Overview of Conservation Biology
Conservation Biology is the application of science to conserve the earth's imperiled species and ecosystems. The field is a relatively young one that is growing rapidly in response to the biodiversity crisis, perhaps the most critical environmental issue of our time. Conservation biologists view all of nature's diversity as important and having inherent value. This diversity spans the biological hierarchy and includes variation at the level of genes, populations, communities, ecosystems, and biomes.
A focus on biological diversity and an intrinsic valuation of nature is what distinguishes conservation biology from wildlife management (with its somewhat more utilitarian perspective) and from general environmental biology (with a broad focus on environmental issues). The work of conservation biologists must crosscut disciplines to integrate biological perspectives with social, economic, and political ones to achieve conservation goals.
The program is an integrated and international one that includes four components described on the pages linked below.
