Book description
Following the much acclaimed success of the first volume of Key
Topics in Conservation Biology, this entirely new second volume
addresses an innovative array of key topics in contemporary
conservation biology. Written by an internationally renowned team of
authors, Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2 adds to the still
topical foundations laid in the first volume (published in 2007) by
exploring a further 25 cutting-edge issues in modern biodiversity
conservation, including controversial subjects such as setting
conservation priorities, balancing the focus on species and
ecosystems, and financial mechanisms to value biodiversity and pay for
its conservation. Other chapters, setting the framework for
conservation, address the sociology and philosophy of peoples'
relation with Nature and its impact on health, and such challenging
practical issues as wildlife trade and conflict between people and
carnivores. As a new development, this second volume of Key Topics
includes chapters on major ecosystems, such as forests, islands and
both fresh and marine waters, along with case studies of the
conservation of major taxa: plants, butterflies, birds and mammals. A
further selection of topics consider how to safeguard the future
through monitoring, reserve planning, corridors and connectivity,
together with approaches to reintroduction and re-wilding, along with
managing wildlife disease. A final chapter, by the editors,
synthesises thinking on the relationship between biodiversity
conservation and human development.
Each topic is explored by a team of top international experts,
assembled to bring their own cross-cutting knowledge to a penetrating
synthesis of the issues from both theoretical and practical perspectives.
The interdisciplinary nature of biodiversity conservation is
reflected throughout the book. Each essay examines the fundamental
principles of the topic, the methodologies involved and, crucially,
the human dimension. In this way, Key Topics in Conservation Biology
2, like its sister volume, Key Topics in Conservation Biology,
embraces issues from cutting-edge ecological science to policy,
environmental economics, governance, ethics, and the practical issues
of implementation.
Key Topics in Conservation Biology 2 will, like its sister
volume, be a valuable resource in universities and colleges,
government departments, and conservation agencies. It is aimed
particularly at senior undergraduate and graduate students in
conservation biology and wildlife management and wider ecological and
environmental subjects, and those taking Masters degrees in any field
relevant to conservation and the environment. Conservation
practitioners, policy-makers, and the wider general public eager to
understand more about important environmental issues will also find
this book invaluable.
David W. Macdonald CBE FRSE is Professor of Wildlife
Conservation at the University of Oxford. Founder and Director of
Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), and a Fellow
of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. In addition to his conservation
research, he is heavily involved in the practice and policy of
conservation, and is also known through his films and books on wildlife.
Katherine J. Willis is the Tasso Leventis Professor of
Biodiversity at the University of Oxford, Director of the Oxford
Martin School Biodiversity Institute (BIO) in the Department of
Zoology, and a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. She is also an
adjunct Professor in Biology at the University of Bergen, Norway. Her
work within the Biodiversity Institute falls under three key research
areas: biodiversity beyond protected areas; ecological and
evolutionary processes responsible for biodiversity; and biodiversity
technologies. She is also heavily involved in the development of
smartphone and web-based decision support tools to facilitate the
transfer of knowledge on biodiversity science and ecosystem services
into conservation, management and policy.
