Conservation Biology: Views from the Ecological Sciences

Views from the ecological sciences regarding conservation biology (CB) are presented. It is observed that a mutual and close influence has intertwined CB with the ecological sciences. Research particularly of an interdisciplinary nature, is needed to help expand public understanding and to develop policies for biodiversity conservation and the preservation of ecosystems and their services in the human-dominated ecosystems in which people reside and have to make a living. Economic, financial, and market issues also must become part of the interdisciplinary research approach necessary in studies of CB. It is concluded that conserving the biodiversity that remains on the planet is achievable only if conservation becomes a process involving a far larger proportion of the world's inhabitants and a routine economic pursuit for every one of them.