Written by two leading conservation biologists, Saving Nature's Legacy is a thorough and readable introduction to issues of land management and conservation biology. It presents a broad, land-based approach to biodiversity conservation in the United States, with the authors succinctly translating principles, techniques, and findings of the ecological sciences into an accessible and practical plan for action.After laying the groundwork for biodiversity conservation -- what biodiversity is, why it is important, its status in North America -- Noss and Cooperrider consider the strengths and limitations of past and current approaches to land management. They then present the framework for a bold new strategy, with explicit guidelines on: inventorying biodiversityselecting areas for protection designing regional and continental reserve networks establishing monitoring programssetting priorities for getting the job done Throughout the volume, the authors provide in-depth assessments of what must be done to protect and restore the full spectrum of native biodiversity to the North American continent.
About Defenders of Wildlife Table of Figures List of Tables Foreword Preface Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Biodiversity and Its Value Chapter 2. Biodiversity: Creation and Destruction Chapter 3. Conservation Strategies'Past, Present, And Future Chapter 4. Selecting Reserves Chapter 5. Designing Reserve Networks Chapter 6. Managing Forests Chapter 7. Managing Rangelands Chapter 8. Managing Aquatic Ecosystems Chapter 9. Monitoring Chapter 10. The Task Ahead Epilogue
Literature Cited Glossary Species List Index
...perhaps the single most important book to be published in the last decade of conservation/environmental sciences literature. --Lon Drake, Natural Areas Journal
Read this book: Two of the nation+ås top conservation biologists...present a science-based approach to policies and practices to maintain biodiversity.... Saving Nature+ås Legacy should be read by every land and resource manager and by their supervisors and the leaders who set policy decisions.... A single book cannot change natural resource management in the United States, but for those who want to try, Saving Nature+ås Legacy explains how. --David E. Blockstein, BioScience
...offers the most comprehensive direction to date on what the United States can do to stop the downward spiral of ecosystem deterioration and to implement policies of +¦no net loss+¦ of the nation+ås native biological riches.... Who needs this book? Conservation biologists should read it to better understand the challenges and practical demands of putting theory into practice. Managers should read it to more fully understand the rationale and context for new management concepts, and to be better able to apply the concepts toward useful purpose in ecosystem management.... Actually this would be a good book for all citizens to read, if only to see what could be were we to muster the will to alter our individual and collective behaviors. --Winifred B. Kessler, Journal of Forestry
