Conserving Living Natural Resources
In the Context of a Changing World

Essential reading for undergraduate students of conservation biology and living natural resource management.

Bertie Josephson Weddell (Author)

9780521782708, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 14 March 2002

444 pages, 55 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.82 kg

'… I enjoyed the book and I would certainly recommend it as an introductory text to US students, and perhaps to other students wanting a general introduction to US resource management.' Andrew Pullin, University of Birmingham

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.

Preface
Introduction: balance and flux
Methodology: getting the information we need to manage living natural resources
Part I. Management to Maximize 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 conflicts 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 after World War II
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
Postscript
Appendix: scientific names of organisms mentioned in the text
Index.

Subject Areas: Conservation of wildlife & habitats [RNKH], Conservation of the environment [RNK], Environmental management [RNF], Applied ecology [RNC], Ecological science, the Biosphere [PSAF]