Integration of Species and Ecosystem Approaches to Conservation

Summary

The division between ecosystem and population ecologists is old, wide, and deep. This schism includes differences in values, history, culture, training, jargon, questions, interests, scale, methods, politics, and prejudices. As more ecologists become involved in conservation, these two contrasting perspectives sometimes produce conflicting conservation priorities. However, conserving ecosystem function while allowing the widespread extinction of species is as unacceptable as preserving species in zoos while allowing the widespread destruction of ecosystems. Species-specific traits are critical to ecosystem processes, and ecosystem processes are critical to population dynamics and natural selection. The successful development of the theoretical basis of conservation will require the integration of population and ecosystem ecology. In practical conservation, theoretical disagreement often gives way to empirical agreement, especially when the usual social, political, and economic constraints are encountered. Furthermore, conservation of spatially heterogeneous, temporally variable, historically contingent species and ecosystems demands context-specific approaches. We propose that ecologists increase efforts to integrate population and ecosystem ecology in the development of the theoretical basis of conservation and use the full range of ecological knowledge and methods to develop the best solutions to specific environmental problems, regardless of subdiscipline. Current differences between population and ecosystem ecologists are minuscule within the broader public discussion of conservation and we should not allow our theoretical or scientific debates to be misused by opponents of conservation, misinterpreted by the press, or misunderstood by the public.

This chapter is based on a discussion session held during the Cary Conference. Pringle and Strayer led the discussion and Tartowski took notes.