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Master of Conservation Biology
Master the science of conservation, ecology and biodiversity to find effective solutions in securing the world's biological diversity.
The Master of Conservation Biology program will show you how to use science to support conservation strategies and policies. It integrates conservation, ecology and biodiversity – with a focus on the problems of restoring and maintaining viable populations of animal and plant species, and natural and managed ecosystems – so you can better confront complex conservation problems.
This program is taught by world-class experts, in an intensive mode that allows you to complete the equivalent of one and a half academic years in just 12 months.
You'll deepen your understanding of all aspects of biodiversity and conservation, environmental philosophy, national and international conservation policy, and systematic conservation decision-making processes. In addition to advanced-level coursework, you'll complete more than a month of fieldwork at unique sites, including subtropical rainforests, national parks, outback Australia, UQ’s Heron Island and Moreton Bay research stations, and the Solomon Islands.
Abstract
Conservation policy sits at the nexus of natural science and politics. On the one hand, conservation scientists strive to maintain scientific credibility by emphasizing that their research findings are the result of disinterested observations of reality. On the other hand, conservation scientists are committed to conservation even if they do not advocate a particular policy. The professional conservation literature offers guidance on negotiating the relationship between scientific objectivity and political advocacy without damaging conservation science's credibility. The value of this guidance, however, may be restricted by limited recognition of credibility's multidimensionality and emergent nature: it emerges through perceptions of expertise, goodwill, and trustworthiness. We used content analysis of the literature to determine how credibility is framed in conservation science as it relates to apparent contradictions between science and advocacy. Credibility typically was framed as a static entity lacking dimensionality. Authors identified expertise or trustworthiness as important, but rarely mentioned goodwill. They usually did not identify expertise, goodwill, or trustworthiness as dimensions of credibility or recognize interactions among these 3 dimensions of credibility. This oversimplification may limit the ability of conservation scientists to contribute to biodiversity conservation. Accounting for the emergent quality and multidimensionality of credibility should enable conservation scientists to advance biodiversity conservation more effectively.
An Introduction to Conservation Biology
Now fully revised and updated in its second edition, An Introduction to Conservation Biology is well suited for a wide range of undergraduate courses, as both a primary text for conservation biology courses and a supplement for ecological and environmental science courses. This new edition has been expanded and updated with hundreds of new examples, explanations, citations, and figures to enhance learning and excitement for the subject. Coverage of recent conservation biology events in the news--such as climate change and sustainable development--keeps the content fresh and current.
An Introduction to Conservation Biology, Second Edition, focuses successively on biological diversity and its value threats to biological diversity conservation at the population and species levels protecting, managing and restoring ecosystems and sustainable development. Each chapter is beautifully illustrated in full color with diverse examples from the current literature. Chapters begin with guiding conservation biology principles and end with study aids including summaries, an annotated list of suggested readings, and discussion questions. Throughout, the authors maintain a focus on the active role that scientists, local people, conservation organizations, government, and the general public play in protecting biodiversity, even while providing for human needs.
New to this Edition
- The "Threats to Biodiversity" chapter has been expanded into two distinct chapters: one on habitat fragmentation/loss/degradation, and another on climate change, invasive species, disease, and overexploitation
- All figures and research examples have been updated to the most current data available, including world population, numbers of species, and atmospheric CO2
- Dozens of new figures provide more images of organisms and depictions of data
- Each chapter features Learning Objectives, to help focus students' attention
- Offers up-to-date political and social developments
- Updates all chapters with connections to climate change, greater inclusion of connections to evolution, and more material on tools and techniques conservation biologists use
- Provides increased representation of plants and insects
- Includes hundreds of updated citations to reflect the current state of the field, with many new examples from recent conservation biology research
- Offers more research by underrepresented groups, while adhering to highest standards of scientific relevance and impact
- Provides increased representation of plants and insects, and a balanced range of examples from around the world
About the Author(s)
Anna A. Sher is Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Denver.
Richard B. Primack is Professor of Biology at Boston University.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Defining Conservation Biology
Chapter 2. What Is Biodiversity?
Chapter 3. The Value of Biodiversity
Chapter 4. Threats to Biodiversity: Habitat Change
Chapter 5. Climate Change and Other Threats to Biodiversity
Chapter 6. Extinction Risk
Chapter 7. Conserving Populations and Species
Chapter 8. Establishing New Populations and Ex Situ Conservation
Chapter 9. Protected Areas
Chapter 10. Conservation Outside Protected Areas
Chapter 11. Restoration Ecology
Chapter 12. Conservation and Sustainable Development
Chapter 13. An Agenda for the Future
An Introduction to Conservation Biology
If you are a lecturer interested in adopting this title for your course, please contact your Oxford representative to arrange a local price.
Description
Now fully revised and updated in its second edition, An Introduction to Conservation Biology is well suited for a wide range of undergraduate courses, as both a primary text for conservation biology courses and a supplement for ecological and environmental science courses. This new edition has been expanded and updated with hundreds of new examples, explanations, citations, and figures to enhance learning and excitement for the subject. Coverage of recent conservation biology events in the news—such as climate change and sustainable development—keeps the content fresh and current.
- Focuses successively on biological diversity and its value threats to biological diversity conservation at the population and species levels protecting, managing and restoring ecosystems and sustainable development
- Each chapter is beautifully illustrated in full color with diverse examples from the current literature
- Chapters begin with guiding conservation biology principles and end with study aids including summaries, an annotated list of suggested readings, and discussion questions
- Throughout, the authors maintain a focus on the active role that scientists, local people, conservation organizations, government, and the general public play in protecting biodiversity, even while providing for human needs
About the Author(s)
Anna Sher , Professor, University of Denver, and Richard Primack , Professor, Boston University
Anna A. Sher is Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Denver. Richard Primack is Professor of Biology at Boston University.
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Acronyms
Chapter 1: What is Conservation Biology? Download PDF
Chapter 2: Introduction to Sub-Saharan Africa Download PDF
Chapter 3: What is Biodiversity? Download PDF
Chapter 4: Why Should We Protect Biodiversity? Download PDF
Chapter 5: The Scramble for Space Download PDF
Chapter 6: Our Warming World Download PDF
Chapter 7: Pollution, Overharvesting, Invasive Species, and Disease Download PDF
Chapter 8: Extinction is Forever Download PDF
Chapter 9: Applied Population Biology Download PDF
Chapter 10: Conserving Ecosystems Download PDF
Chapter 11: Preventing Extinctions Download PDF
Chapter 12: Biodiversity and the Law Download PDF
Chapter 13: The Importance of Protected Areas Download PDF
Chapter 14: Conservation on Unprotected Lands Download PDF
Chapter 15: An Agenda for the Future Download PDF
Appendix A: Selected Sources of Information
Appendix B: Selected Environmental Organisations
Appendix C: Obtaining Conservation Funding
Appendix D: Environmental Calendar
Electives List A (2 Courses Different from Above)
| Course Number | Course Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 2 | Environmental Biology | 3 units |
| AND | ||
| BIOL 2L | Environmental Biology Laboratory | 1 unit |
| BIOL 10 | Introduction to Biology | 3 units |
| AND | ||
| BIOL 10L | Introduction to Biology Lab | 1 unit |
| BIOL 11 | Human Biology | 4 units |
| BIOL 12 | Introduction to Ecology and Wildlife | 4 units |
| BIOL 13 | Natural History of California | 3 units |
| BIOL 14 | California Plants and Animals | 4 units |
| BIOL 18 | Marine Biology | 4 units |
| BIOL 22 | Genetics | 4 units |
| BIOL 23 | Introduction to Infectious Diseases | 3 units |
| BIOL 24 | Bio in the News | 3 units |
| BIOL 25 | Lab Technician Methods | 2 units |
| BIOL 27 | Scientific Literacy and Technical Writing | 1 unit |
| BIOL 35 | Biology of Birds | 4 units |
| BIOL 36 | Animal Behavior | 3 units |
| BIOL 37 | Evolution - Life on Earth | 3 units |
| BIOL 38 | Biodiversity and Extinction: Hotspots, Crisis and Conservation | 3 units |
| BIOL 40 | Organismal Biology | 4 units |
| BIOL 41 | Principles of Animal Biology | 5 units |
| BIOL 42 | Principles of Plant Biology | 5 units |
| BIOL 43 | Principles of Cell Biology | 5 units |
| BIOL 45 | Microbiology | units |
| BIOL 47 | Human Anatomy | 5 units |
| BIOL 48 | Human Physiology | 5 units |
| BIOL 50 | Human Cadaver Dissection | 1 unit |
| BIOL 55 | Biology of Sex | 3 units |
| BIOL 56 | Ecology of the Sierra Nevada | 3 units |
| BIOL 58 | Field Ecology | 3 units |
| BIOL 59 | Climate Change | 3 units |
Secondary School (high school) biology
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About this course
Sharks! Global Biodiversity, Biology, and Conservation:
Did you know that you can track some sharks’ movements on Twitter? Or that the scales on their skin have influenced the way humans design boats, planes, and even swimsuits? Or that sharks have more senses than humans?
In this biology course, you will learn how scientists study sharks. You will join researchers on location in labs, aquariums, and oceans across the globe to learn about the biodiversity, biology, and conservation of sharks, rays, and chimaeras.
In this activity‑rich course, you’ll track movements of a wild shark, observe shark habitats and behavior, and dig into the fossil record. You will also examine topics in the functional anatomy, sensory biology, reproduction, behavior, and ecology of many of the 1,200 living species.
This is an exciting time to be a shark biologist. An explosion of new research methods and technologies are leading to a surprising world of discovery. We’ll introduce new, as well as traditional techniques, for classifying sharks, understanding behavior, and unraveling the mysteries of shark evolution. We will explore global shark populations to consider shark-human interactions and their impacts on history and culture.
You’ll be rewarded by your ability to see virtually any animal with new eyes. Practice thinking like a biologist while honing critical skills that can lead to broader observations about the ongoing history of life on Earth.
Discussion
Diversity indices of both lepidopteran larvae and breeding birds responded positively to a greater percentage of native grasses, forbs, and shrubs in residential landscapes. Avian abundance, diversity, richness, and biomass (particularly bird species of conservation concern) were all greater on native properties. Native nesting birds that are mostly dependent on insect populations to feed their young ( Dickinson 1999 ) were more abundant on native properties. Lepidoptera abundance and diversity were also higher on native properties, suggesting that food availability might account for the differences detected in the bird communities between native and conventionally landscaped sites. Beissinger and Osborne (1982) demonstrated a similar pattern in bird community response to urbanization in Ohio and alluded to the effect of vegetation type (non-native vs. native) as a potential explanatory factor. In addition, the effect of food limitation on fitness might be even more pronounced when adults of a species also depend for their own nutrition on insect abundance. This was the pattern we observed in our study trophic guild analyses revealed that the bird species driving the differences between sites were those that specialize on insects during the breeding season.
Plant species richness was higher on native properties but Simpson's Index, a diversity index that incorporates relative abundance, did not reveal a difference between native and conventionally landscaped sites. Although these results suggest that the evolutionary origins of the plants is the source of differences in avian and lepidopteran abundance and diversity in our study, a field experiment rigidly controlling for plant richness and diversity would more clearly isolate these variables. Nevertheless, conventional landscaping typically creates relatively homogenous habitats. Because we attempted to control for plant diversity, our 6 conventional sites were more diverse than typical suburban landscapes. Thus, we consider our results conservative because of the similarities in native canopy and understory trees between our native and conventional properties. Our paired properties differed only in the proportion of shrub and groundcover that consisted of native plants. Greater differences in biodiversity are expected in comparisons between properties landscaped with natives and more typical suburban landscapes in which non-native trees such as Norway maple (Acer platanoides), Norway spruce (Picea abies), Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana), and goldenraintree (Koelreuteria paniculata) have replaced native canopy trees.
Our results followed our prediction that enhancing the biomass and diversity of native plants would increase the diversity and abundance of insect herbivores and thus create a greater resource base for important insectivores such as birds ( Tallamy 2004 ). It is well documented that most bird species are food limited ( Marra et al. 1998 Nagy & Holmes 2005 Granbom & Smith 2006 ). What is becoming more apparent is that by reducing insect food availability, non-native plants are indirectly reducing bird abundance in natural systems ( Wilson & Belcher 1989 Lloyd & Martin 2005 Flanders et al. 2006 ) and, counter to recent claims ( Burdick 2005 ), are not “seamlessly” entering North American ecosystems without ill effects. Our results suggest that the negative relationship between non-native plant abundance and bird community integrity is apparent in managed ecosystems as well, regardless of whether the non-native species are invasive. By demonstrating the connection between native plants and suburban biodiversity, we provide evidence that the landscaping choices of homeowners affect populations of both birds and the insect food they require, thus empowering homeowners, landscapers, and policy makers to raise (or lower) local carrying capacities by plant choice alone.
