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Geodiversity and Geoconservation:
What, Why, and How?
Murray Gray
Introduction
JUST 100 MILES NORTH OF PHILADELPHIA, the location of the 2005 George Wright Society
conference, and straddling Interstate Highway 476, the Northeast Extension of the Pennsyl-
vania Turnpike, lies Hickory Run State Park. Through this protected area runs the outer
limit of the last ice-sheet to flow southwards into the USA about 20,000 years ago. As a
result, the park displays two very different landscape types that in turn have produced two
distinctive sets of wildlife habitat.
The George Wright Forum4
Geodiversity &
Geoconservation
: .
The undulating nature of the western
part of the park reflects the glacial deposi-
tion associated with the end moraine of the
ice-sheet and the valley erosion associated
with glacial meltwater rivers. The eastern
part of the park is higher and was not cov-
ered by the ice, but was affected by
periglacial processes. These included the
frost disturbance of rock outcrops, the frost
weathering of boulders, and the downslope
movement of these boulders to accumulate
in the famous Hickory Run Boulder Field, a
National Natural Landmark and State Park
Natural Area (Figure 1).
On the glaciated western side of the
park, the end moraine is dominated by thin
and moist soils, evergreen trees, and sphag-
num moss bogs. Blackburnian warbler, red-
breasted nuthatch, and northern water
thrush inhabit this area, and in the spring
spotted and Jefferson salamanders and
wood frogs flock to the bogs to breed. On
the other hand, the unglaciated eastern side
of the park is dominated by beech and
chestnut oak trees inhabited by the Ameri-
can redstart, red-eyed vireo, and Louisiana
water thrush (Commonwealth of Pennsyl-
vania 2004).
Hickory Run State Park therefore illus-
trates how the geological evolution of a
landscape has produced a diversity of land-
forms and materials that in turn have pro-
vided a range of habitats in which biodiver-
sity has evolved. We do not have to think
too hard to understand that Hickory Run is
only one example of these types of relation-
ships. For example, think of the range of
physical habitats within any one of the large
Alaskan national parks, such as Denali,
Glacier Bay, or Wrangell–St. Elias.And then
contrast these glaciated mountain parks
with others such as Hawaii Volcanoes,
Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, and
Death Valley, and add in any national sea-
shore and national river. This issue of The
George Wright Forum contains papers out-
lining in detail several other examples illus-
trating similar physical/biological relation-
ships. From this and other studies across
the world, it can be argued that the Earth’s
biodiversity is largely due to the diversity of
the geological world (geodiversity), and that
for land management to be fully effective a
holistic understanding and approach is nec-
essary.
What is geodiversity?
“Geodiversity” can be defined simply as
“the natural range (diversity) of geological
(rocks, minerals, fossils), geomorphological
(land form, physical processes) and soil fea-
tures. It includes their assemblages, rela-
tionships, properties, interpretations and
systems” (Gray 2004:8). The term first
appears in articles from Tasmania, Aus-
tralia, in the mid-1990s (Sharples 1993;
Dixon 1995; Kiernan 1996) and it is no
coincidence that this immediately followed
the adoption by many countries of the U.N.
Convention on Biodiversity at the Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Tas-
manian geoscientists realized that there are
many parallels between biological diversity
and diversity in the abiotic world.Using the
terms “biodiversity” and “geodiversity”
helps to indicate that nature consists of two
equal components, living and non-living,
and which, taken together, could help to
promote a more holistic approach to nature
conservation than the traditional biocentric
focus.
Subsequently, the use of the term “geo-
diversity” has spread, particularly in Aus-
tralia, where it is an integral part of the Aus-
tralian Natural Heritage Charter (Australian
Heritage Commission 1996, 2002), in
Geodiversity & Geoconservation
Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 5
Figure 1. Hickory Run National Natural Landmark. Note the graffiti on some stones. Photo courtesy of the author
Scandinavia (Johansson 2000), and in the
United Kingdom (Gray 2004),where sever-
al local geodiversity action plans (LGAPs)
mirror their biological equivalents (LBAPs)
and where a report titled State of Nature—
Geodiversity has been published (English
Nature 2005). However, the term has yet to
be adopted in the USA.
Geological diversity is illustrated by the
5,000 or so minerals known to exist in the
world, some of which are very rare and
could easily be lost. These diverse minerals,
when combined with other factors, such as
crystal or particle size, shape,and structure,
create thousands of different named rock
types. About a million fossil species have
been identified, but probably millions more
await discovery. There are 19,000 named
soil series in the USA alone (Brady and Weil
2002). Less easily classified are landforms
and topography. Some landform names,
such as canyons, end moraines, and arches,
are used widely, but much of the Earth’s
surface form does not fall neatly into a
named landform category. There are also
many commonly used names for physical
processes, e.g., coastal erosion, landsliding,
and glacial abrasion, but,when examined in
detail, these processes become increasingly
complex. Given the above brief discussion,
the conclusion must be that there is as
much geodiversity in the world as biodiver-
sity.
Why should we conserve geodiversity?
Geodiversity ought to be conserved for
two reasons. First, geodiversity is valuable
and valued in a large number of ways, and
second, it is threatened by a huge variety of
human activities. It is a measure of a civi-
lized and sophisticated society that it
should want to conserve elements of the
planet that are both valued and threatened
(Gray 2004).
Values. Table 1 gives a summary of over
30 recognizable values of geodiversity with
examples where appropriated from protect-
ed areas in the USA. These could be
referred to as “geosystem services” to indi-
cate equivalence with the common ap-
proach of ecosystem services often used to
justify wildlife conservation. Many of them
are included in the classification of intangi-
ble values given by Harmon and Putney
(2003) and Harmon (2004), though here
we focus specifically on the values of geodi-
versity.
Intrinsic or existence values are those
associated with things simply for what they
are rather than what they can be used for by
humans (utilitarian values). There is a
large philosophical and ethical discussion
on this topic in the literature, and interested
readers are referred to,for example, Attfield
(1999) and Beckerman and Pasek (2001).
Cultural values may originate from folk-
lore associated with the origin of rock for-
mations or landforms. For example, the col-
umnar jointing of the Devils Tower Na-
tional Monument in Wyoming is reputed to
be the claw marks of a giant grizzly bear try-
ing to reach a group of people on the sum-
mit. Cultural values are also associated with
links between rock sites and archaeology.
Obvious examples here are the Alibates
Flint Quarries, Canyon de Chelly, Gila Cliff
Dwellings, and Petroglyph National Monu-
ments. Similarly, some geological features
may have spiritual value. Examples include
the sacred vision quest sites of North
American Indians, such as Chief Mountain
within Glacier National Park, Montana
(Gulliford 2000) or the nearby Writing-on-
Stone Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada.
Many other present-day societies also feel a
strong bond with their physical surround-
Geodiversity & Geoconservation
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Geodiversity & Geoconservation
Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 7
Intrinsic Value
1. Intrinsic value
Abiotic nature free of human valuations
Cultural Value
2. Folklore
Devils Tower NM; Sleeping Bear Dunes
NL
3. Archaeological/Historical
Alibates Flint Quarries NM; Petroglyph
NM
4. Spiritual
Chief Mountain, Glacier NP
5. Sense of Place
John Muir at Yosemite
Aesthetic Value
6. Local Landscapes
Sea views; sound of waves; touch of sand
7. Geotourism
Grand Canyon NP; Yellowstone, NP
8. Leisure Activities
Rock climbing; caving; skiing; hiking
9. Remote Appreciation
Nature in magazines and TV
10. Voluntary Activities
Footpath construction; mine restoration
11. Artistic Inspiration
Moran & Jackson at Yellowstone
Economic Value
12. Energy
Coal; oil; gas; peat; uranium
13. Industrial Minerals
Potash; fluorspar, rock salt; kaolinite
14. Metallic Minerals
Iron, copper; chromium; zinc; tin; gold
15. Construction Minerals
Stone, aggregate; limestone; bitumen
16. Gemstones
Diamond; sapphire; emerald, onyx; agate
17. Fossils
Tyrannosaurus “Sue”; fossil & mineral
shops
18. Soil
Food production; wine; timber; fiber
Functional Value
19. Platforms
Building and infrastructure on land
20. Storage & Recycling
Carbon in peat and soil; oil traps; aquifers
21. Health
Nutrients & minerals; therapeutic
landscapes
22. Burial
Human burial; nuclear waste chambers
23. Pollution Control
Soil and rock as water filters
24. Water chemistry
Mineral water; whisky; beer
25. Soil functions
Agriculture; horticulture; viticulture;
forestry
26. Geosystem functions
Operation of fluvial, coastal, glacial
processes
27. Ecosystem functions
Habitats and biodiversity
Scientific Value
28. Geoscience Research
History of Earth; evolution; geoprocesses
29. History of Research
Early identification of unconformities,
etc.
30. Environmental
Monitoring
Climate change; sea-level change;
pollution
31. Education & Training
Field studies; professional training
Table 1. Summary of geodiversity values with some examples.
ings, allowing local inhabitants to develop a
sense of place. John Muir developed a
famously strong relationship with Yosemite,
and today the parks are “a lifelong source of
awe” for many (Pritchard 1995:xvi).
Aesthetic values relate to the valued
impact on the senses instilled by many pro-
tected areas. John Muir (1901:56) invited
us to “climb the mountains and get the
good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into
you as sunshine flows into trees.” Today
tourists are drawn to the stunning scenery
of Glacier Bay, the grandeur of the Grand
Canyon, the geothermal wonders of Yellow-
stone, or the rock colors of Zion. Geo-
tourism is at least as popular as ecotourism.
We also use the physical landscape for
recreational activities. Skiing, rock climb-
ing, caving, canyoneering, whitewater raft-
ing, glacier hiking, all require specific land-
scapes or geological environments. Many
valued landscapes have inspired painters,
sculptors, poets, and musicians to create
important works. Harmon (2004) notes the
contribution of the landscape painter
Thomas Moran and the photographer
William Henry Jackson in bringing the sce-
nic wonders of Yellowstone to the attention
of the U.S.Congress and the general public.
Economic values of geodiversity include
fuels such as coal, gasoline, and uranium;
industrial minerals such as limestone, gyp-
sum, and phosphates; metallic minerals;
gemstones; and construction minerals such
as building stone, aggregate, sand, clay, and
bitumen. Most of these are non-renewable
resources and their use and limits ought to
be better understood than they are. Oil is an
obvious example, leading to debates over
the need for oil exploration in Alaska’s
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Functional values include geosystem
services of subsurface rocks as stores of
water, oil, and gas; as burial sites for nuclear
waste and potentially for carbon dioxide;
and as filters for water as it moves down-
wards to the water table. Soils are vital for
agriculture, viticulture,and forestry, and are
an important source of minerals vital for
health, such as magnesium, zinc, calcium,
selenium, and chromium. River channels
perform the function of transporting water
and sediment from land towards the sea and
their capacity is adjusted to stream dis-
charge. Beaches and sand dunes act to pro-
tect the coastline and inland low ground
from coastal flooding. Many of these physi-
cal systems are in dynamic equilibrium and
their continued functioning is vital to envi-
ronmental systems. As outlined in the intro-
duction, the physical environment also
plays a huge role in providing diverse envi-
ronments, habitats, and substrates that cre-
ate and nurture biological diversity.
Finally, the physical world also provides
opportunities for research and education.
Research has given us a huge amount of
knowledge about the history of the planet,
the processes that shape it, the way in which
climates have changed, and the evolution of
life through time. It is important that the
physical evidence for further research is
conserved and to ensure that further studies
and opportunities to train and educate pro-
fessional geoscientists, university students,
schools, and the general public are not lost.
Threats. Butcher and Butcher (1995)
included a long discussion on threats to the
U.S. national parks. These threats included
dams and diversions, water pollution, geot-
hermal drilling, air pollution, noise pollu-
tion, urban impacts both within or adjacent
to parks, excessive numbers of cars, visitor
use impacts, a science shortfall, and an “et
cetera” category that included the impact of
concession structures and operations, inap-
Geodiversity & Geoconservation
The George Wright Forum8
propriate recreational activities, and poach-
ing.
These and other threats continue to
have an impact of the georesources of the
parks. River and coastal engineering works
disrupt the operation of natural geomor-
phological processes. Leaching of polluted
agricultural, mine, or sewage water contin-
ues to affect a number of parks. The threat
of geothermal resource exploitation in Ida-
ho on the Yellowstone system is still a con-
cern. Urban impacts and car numbers have
continued to increase and are a serious
threat to several parks, as are visitor and
recreational pressures, such as rock climb-
ing at Devils Tower National Monument in
Wyoming. And unauthorized fossil collect-
ing is a continuing concern (Santucci
1999).
These human impacts may result in loss
of, or damage to,important rocks, minerals,
or fossils, remodelling of natural topogra-
phy, loss of access or visibility, interruption
of natural processes, pollution, or visual
impacts. Figure 1 illustrates the problem of
graffiti on the national natural landmark
boulder field at Hickory Run.
As touched upon above, the sensitivity
and vulnerability of georesources vary.
“Sensitivity” refers to how easily features
can be damaged. Some features, such as
many cave deposits,are highly sensitive and
very easily damaged even by merely walking
on or touching them (Gray 2004). Others
are much more robust with much higher
thresholds of energy required to damage or
remove them, and some can repair them-
selves, such as footprints on a beach which
are removed by the next high tide. “Vul-
nerability” refers to the likelihood of dam-
age given public access or lack of it. Obvi-
ously the greatest threats are to highly sensi-
tive and vulnerable features and systems.
How should we conserve geodiversity?
Different elements of geodiversity need
to be protected and managed in different
ways. Table 2 is a possible general scheme.
It distinguishes between rare and common
occurrences since it is argued that geodiver-
sity, and indeed the environment in general,
should be respected both within and
beyond protected areas. With these aims in
mind we can then consider the detailed
approaches required to meet the aims.
Clearly, creating a protected area with
the supporting legislation and penalties is
one approach but does not guarantee pro-
tection due to infringement of regulations
or changes in political attitudes or funding.
Fines are rarely substantial enough to deter
commercial collectors. One of the most
secure methods is to physically restrain vis-
itors from reaching sensitive sites by fencing
or even by placing them within specially
constructed buildings. For example, the
remaining easily accessible petrified tree at
Yellowstone National Park is surrounded
by a high fence to prevent illegal collecting
(Figure 2). In other places at Yellowstone,
boardwalks and fences encourage visitors
not to stray onto delicate formations. At
Craters of the Moon National Monument in
Idaho, notices inform visitors that they are
not permitted to stray from the paths
because of the easily cracked lava surface. If
we are dealing with rare fossils, minerals, or
rocks, an effective means of protecting is
burial in situ or removal and curation in a
museum. This is often the approach taken
with dinosaur and other fossils. A third
effective way of conserving nature is for a
nature conservation charity to buy sites
with the remit of retaining them for their
nature conservation value in perpetuity. An
example is The Nature Conservancy, which
owns Egg Mountain in Montana, famous
Geodiversity & Geoconservation
Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 9
for its Maiasaur dinosaur finds (Horner and
Dobb 1997).
Education has an important role to play
in helping to conserve features. At Devils
Tower National Monument, a climbing
management plan has been introduced to
monitor climbing impacts, educate
climbers, retain rock faces that are currently
free of bolts, and investigate whether some
bolt holes can be repaired. Interpretation
boards, leaflets, and trails can carry educa-
tional messages about nature conservation
interests and the correct behavior in con-
serving them, as can ranger-led talks and
walks.
Part of conservation should also include
adequate scientific documentation about
the geological interest of protected areas,
promotion of further research as necessary,
and a conservation management plan that is
regularly updated. The latter should
include a program for monitoring the con-
Geodiversity & Geoconservation
The George Wright Forum10
Category
Occurrence
Geoconservation Management Objective
Rock
Rare
Maintain integrity of outcrop and subcrop. Remove
samples for curation.
Common
Maintain exposure and encourage responsible
collecting and curation.
Mineral
Rare
Maintain integrity of outcrop and subcrop. Remove
samples for curation.
Common
Maintain exposure and encourage responsible
collecting and curation.
Fossils
Rare
Wherever possible, preserve in situ. Otherwise
remove for curation.
Common
Encourage responsible collecting and curation.
Landforms
Maintain integrity of landforms and restore/encourage
authentic contouring.
Landscape
Maintain contribution of topography, rock outcrops
and active processes to landscape and
restore/encourage authentic contouring.
Processes
Maintain and restore integrity of operation.
Soils
Maintain soil quality, quantity and function.
Other
georesources
Encourage sustainable use, and value that use in
historic and modern contexts
Table 2. Geoconservation aims for the eight elements of geodiversity.
dition of geoheritage assets within the pro-
tected area and an enhancement and res-
toration program to upgrade facilities and
repair damage. The U.S. National Park Ser-
vice’s abandoned mineral lands program is
an example of the latter, and successful land
restoration schemes have been carried out
at Redwood and Joshua Tree National
Parks in California. Land management in
general should aim to retain the integrity of
landforms, landscapes, and active process-
es, and restore them authentically where
possible.
Conclusions
Geoconservation should be driven by
the need to conserve geodiversity, given its
value and the real and potential threats to it.
Without geodiversity there would be little
biodiversity, and an integrated approach to
nature conservation and sustainable land
management ought to be obvious. Too
many nature conservation organizations
and objectives are riddled with institutional
biocentrism. But geoconservation is at last
being taken more seriously because it is
impossible to have a sensible land manage-
ment strategy that ignores the physical
aspects of the environment, e.g., topogra-
phy, soils, and physical processes.The con-
cept of geodiversity provides a fundamental
basis for geoconservation and deserves to
be more widely adopted in North America.
I hope this volume of The George Wright
Forum helps to stimulate interest in and
debate on these new ideas.
Acknowledgments
I am very grateful to Bob Higgins and
Vince Santucci for inviting me to partici-
pate in the 2005 GWS conference and for
their encouragement to develop and apply
the concept of geodiversity. Matthew Ben-
nett, Cynthia Burek, Lars Erikstad, and
Jonathan Larwood kindly helped develop
Table 2.
Geodiversity & Geoconservation
Volume 22 • Number 3 (2005) 11
Figure 2. Fencing to protect a remaining petrified tree at
Yellowstone National Park. Photo courtesy of the author
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Murray Gray, Department of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End
Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom; j.m.gray@qmul.ac.uk
Geodiversity & Geoconservation
The George Wright Forum12
