Biol 367: Lecture 1: Why Conservation Biology Exists as a Discipline

What are soules 5 organizational values?

1. Biological Diversity had intrinsic value

2. The untimely extinction of species should be prevented

3. The diversity of species and complexity of biological communities should be preserved

4. Science plays a critical role in understanding and ecosystem

5. Collaboration among scientists and policy makers is necessary

What are the 6 central tenents of the scientific method?

1. Pose significant questions that can be investigated empirically

2. Link research to relevant theory

3. Use methods that permit direct investigation of the question

4. Provide a coherent and explicit chain of reasoning

5. Replicate and generalize across studies

6. Disclose research to encourage professional scrutiny and critique

What does normative mean?

establishing, relating to or deriving from a standard or norm, especially of behaviour

How is science normative?

Science necessarily employs creative processes

→ Strives to use them with logic, objectivity and transparency

What are the three main goals of conservation biology as a normative discipline?

1. Document biodiversity

2. Understand human impacts on it

3. Prevents its loss

How do human values shape conservation efforts?

Human values are variable and dynamic and significantly shape conservation efforts

What shared assumptions are conservation biology based on?

1. Biological diversity is good

2. Unnatural extinction is bad

3. Ecological complexity is good

4. Continued evolution is good

5. Biological diversity has intrinsic value beyond what it provides to humans

How is conservation biology based on responsibility and not permanance?

• Conservation biology rests on explicit beliefs

• These beliefs are not scientifically provable, but they are inescapable in conservation decision making

• Conservation problems are shaped by human beliefs, ethics, culture, religion and power

• Determining what matters, or why it matters is hard

• Conservation debates are ultimately about time scales, responsibility and moral obligation