Rethinking conservation: Towards a paradigm shift

Authors

  • Alejandro Martínez-Abraín Evolutionary Biology Research Group (GIBE), University of A Coruña (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.9.10633

Keywords:

abandonment of rural areas, conservation biology, endangered species, reconciliation ecology

Abstract

Between the mid-1980s and the present day, conservation biology split into two almost independent fields: management ecology and conservation ecology. We have witnessed the recovery of large endangered species and a decrease in small and common species. In addition, the abandonment of rural areas has allowed the expansion of forest species and has hurt those that inhabit open spaces and who are linked to traditional farming. Many species that once lived only in refuges are now starting to venture further out and are losing their fear of humans. Moreover, environments that have become anthropic are now being successfully occupied more often. In short, we are going towards a world that reconciles humans and wildlife, which will be beneficial, but will also pose new challenges. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Alejandro Martínez-Abraín, Evolutionary Biology Research Group (GIBE), University of A Coruña (Spain).

Researcher in the Evolutionary Biology Research Group (GIBE) and tenure-track 2 professor at the Ecology department in the School of Sciences at the University of A Coruña (Spain). Graduate in sciences (biology and geology) from Acadia University (Nova Scotia, Canada) and PhD in Biology from the University of Barcelona (Spain). He has worked as a natural areas manager for the Valencia City Council and the Valencian Regional Government and was also a CSIC postdoctoral researcher. He has also undertaken research stays in the United Kingdom, United States, and Mexico.

References

Fernández-Olalla, M., Martínez-Abraín, A., Canut, J., García, D., Afonso, I., & González, L. M. (2012). Assessing different management scenarios to reverse the declining trend of a relict capercaillie population: A modelling approach within an adaptive framework. Biological Conservation, 148(1), 79–87. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.01.047

Forester, D. J., & Machlist, G. E. (1996). Modelling human factors that affect the loss of biodiversity. Conservation Biology, 10(4), 1253–1263. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10041253.x

García, I. (2018). Águila calzada: Problemas y oportunidades para una rapaz marcada por el hombre. Quercus, 388, 16–23.

Geffroy, B., Samia, D. S. M., Bessa, E., & Blumstein, D. T. (2015). How nature-based tourism might increase prey vulnerability to predators. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 30(12), 755–765. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.09.010

Inger, R., Gregory, R., Duffy, J. P., Stott, I., Vorĭsěk, P., & Gaston, K. J. (2014). Common European birds are declining rapidly while less abundant species’ numbers are rising. Ecology Letters, 18(1), 28–36. doi: 10.1111/ele.12387

Knowlton, N. (2017). Doom and gloom won’t save the world. Nature, 544, 271. doi: 10.1038/544271a

Martínez-Abraín, A., & Galán, P. (2018). A test of the substitution habitat hypothesis in amphibians. Conservation Biology, 32(3), 725–730. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13062

Martínez-Abraín, A., & Jiménez, J. (2016). Anthropogenic areas as incidental substitutes for original habitat. Conservation Biology, 30(3), 593–598. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12644

Martínez-Abraín, A., Jiménez, J., & Oro, D. (2018). Pax Romana; «refuge abandonment» and spread of fearless behaviour in a reconciling world. Animal Conservation. doi: 10.1111/acv.12429

Martínez-Abraín, A., & Oro, D. (2013). Preventing the development of dogmatic approaches in conservation biology: A review. Biological Conservation, 159, 539–547. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.10.020

Postigo, J. L. (2017). El actual laberinto burocrático y social de las cotorras en España. Quercus, 377, 12–18. 

Rosenzweig, M. L. (2003). Win-win ecology: How the Earth species can survive in the midst of human enterprise. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 

Sanz, A., Martínez-Abraín, A., Tavecchia, G., Mínguez, E., & Oro, D. (2009). Evidence-based culling of a facultative predator: Efficacy and efficiency components. Biological Conservation, 142(2), 424–431. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2008.11.004 

Soulé, M. E. (1986). Conservation biology: The science of scarcity and diversity. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates Inc. 

Steigerwald, E. C., Igual, J. M., Payo-Payo, A., & Tavecchia, G. (2015). Effects of decreased anthropogenic food availability on an opportunistic gull: Evidence for a size-mediated response in breeding females. Ibis, 157(3), 439–448. doi: 10.1111/ibi.12252

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2019-03-06

How to Cite

Martínez-Abraín, A. (2019). Rethinking conservation: Towards a paradigm shift. Metode Science Studies Journal, (9), 109–115. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.9.10633
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    1542
  • Untitled (Español)
    0
  • PDF
    604

Issue

The grounds of science (2019)

Section

In praise of life. The dynamic concept of biodiversity

License

All the documents in the OJS platform are open access and property of their respective authors.

Authors publishing in the journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors keep the rights and guarantee Metode Science Studies Journal the right to be the first publication of the document, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of authorship and publication in the journal.
  2. Authors are allowed and encouraged to spread their work through electronic means using personal or institutional websites (institutional open archives, personal websites or professional and academic networks profiles) once the text has been published.

Metrics

Similar Articles

> >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.