Protecting and Restoring Ecosystems
from Part II - Protecting and Restoring Populations and Habitats: A Preservationist Approach to Conservation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 September 2023
To maximize opportunities for colonization and reduce the probability of extinction, Diamond recommended large, compact, closely spaced, connected reserves. However, species with limited ability to disperse and requirements for specific habitats found in small, dispersed patches may need several small reserves, and corridors may facilitate the spread of introduced species, diseases, or fire. Preserves in ecotones are likely to be valuable for organisms with low mobility as the climate changes. A coarse-filter approach to protection prioritizes ecosystems that contain high biodiversity, such as biological hotspots. In gap analysis, the distributions of selected taxa are compared to the locations of protected areas to identify priority areas for additional protection. Reserves may have a variety of levels of protection. Some conservation biologists advocate using the absence of human influence as the benchmark for strictly protected reserves. Restoration should conserve key processes, structures, and interactions such as fire in native prairie. Restoration should also address both abiotic and biotic elements of an ecosystem. Advocates of rewilding support the restoration of animals, especially megafauna, to their former ranges through reintroductions .
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.