott et al. 2000b. In this vision, wilderness is no more than a matter of degree, and humans are a natural part of nature. ...
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In the 20 years since Conservation Biology was launched with the aim of disseminating scientific knowledge to help conserve biodiversity and the natural world, our discipline has hugely influenced the practice of conservation. But we have had less impact outside the profession itself and we have not transformed that practice into an enterprise large enough to achieve our conservation goals. As we look to the next 20 years, we need to become more relevant and important to the societies in which we live. To do so, the discipline of conservation biology must generate answers even when full scientific knowledge is lacking, structure scientific research around polices and debates that influence what we value as conservationists, go beyond the certitude of the biological sciences into the more contextual debates of the social sciences, engage scientifically with human-dominated landscapes, and address the question of how conservation can contribute to the improvement of human livelihoods and the quality of human life.
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The concept of naturalness in biodiversity conservation remains polysemic, hampering decision‐making. Although some conservationists claim ecosystem naturalness should be primarily determined by composition (integrity), others argue it should be determined by the extent of freedom from anthropogenic influence (autonomy). Problems arise when deciding how to treat affected ecosystems. Although the integrity school promotes benchmark‐based active restoration, the autonomy school advocates a hands‐off policy, making these 2 approaches contradictory. Moreover, expected global changes have promoted advocacy for ecosystem resilience, further complicating the debate. We argue that autonomy, integrity, and resilience are all morally valid. The conflict between them is contained by recognizing that full naturalness is an unattainable goal; restoration and rewilding processes are not an act of curation, but a contrary‐to‐duty obligation; principle pluralism can accommodate integrity, resilience, and autonomy as pro tanto principles in a case‐specific approach; and naturalness, as an overarching value, gives unity to the plurality of principles.
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The ultimate purpose of conservation science is to inform and affect conservation policy. Therefore, conservation biologists and all the people who produce, review, and apply conservation research should evaluate the success of their knowledge according to its ability to influence conservation decisions. In addition to possessing conventional “scientific” attributes such as validity, generalizability, and precision, conservation knowledge must also possess qualities that make it effective in the political arena of decision making. “Public ecology” is a philosophy and practice of conservation science that goes beyond biology and beyond the norms of modern science to construct knowledge that is useful for environmental decision making. As post-normal conservation science, public ecology is defined by the following six attributes: evaluative, contextual, multiscalar, integrative, adaptive, and accessible. We discuss the need for a more public ecology and describe the qualites that make it a more powerful ecology.
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Aldo Leopold's classic work A Sand County Almanac is widely regarded as one of the most influential conservation books of all time. In it, Leopold sets forth an eloquent plea for the development of a "land ethic" -- a belief that humans have a duty to interact with the soils, waters, plants, and animals that collectively comprise "the land" in ways that ensure their well-being and survival.For the Health of the Land, a new collection of rare and previously unpublished essays by Leopold, builds on that vision of ethical land use and develops the concept of "land health" and the practical measures landowners can take to sustain it. The writings are vintage Leopold -- clear, sensible, and provocative, sometimes humorous, often lyrical, and always inspiring. Joining them together are a wisdom and a passion that transcend the time and place of the author's life.The book offers a series of forty short pieces, arranged in seasonal "almanac" form, along with longer essays, arranged chronologically, which show the development of Leopold's approach to managing private lands for conservation ends. The final essay is a never before published work, left in pencil draft at his death, which proposes the concept of land health as an organizing principle for conservation. Also featured is an introduction by noted Leopold scholars J. Baird Callicott and Eric T. Freyfogle that provides a brief biography of Leopold and places the essays in the context of his life and work, and an afterword by conservation biologist Stanley A. Temple that comments on Leopold's ideas from the perspective of modern wildlife management.The book's conservation message and practical ideas are as relevant today as they were when first written over fifty years ago. For the Health of the Land represents a stunning new addition to the literary legacy of Aldo Leopold.