Biodiversity: Concept, Measurement, and Management

Abstract

Biodiversity refers to the structural and functional variety of life at genetic, population, community, and ecosystem levels. Biodiversity is the core value of conservation biology, and preventing biodiversity loss is the discipline's mission. Such loss is a systemic outcome of human use and occupancy of land and disruptions of ecological processes. Various systemic strategies of protection including direct legislation, regulation of trade in endangered species, and establishment of protected areas for endangered species have had significant but incomplete success. Protection-oriented approaches employ systematic prioritization of sites by treating site-specific threat of loss, ecological uniqueness, and opportunity for acquisition as primary determinants of priority. In contrast, management-oriented approaches emphasize maintenance of gene flow, creation of resources for habitat and niche specialization, and maintaining effective population sizes.