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Introduction to Conservation Biology

Introduction to Conservation Biology. What is Conservation Biology?. a new, synthetic field that applies the principles of ecology, biogeography, population genetics, economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy. What do Conservation Biologists Do?.

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Introduction to Conservation Biology

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  1. Introduction to Conservation Biology

  2. What is Conservation Biology? a new, synthetic field that applies the principles of ecology, biogeography, population genetics, economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy.

  3. What do Conservation Biologists Do? • Conservation biologists strive to preserve diversity among genes, populations, species, habitats, ecosystems, and landscapes, and the processes carried out by them.

  4. Characteristics of the Discipline • reactive rather than proactive • views nature as having inherent value • academic bias • recognizes the contributions that need to be made by nonscientists

  5. The Crisis • Global Human Population ~5.7 billion • Growing at 95 million/year or 260,000/day

  6. Sustainability & Overpopulation • Sustainability is unattainable with the current overpopulation problem • $16,000/year- average income in developed nations (1.2 billion people) • $900/year- average income in undeveloped nations (4.4 billion)

  7. Evidence of Growth • 7 infants born each second • 4 people die each second • 1 in 5 infants in the world are malnourished

  8. Results of Overpopulation • Urban growth and decay • Resource depletion • Joblessness • Homelessness • Violence and genocide • Loss of freedoms • Unequal distribution of wealth

  9. Reasons for Optimism • Some countries are slowing their population growth rates. • Environmental destruction is due mostly to where people live and what resources they consume. • Birth rates are high where there are strong economic incentives for large families.

  10. Human Population Growth Can Be Humanely Controlled • gender equity • access to education • equitable distribution of rural income • rural economies based on other than exploitation of natural resources

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