Effective Conservation Science: Data Not Dogma

by Peter Kareiva, Michelle Marvier, Brian Silliman

Overview

This novel text assembles some of the most intriguing voices in modern conservation biology. Collectively they highlight many of the most challenging questions being asked in conservation science today, each of which will benefit from new experiments, new data, and new analyses. The book's principal aim is to inspire readers to tackle these uncomfortable issues head-on. A second goal is to be reflective and consider how the field has reacted to challenges to orthodoxy, and to what extent have or can these challenges advance conservation science. Furthermore, several chapters discuss how to guard against confirmation bias. The overall goal is that this book will lead to greater conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity by harnessing the engine of constructive scientific scepticism in service of better results.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198808985
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/12/2017
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Peter Kareiva, Pritzker Distinguished Professor and IOES Director, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IOES), USA,Michelle Marvier, Professor, Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Santa Clara University, USA,Brian Silliman, Rachel Carson Associate Professor of Marine Conservation Biology, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, USA

Peter Kareiva has taught at multiple universities (including Brown, University of Washington, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford, UCLA, Santa Clara University and University of Virginia). He has worked as a private consultant and led a NOAA research group at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center on Conservation Biology. He spent over ten years as a Lead, and then Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. With Michelle Marvier he has co-authored a textbook in conservation science. He now directs an interdisciplinary program in Environmental Science at UCLA, where an emphasis is placed on the importance of narratives in promoting environmental values.


Michelle Marvier is a professor of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Santa Clara University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz and was a NSF postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington. Michelle has worked for NOAA Fisheries on salmon conservation and has applied evidence-based risk analysis to understand the environmental impacts of genetically engineered crops. She has published over 40 articles, and she currently serves on the editorial board of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. With Peter Kareiva, Michelle coauthored the textbook, Conservation Science: Balancing the Needs of People and Nature.

Brian Silliman is the Rachel Carson Associate Professor of Marine Conservation Biology at Duke University. He was named a Smith Conservation Fellow in 2004, a Visiting Professor with the Royal Netherlands Society of Sciences in 2011, and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2016. He has also received a Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Naturalists (2006) and NSF Career Grant Award (2011). Dr. Silliman has published two co-edited books and over 130 journal articles. His teaching and research are focused on community ecology, conservation and restoration, and ecological consequences of positive interactions.

Table of Contents

Reproducibility, bias, and objectivity in conservation science
1. Uncomfortable questions and inconvenient data in conservation science, Peter Kareiva and Michelle Marvier
2. The thin ice of simplicity in environmental and conservation assessments, Moana McClellan and Ian Davies
Challenges to foundational premises in conservation
3. The value of ecosystem services: What is the evidence?, Linus Blomqvist and R. David Simpson
4. Are local losses of biodiversity causing degraded ecosystem function?, Mark Vellend
5. Forty years of bias in habitat fragmentation research, Lenore Fahrig
6. Introduced species are not always the enemy of conservation, Martin A. Schlaepfer
7. Novel ecosystems: Can't we just pretend they're not there?, Richard J. Hobbs
8. What is the evidence for planetary tipping points?, Barry W. Brook, Erle C. Ellis, and Jessie C. Buettel
9. Adaptability: As important in conservation organizations as it is in species, Paul R. Armsworth, Eric R. Larson, and Alison G. Boyer
10. Food webs with humans: In name only?, Emma Fuller
Iconic conservation tales: Sorting truth from fiction
11. Global agricultural expansion - The sky isn't falling (yet), Jonathan R. B. Fisher
12. A good story: Media bias in trophic cascade research in Yellowstone National Park, Emma Marris
13. From Silent Spring to the Frog of War: the forgotten role of natural history in conservation science, David K. Skelly
14. How a mistaken ecological narrative could be undermining orangutan conservation, Erik Meijaard
15. Fealty to symbolism is no way to save salmon, Peter Kareiva and Valerie Carranza
16. Genetically-modified crops: Frankenfood or environmental boon?, Michelle Marvier
17. When "sustainable" fishing isn't, Kristin N. Marshall and Phillip S. Levin
18. Science communication is receiving a lot of attention, but we are not getting much better at it, Yuta J. Masuda and Tim Scharks
Questioning accepted strategies and interventions
19. Overfishing: can we provide food from the sea and protect biodiversity?, Ray Hilborn
20. Rehabilitating sea otters: feeling good versus being effective, James A. Estes and M. Tim Tinker
21. Planning for climate change without climate projections?, Joshua J. Lawler and Julia Michalak
22. Is 'no net loss of biodiversity' a good idea?, Martine Maron
23. Replacing underperforming nature reserves, Richard A. Fuller and James E. M. Watson
24. Conservation in the real world: Pragmatism does not equal surrender, Joseph M. Kiesecker, Kei Sochi, Jeff Evans, Michael Heiner, Christina M. Kennedy, and James R. Oakleaf
25. Are payments for ecosystem services benefiting ecosystems and people?, Paul J. Ferraro
26. Corporations valuing nature: It's not all about the win-wins, Jennifer L. Molnar
27. Business as usual leads to underperformance in coastal restoration, Brian Silliman, Brent B. Hughes, Y. Stacy Zhang, Qiang He
Conclusion
28. If you remember anything from this book, remember this..., Brian Silliman and Stephanie Wear

Editorial Reviews

"[Effective conservation science] can serve as a compilation of representative criticisms in this high-profile and controversial field of research. Recommended." — CHOICE

"The book tackles the philosophical and scientific issues that have divided the field of conservation biology in recent years." —Keith Kloor, Slate

From the Publisher