Welcome to Conservation Biology! BSC 3052 MWF 9:30-10:20 BL 209 Dr. Angela Tringali ***If you are not in the right place, please excuse yourself***

Today’s Plan Introductions Syllabus and Expectations What is conservation biology

Angela Tringali 202D Mondays and Wednesdays 10:30-12, or by appointment Behavior and genetics in the Federally Threatened Florida scrub-jay

Course Materials Textbook Fundamentals of Conservation Biology by Hunter & Gibbs Used from $40, new from $60, or rent for under $30 Recommended reading Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Cowardine 100 Heartbeats by Jeff Corwin Turnitin.com subscription Sign-up using your knights Class ID: Password: conbio Knights.ucf.edu Course website password: conbio

Course Assignments Participation ~ 15% Prepare by completing readings and making discussion notes prior to class Active listening and paying attention, avoiding electronic or other distractions Contributing, by asking and answering questions Four Exams ~ 60% Each cover about 5 chapters, as well as supplemental readings, lectures, and discussions Term Paper ~ 15% Choose a conservation success or failure Identify contributing factors Use that information to create a recovery plan for a currently listed species. Poster Presentation ~10% Share your term paper with the class

What I Expect Come to class prepared. Constructive participation. That means you are listening actively, thinking about what is being said, joining discussions, and asking questions. Do your best to create an atmosphere that encourages your classmates to participate. Think. I don’t want you to blindly memorize facts, I want you to think about concepts, how they might be applied, improved, or expanded. Recalling facts and examples can bolster your ideas, but memorization is not the goal of this course.

What is conservation biology? “The applied science of maintaining the earth’s biological diversity.”

Conservation biology is a crisis discipline Conservation decisions are made everyday, often without detailed scientific information Ideally, we would have all of the information, but in reality, we rely on best-available information Precautionary principle Analogous to medicine.

The precautionary principle If an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm, the burden of proof that the action is NOT harmful falls on those wishing to take the action.

Conservation biology is multi and interdisciplinary

Conservation biology is mission driven and value laden Mission is to maintain biodiversity Political advocacy to advance mission leads to criticism, scientific standards usually call for being value- neutral conservation biology is value-laden some species valued more than others

What is biodiversity? The variety of life in all its forms and at all levels of organization.

Why does biodiversity matter? Instrumental Value Aesthetics: Nature is pretty, and people like it Economics: Agriculture, forestry, fisheries, medicine all rely on natural resources Ecosystem services: protection from storm surge, flooding, maintenance of water quality, nutrient cycling, pollination Ecological integrity: analogous to “rivet-popping” on airplane. Loss of a few rivets or species will not cause the plane or ecosystem to crash, but loss of several will, and it is hard to know where that tipping point lays. Intrinsic Value Morals/Ethics: Other life forms have an and a right to exist

Why do value systems matter?

Relatively Young Philosophy is ancient, but discipline is barely older than you. 1978: First International Conference on Conservation Biology 1987: Journal of Conservation Biology

History of Conservation Ancient If you come on a bird’s nest… you shall not take the mother with the young. let the mother go, taking only the young for yourself, in order that it may go well with you and you may live long. Duet. 22:7-7 Many ancient hunting regulations American Romantic-Transcendental Preservation Ethic Resource Conservation Ethic Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic

Historical figures John Muir Communion with nature (foundation of the Sierra Club) Gifford Pinchot Nature is a resource (foundation of the US Forest Service) Aldo Leopold Conservation Biology as a discipline (every species has intrinsic value as part of ecosystems)

Aldo Leopold Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic John Muir Romantic-Transcendental Preservation Ethic Gifford Pinchot Resource Conservation Ethic J.Baird Callicott, Whither conservation ethics?

Coming up this week Biodiversity (Ch. 2) Discuss Callicott 1990 as a class Don’t forget to bookmark course website order your books sign-up for turnitin.com