These standards outline the central principles of conservation biology. They are intended to serve as guides for developing conservation curricula at all levels, from K-12 through continuing education programs for conservation professionals and for the general public. These different groups, however, will necessarily require different degrees of depth and precision; curricula intended to present the knowledge, skills, or attitudes for any of these principles should be tailored for the target audience.
This is a working document under development by the Education Committee of the Society for Conservation Biology. We welcome feedback. Please send comments to Steve Trombulak at trombulak@middlebury.edu.
Biological diversity can be measured most simply in terms of the number of species. More accurate measures consider the differences between some things being rare and other being abundant. Biological diversity can be measured at any level from alleles to domains.
Be able to show the contribution of rare species to simple counts of species diversity. When confronted with two examples of communities with the same numbers of species, but different abundances, be able to discuss the differences in biodiversity and identify the community whose diversity is more vulnerable to stochastic events.
Recognize that preserving Biological diversity requires attention to rare species.
Ecological integrity can be measured in terms of the composition, structure, and function of the native species in an ecosystem compared to what their condition would be in the absence of human modification.
For an ecosystem, be able to identify appropriate measures of ecological integrity and, for each measure, reasonable sources of information on their reference (e.g., "healthy") condition.
Recognize that preserving ecological integrity requires attention to all levels in the ecological hierarchy and to all three ecological dimensions. This requires consideration not only of the species and natural communities, but also of ecological processes and responsiveness to change over time.
Ecological health refers to the capacity of an ecosystem to maintain its organization and autonomy over time and be resilient to stress. It can be measured in terms of vigor (e.g., primary productivity), organization (e.g., number of interactions between components), and resilience (e.g., tendency to return to similar trophic relations).
Be able to diagnose the health of a real or hypothetical ecosystem, recognizing that the diagnosis may sometimes be contentious because health is a fuzzy concept.
Recognize that sustaining ecological health requires managing disturbance, both in terms of minimizing novel disturbance and allowing natural disturbance.
Values systems determine how we view nature, how we view human effects on the environment, and how we view degradation of ecological diversity, integrity, and health..
Be able to compare the continuum of different views of the value of nature (e.g., from the view that nature has its own absolute right to existence to the view that nature exists solely for use by humans, with many shades in between). Discuss how different activities perceived as “pro nature” may or may not have an impact on loss of biological diversity.
Recognize that a person’s view of nature is based in her or his value system. Conflicts often exist between beliefs about nature and impact of individual activities because there are complex connections (a) between an individual’s decisions and his or her environmental impacts and (b) between environmental impacts and the extinction of species.
People value ecological diversity for a variety of reasons that go beyond the merely utilitarian. These include spiritual, psychological, and esthetic.
Be able to discuss several endangered species that are controversial. Identify why the species is valuable to those who want to protect it. Discuss whether those who do not want to protect it believe it is not valuable, or believe other values outweigh the value of the species.
Recognize that ecological diversity, integrity, and health are of value to everyone. The difficulties for protecting them lie in the conflicts between protection and other activities that humans value.
Ecological diversity, integrity, and health provide direct economic benefits to society in the form of diffuse services provided by ecosystems.
Be able to give examples of direct economical benefits of nature (e.g., new plant compounds used to make drugs, disease-resistant trees that survive an outbreak). Give examples of diffuse ecosystem services provided by nature (e.g., microbial diversity in soil supporting more rapid tree growth).
Recognize that society is harmed by the loss of ecological diversity, integrity, and health, sometimes in ways that are not immediately obvious, e.g., emerging infectious disease.
There are an immense and often unmeasured variety of living organisms on Earth. These organisms can be grouped by degree of evolutionary relatedness to one another. There is a hierarchy (taxonomic hierarchy) in the organization of these groups by relatedness from evolutionarily significant units through species and on up through higher levels of organization.
Be able to identify major groups of plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates and describe the general relatedness between them.
Recognize the characteristics we share with other living things and how we have more in common with those groups that are more closely related to our own.
There are a variety of definitions for species, but in general a species is considered to be a group of organisms that can actually or potentially interbreed with one another, or that share common traits and common descent.
Be able to discuss the differences between species and subspecies using examples from among a variety of types of organisms. Be able to discuss the difficulties in applying the species concept in every case.
Recognize that the identity of a species may change, and that such changes reflect our developing understanding of evolutionary relationships.
There is a hierarchy in the organization of life (ecological hierarchy) from genes, sub-populations (neighborhoods), populations, metapopulations, communities, ecosystems, and landscapes.
Be able to identify these hierarchical levels in one's own location and in other locations.
Recognize the influence that a member of one hierarchical level can have on the variety in the levels above and below it. For example, if a sub-population dies out, some genes may be lost and it may decrease the variety of individuals in the population as a whole.
The size of a population depends on the trade-off between the tendency to grow exponentially and the limitations imposed by resources, natural enemies, and environmental factors.
Be able to draw and interpret a graph of population size (N, on the vertical axis) over time (t, on the horizontal axis) for real and theoretical (e.g., exponential, logistic) populations. Be able to detect trends and assess the risk of extinction.
Recognize that resources are finite—when one population uses them to fuel exponential growth, they are not available for others. Human populations cannot grow exponentially forever.
Each species has a distribution determined by evolutionary history, environmental factors (e.g., temperature, soil, rainfall) and historical events (e.g., colonization, extinction).
Examine distributions of several closely related species on a map and note the absence of complete overlap of any species.
Recognize that the presence of every species in a given location is subject to change if those factors that make the location suitable change.
The composition of a community depends on the population growth processes of its constituent populations and on interactions across species boundaries (e.g., symbiosis, competition, and herbivory/ parasitism/ predation).
For one location, compare the distribution of animal species with dominant plant species and note the lack of concordance. Compare the distributions of plant species at different points in time (e.g., based on pollen records) and note that the shifts are not coordinated.
Be aware that the natural communities we recognize are continually shifting and changing as each individual species changes its distribution in response to changes in environmental factors.
Natural systems are constantly changing and are unpredictable over long periods of time. This applies equally to populations and communities. The accuracy of predictions decreases as the length of time over which the predictions are made increases.
Be able to provide examples of stochastic effects on populations, including catastrophes, environmental stochasticity, demographic stochasticity, and genetic stochasticity.
Recognize that our predictions of the state of populations or communities in the future are made with varying degrees of certainty.
Recognize that human–caused stochastic changes are a distinct phenomenon superimposed on natural stochasticity.
Extinction is the long-term expectation for all populations. Natural extinction comes from stochastic events operating over long time periods.
Be able to contrast (a) the general patterns of background extinction in the fossil record with (b) patterns of mass extinction in the fossil record when there have been likely catastrophes.
Recognize that although there are periods of greater and lesser extinction rates, the overall rate is a very slow one.
In the prehistoric and historic past, arrival of humans to new areas led to extinctions of other species.
Be aware of extinctions that followed human colonization of Madagascar, Easter Island, Hawaii, or other islands. Understand the cumulative impacts of direct exploitation for food, modification of vegetation by clearing forests or agriculture, and introducing domestic species in these extinctions.
Recognize that human societies tend to drive other species extinct by exploiting them for food or by altering their habitats.
The magnitude of human effects on other species depends on the magnitude and location of human activities.
Be able to compare the spatial scale and frequency of human activities in different ecosystems (e.g., deserts, rainforests, coral reefs). Discuss the ability of different communities and species in these ecosystems to recover from the impacts.
Recognize that human impacts can never be completely reversed, but they can be modified if care is taken in the spatial scale and frequency of the impacts.
The pattern of extinctions of species we observe today is unprecedented in human history and in the historical record. These extinctions erode ecological diversity with permanent consequences.
Be able to compare background extinction rates (based on paleontological records and historical records) to current rates. Be able to extrapolate extinction rates among known species to undescribed species. Compare current extinction rates to the rates of generation of new species.
Recognize that species are currently going extinct at such a rapid rate they cannot be replaced by evolution for millions of years. View those that persist as the raw material for future evolution.
The major kinds of human activities that lead to extinction are habitat loss (including outright destruction, contamination, and introduction of exotics) and over–exploitation. Different species become extinct due to different human activities.
Be able to give examples of modern extinctions due to each of the following factors: environmental contamination, over-exploitation, introduced species, and habitat loss. Give examples of cases for each of these types where a species has neared extinction and activities have been undertaken to preserve it. Evaluate which kinds of human activities are the most easily reversed, and which are most difficult.
Recognize that many human activities will need to be limited in order to preserve unintended effects on ecological diversity. Some human activities, particularly species introductions and habitat loss, may be difficult or impossible to reverse.
Fossil fuel use during the past century has resulted in an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The increased presence of these greenhouse gases in the environment has already resulted in an increase in global-average temperature over the last century that is greater than any century in the past 1000 years. The effects of continued increases in greenhouse gas concentrations will continue to affect climate for centuries.
Ability to distinguish between local temperature increases from global-average temperature increases. Understand that apparently small changes in global-average temperature result in much larger regional and seasonal temperature changes. Understand that as regional and seasonal temperatures and rainfall patterns change, species ranges will also change, old communities and ecosystems will collapse, extinctions will increase for species that cannot adjust their range, and new, more depauperate communities may form.
Recognize that climate change will not only have dire consequences for plant and animal species, but also for the human species. Recognize that there is little that can be done to completely halt the progress of these climate changes, but that we can reduce the magnitude of the changes by changing our resource consumption behaviors.
Degradation of ecological diversity, integrity, and health at one level impacts ecological diversity, integrity, and health at other levels.
Understand that the loss of genetic diversity represented in only a few subpopulations may limit the ability of the whole population to adapt to new conditions.
Discuss the effect of keystone species in maintaining community structure, and evaluate the effect of extinction of a keystone species.
Give an example of a new species becoming dominant when its competitor goes extinct.
Recognize that the relationships among species that make up a community are often unknown. The magnitude of the negative effect of extinction of a species on the community and ecosystem usually can not be predicted.
Humans have dramatically modified the present-day conditions of most ecosystems--terrestrial and aquatic--from their previous conditions.
Be able to describe what a local ecosystem might be like if humans had not already modified it. Give examples of activities that humans do that modify ecosystems (e.g. controlling water, fire, logging, and cultivation).
Recognize that humans as individuals and societies make value–based choices about how much to modify the natural state of ecosystems and that these choices have determined and continue to determine the condition and composition of the world in which we live.
People’s sense of “normal” ecological diversity, integrity and health are based on what they have experienced. As ecological diversity, integrity and health continue to decline, each generation views the new lower level as “normal,” and this affects value judgements that people make.
Be able to discuss the history of ecological diversity, integrity, and health in one's own location. Know the names of the extirpated species, and identify the species that may have replaced them. Describe how the structure and function of populations and communities have been altered.
Realize that because of degradation of ecological diversity, integrity, and health, the world we know is one dominated by the species and processes that human presence favors. We soon forget about what has been lost.
Single-species protection activities focus on identifying the factors that led to the decline in the number of individuals in the species and remediating those factors. As such, it is subject to stochastic error in predicting what a population will do in the future, and error in identifying the factors that have led to the decline.
Be familiar with the major recovery actions of some species–specific recovery plans (e.g., protection of old–growth forest tracts for Northern Spotted Owls).
Be familiar with the laws in one's own region that protect endangered species.
Recognize that recovery of a species from near-extinction is difficult and expensive. Decisions must be made in a climate of uncertainty about how much intervention will be enough. Community– and ecosystem–level conservation planning may be a more effective alternative.
Ecological reserve systems are sets of natural areas that are managed in such a way that their primary function is to protect a species or group of species from extinction and to promote natural ecological and evolutionary processes. Such reserves must be designed to include enough area for the target species to be viable with limited human intervention and for natural processes to occur.
Be able to describe a reserve system in your area and the factors that went in to its design. Evaluate whether the system is likely to function well if average temperatures rise by 5 degrees. Discuss programs to identify the areas most in need of protection because of their high ecological diversity or the rare species they contain. Describe the mechanisms for interaction between landowners and society when a reserve is needed. Explain the laws in one’s own location that are used to establish and protect reserves.
Recognize that ecological reserve design is important for protection of ecological diversity at all levels from species to ecosystems, and for the protection of ecological integrity at all levels and in all dimensions.
Human uses of landscapes can be modified to lessen the impact on ecological diversity, integrity, and health.
Be able to discuss an example of a set of buffer areas around a reserve in order to provide a larger functional protected area while still providing access for human use. Discuss the use of corridors between reserves to provide interconnectedness under scenarios of environmental change. Evaluate initiatives to protect green space in cities and suburban areas, and whether those activities can be conducted in such a way to preserve a part of the original ecological diversity, integrity, and health.
Recognize that many human activities can be conducted in such a way as to lessen impact on ecological diversity, integrity, and health.
Ecosystems that have been degraded through human modification can, in some cases, be restored through elimination of the external stresses, reintroduction of native species, removal of exotic species, and restoration of ecological processes.
Be able to compare the level of success achieved for restoration in different ecosystems and to discuss the steps necessary to promote restoration of at least one ecosystem.
Recognize that the extent to which a restoration effort is considered to be "successful" depends on the goals that are trying to be achieved. No effort can ever restore exactly the original ecosystem in its composition, structure, and function. An ability to promote restoration should not be seen as a justification for promoting habitat destruction elsewhere.
Species and subspecies on the brink of extinction in the wild can be helped through breeding in facilities such as zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, and captive breeding laboratories. Care must be taken to maintain genetic diversity from generation to generation and to mimic selective pressures the organisms would encounter in nature. For animals, we should minimize habituation to humans.
Be able to identify species that have been kept from going extinct in the wild through captive breeding. For each, understand the goals of the program and the efforts made to minimize the loss of alleles and habituation.
Recognize that captive breeding programs for conservation are expensive and therefore will not be practical for all species. For some species, they may be simply unfeasible. However, for some endangered species captive breeding may be the only strategy available to prevent immediate extinction.
Species can be driven to extinction through overharvesting. Control of harvesting, either through outright bans in the case of rare, threatened, or endangered species or through controls of harvest of vulnerable age- or stage-classes, can promote species persistence.
Be able to identify species that have been driven to extinction through overharvesting. Identify species that have been protected through laws and regulations (e.g., Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and state hunting laws) that control harvesting.
Recognize that indiscriminate harvesting leads to extinction. For species to be able to persist, societies must be willing to regulate harvesting guided by a biological understanding of population demography.
Exotic species are one of the prime threats to native species and ecosystems worldwide. Exotic species are spread accidentally and on purpose. Most releases are probably unsuccessful, but a few have devastating consequences. After an exotic species becomes established it is difficult, if not impossible, to completely eradicate it.
Be able to identify several of the exotic species in your region and for each understand (a) its mode of arrival, (b) its ecological and economic consequences, and (c) current control or eradication measures.
Recognize that the risks from exotic species are so serious that, with respect to a proposed release of an exotic, the burden of proof lies with those proposing the release. Steps to minimize the release and spread of exotics should be promoted.
Conservation education programs seek to develop in people a deeper understanding of the importance and tools of conservation. Education is most successful when it focuses on developing knowledge, skills, and attitudes in a way that gives people extended direct experience.
For any principle of conservation literacy, be able to develop a way to communicate it to someone else.
Recognize that on-going conservation education is important for everyone, regardless of age or occupation.