Abstract
What is the function of a nature reserve? Intuitively it is for the protection of nature, but should this be aimed at particular species inhabiting the reserve or at the communities occurring in the reserve? If the species are being considered, then they need to be counted and named. The total species list will then need to be classified, deciding which set of species are typical of the habitat, which are the rare species, etc. If the communities are the aim, then they can be reasonably stable (a deciduous woodland remaining a deciduous woodland, for example) although some of the component species may change. In community-based conservation, the aim is usually to preserve the greatest ecological diversity, often equated to species-richness in the conservation literature.
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Usher, M.B. (1991). Habitat structure and the design of nature reserves. In: Bell, S.S., McCoy, E.D., Mushinsky, H.R. (eds) Habitat Structure. Population and Community Biology Series, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3076-9_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3076-9_18
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