Biodiversity conservation including uncharismatic species

Defining ‘Species,’ ‘Biodiversity,’ and ‘Conservation’ by Their Transitive Relations

Definitions offer meanings of words by way of associations with other terms [2, 3]. Accord‐ ingly, a definition relates a concept to a name [4]. Like any field of science, precision of communication in biology is dependent upon the use of terms, while actions taken as conse‐ quences of the acceptance of those terms are constrained by definitions. The importance of the meanings of words is espec...

Keystone species: toward an operational concept for marine biodiversity conservation

Various definitions and indices have been proposed in the literature to identify keystone species. In this study, we intended to make the concept of keystone species operational for marine biodiversity conservation. We used an exclusive definition of keystone species, based on the original concept of keystone predator, and derived a new functional index of keystoneness (KS) from an ecosystem-mo...

Space for Species: Spatial Ecological-Economic Analyses of Biodiversity Conservation

Wilderness and biodiversity conservation.

Human pressure threatens many species and ecosystems, so conservation efforts necessarily prioritize saving them. However, conservation should clearly be proactive wherever possible. In this article, we assess the biodiversity conservation value, and specifically the irreplaceability in terms of species endemism, of those of the planet's ecosystems that remain intact. We find that 24 wilderness...

Global biodiversity conservation priorities.

The location of and threats to biodiversity are distributed unevenly, so prioritization is essential to minimize biodiversity loss. To address this need, biodiversity conservation organizations have proposed nine templates of global priorities over the past decade. Here, we review the concepts, methods, results, impacts, and challenges of these prioritizations of conservation practice within th...