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The Species in Conservation

The Species in Conservation. Taxonomy- the science of classification. Why define species?. Species are the focus of legislation: Endangered Species Act (ESA) Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Species Concepts Are Vague.

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The Species in Conservation

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  1. The Species in Conservation

  2. Taxonomy- the science of classification

  3. Why define species? Species are the focus of legislation: • Endangered Species Act (ESA) • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

  4. Species Concepts Are Vague • a species is difficult to define biologically • The biological world is a continuum of organization…What exactly is an individual?

  5. Typological -vs- Populational Perspectives • Typological- categorical entities; morphologically distinct; immutable creations • Populational- focuses on variation within species as a basis of evolutionary change

  6. Biological Species Concept groups of actually or potentially interbreeding populations that are reproductively isolated from other such populations

  7. Phylogenetic Species Concept • based on shared derived characters (synapomorphies) • Cladistics- phylogeneticsystematics • would result in the recognition of more species than at present and perhaps greater recognition of populational diversity.

  8. Evolutionary Species Concept a single lineage of ancestral descendant populations of organisms that maintain an identity distinct from other such lineages

  9. Ecological Species Concept • …a lineage that occupies an adaptive zone different from that of other lineages.

  10. Implications of Species Concepts on Conservation • The critical evolutionary and ecologically functional unit is the population. • Semi-isolated populations may play different functional roles in different systems. • A species level focus does not address habitat and ecosystem loss.

  11. Wilson, E.O. 1992. The diversity of life. Harvard University Press. A species is a population whose members are able to interbreed freely under natural conditions. Subspecies are individuals occupying a particular part of the species range, with genes and natural history distinct from those of other subspecies

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