Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Need for Flexibility in Conservation Practices: Exotic Species as an Example

  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To garner support for biodiversity from the World’s human population, conservation biologists need an open-minded, integrated conservation strategy. We suggest that this strategy should include efforts to (1) preserve existing high quality, diverse ecosystems, (2) remediate impaired systems, (3) balance the needs of people and ecological resources, and (4) engender appreciation of nature and its services. We refer to these four key tenets as reservation, restoration, reconciliation, and reconnection. We illustrate these concepts by presenting the debate surrounding the management of exotic species from an unusual perspective, the benefits of exotic species. By this example we hope to encourage an integrated approach to conservation in which management strategies can be flexible, adjusting to society’s needs and the overall goals of conservation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andreu J, Vilà M, Hulme PE (2009) An assessment of stakeholder perceptions and management of noxious alien plants in Spain. Environmental Management 43:1244–1255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balmford A, Clegg L, Coulson T, Taylor J (2002) Why conservationists should heed Pokémon. Science 295:2367b

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardsley DK, Edwards-Jones G (2007) Invasive species policy and climate change: social perceptions of environmental change in the Mediterranean. Environmental Science and Policy 10:230–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cameron LD, Brown PM, Chapman JG (1998) Social value orientations and decisions to take proenvironmental action. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 28:675–697

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin IFS, Zavaleta ES, Eviner VT, Naylor RL, Vitousek PM, Reynolds HL, Hooper DU, Lavorel S, Sala OE, Hobbie SE, Mack MC, Diaz S (2000) Consequences of changing biodiversity. Nature 405:234–242

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper CB, Dickinson J, Phillips T, Bonney R (2007) Citizen science as a tool for conservation in residential ecosystems. Ecology and Society 12(2):11. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss2/art11

  • Craig LS, Palmer MA, Richardson DC, Filoso S, Bernhardt ES, Bledsoe BP, Doyle MW, Groffman PM, Hassett BA, Kaushal SS, Mayer PM, Smith SM, Wilcock PR (2003) Stream restoration strategies for reducing river nitrogen loads. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 6:529–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dearborn DC, Kark S (2009) Motivations for conserving urban biodiversity. Conservation Biology 24:432–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domene E, Sauri D (2007) Urbanization and class-produced natures: vegetable gardens in the Barcelona metropolitan region. Geoforum 38:287–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doremus H (2003) A policy portfolio approach to biodiversity protection on private lands. Environmental Science and Policy 6:217–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn RR, Gavin MC, Sanchez MC, Solomon JN (2006) The pigeon paradox: dependence of global conservation on urban nature. Conservation Biology 20:1814–1816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewel JJ, Putz FE (2004) A place for alien species in ecosystem restoration. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 2:354–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Failing L, Gregory R, Harstone M (2007) Integrating science and local knowledge in environmental risk management: a decision-focused approach. Ecological Economics 64:47–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer A, van der Wal R (2007) Invasive plant suppresses charismatic seabird—the construction of attitudes towards biodiversity management options. Biological Conservation 135:256–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gobster PH (2005) Invasive species as ecological threat: is restoration an alternative to fear-based resource management? Ecological Restoration 23:261–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm NB, Faeth SH, Golubiewski NE, Redman CL, Wu J, Bai X, Briggs JM (2008) Global change and the ecology of the cities. Science 319:756–760

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Holling CS (2001) Understanding the complexity of economic, ecological and social systems. Ecosystems 4:390–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holling CS, Meffe GK (1996) Command and control and the pathology of natural resource management. Conservation Biology 10:328–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones HP, Tershy BR, Zavaleta ES, Croll DA, Keitt BS, Finkelstein ME, Howald GR (2008) Severity of the effects of invasive rats on seabirds: a global review. Conservation Biology 22:16–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kareiva P, Watts S, McDonald R, Boucher T (2007) Domesticated nature: shaping landscapes and ecosystems for human welfare. Science 316:1866–1869

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kitchell JF, Cox SP, Harvey CJ, Johnson TB, Mason DM, Schoen KK, Aydin K, Bronte C, Ebener M, Hanse M, Hoff M, Schram S, Schreiner D, Walters CJ (2000) Sustainability of the Lake Superior fish community: interactions in a food web concept. Ecosystems 3:545–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson BMH (2005) The war of the roses: demilitarizing invasion biology. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 3:495–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leskinen LA (2004) Purposes and challenges of public participation in regional and local forestry in Finland. Forest Policy and Economics 6:605–618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindemann-Matthies P, Bose E (2008) How many species are there? Public understanding and awareness of biodiversity in Switzerland. Human Ecology 36:731–742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuka RH, Kaplan R (2008) People needs in the urban landscape: analysis of Landscape and Urban Planning contributions. Landscape and Urban Planning 84:7–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller JR (2005) Biodiversity conservation and the extinction of experience. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20:430–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller JR (2006) Restoration, reconciliation, and reconnecting with nature nearby. Biological Conservation 127:356–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller JR, Hobbs RJ (2007) Habitat restoration—do we know what we are doing? Restoration Ecology 15:382–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minteer BA, Collins JP (2005) Why we need an “ecological ethics”. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 3:332–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Novacek MJ (2008) Engaging the public in biodiversity issues. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of USA 115(Suppl. 1):11571–11578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer MA, Ambrose RF, LeRoy Poff N (1997) Ecological theory and community restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology 5:291–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer M, Bernhardt E, Chomesky E, Collins S, Dobson A, Duke C, Gold B, Jacobson R, Kingsland S, Kranz R, Mappin M, Martinez ML, Micheli F, Morse J, Pace M, Pascual M, Palumbi S, Reichman QJ, Simons A, Townsend A, Turner M (2004) Ecology for a crowded planet. Science 304:1251–1252

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parmesan C, Yohe G (2003) A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature 421:37–42

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pielke RJ (2007) The Honest Broker: making sense of science in policy and politics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyle RM (2003) Nature matrix: reconnecting people with nature. Oryx 37:206–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rannikko P (1996) Local environmental conflicts and the change in environmental consciousness. Acta Sociologica 39:57–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez LF (2006) Can invasive species facilitate native species? Evidence of how, when, and why these impacts occur. Biological Invasions 8:927–939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig ML (2003) Win–win ecology. How the Earth’s species can survive in the midst of human enterprise. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Roskaft E, Bjerke T, Kaltenborn B, Linnell JDC, Andersen R (2003) Patterns of self-reported fear towards large carnivores among the Norwegian public. Evolution and Human Behavior 24:184–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roy ED, Martin JF, Irwin EG, Conroy JD, Culver AD (2010) Transient social–ecological stability: the effects of invasive species and ecosystem restoration on nutrient management compromise in Lake Erie. Ecology and Society 15(1):20. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss1/art20

  • Sax DF, Stachowicz JJ, Brown JH, Bruno JF, Dawson MN, Gaines SD, Grosberg RK, Hasting A, Holt RD, Mayfield MM, O’Connor MI, Rice WR (2007) Ecological and evolutionary insights from species invasions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 22:465–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seastedt T, Hobbs RJ, Suding KN (2008) Management of novel ecosystems: are novel approaches required? Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 6:547–553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro AM (2002) The Californian urban butterfly fauna is dependent on alien plants. Diversity and Distributions 8:31–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebert R, Laschewski L, Dosch A (2008) Knowledge dynamics in valorising local nature. Sociologia Ruralis 48:223–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein TV, Anderson DR, Kelly T (1999) Using stakeholders’ values to apply ecosystem management in an Upper Midwest Landscape. Environmental Management 24:399–413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokes DL (2007) Things we like: human preferences among similar organisms and implications for conservation. Human Ecology 37:361–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone D (2006) Sustainable development: convergence of public health and natural environment agendas, nationally and locally. Public Health 120:1110–1113

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stronza A (2001) Anthropology of tourism: forging new ground for ecotourism and other alternatives. Annual Review of Anthropology 30:261–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teillac-Deschamps P, Lorrillière R, Servais V, Delmas V, Cadi A, Prévot-Julliard AC (2009) Management strategies in urban green spaces: models based on an introduced exotic pet turtle. Biological Conservation 142:2258–2269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigger D, Mulcock J, Gaynor A, Toussaint Y (2008) Ecological restoration, cultural preferences and the negotiation of ‘nativeness’ in Australia. Geoforum 39:1273–1283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trombulak SC, Omland KS, Robinson JA, Lusk JJ, Fleischner TL, Domroese M (2004) Principles of conservation biology: recommended guidelines for conservation literacy from the education committee of the society for conservation biology. Conservation Biology 18:1180–1190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner WR, Nakamura T, Dinetti M (2004) Global urbanization and the separation of humans from nature. Bioscience 54:585–590

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNECE (1998) Aarhus Convention—Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters. United Nations Economics Commission for Europe. http://www.unece.org/env/pp/

  • Van den Born RJG (2008) Rethinking nature: public visions in the Netherlands. Environmental Values 17:83–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Wyk E, Roux DJ, Drackner M, McCool SF (2008) The impact of scientific information on ecosystem management: making sense of the contextual gap between information providers and decision makers. Environmental Management 41:779–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vining J (2003) The connection to other animals and caring for nature. Human Ecology Review 10:87–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Vining J, Tyler E, Kweon BS (2000) Public values, opinions, and emotions in restoration controversies. In: Gobster PH, Bruce R (eds) Restoring nature: perspectives from the social sciences, humanities. Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 143–161

    Google Scholar 

  • West P, Igoe J, Brockington D (2006) Parks and peoples: the social impact of protected areas. Annual Review of Anthropology 35:251–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Our thanks to Ilona Bossanyi for her professional careful editing work of the English manuscript. This work was financially supported by the CNRS, MNHN, Universities Paris 6 and Paris 11, as well as the Institute for Communication Sciences (ISCC, PIR 2009).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR7204 CNRS-MNHN-UPMC – labo CERSP, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CP 51, 55 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France

    Anne-Caroline Prévot-Julliard, Pauline Teillac-Deschamps & Romain Julliard

  2. Institut des Sciences de la Communication du CNRS (ISCC), 20 rue Berbier du Mets, Paris, 75013, France

    Anne-Caroline Prévot-Julliard

  3. Université de Philosophie et Lettres, Liège, Belgium

    Joanne Clavel

Authors
  1. Anne-Caroline Prévot-Julliard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joanne Clavel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pauline Teillac-Deschamps
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Romain Julliard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anne-Caroline Prévot-Julliard.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Prévot-Julliard, AC., Clavel, J., Teillac-Deschamps, P. et al. The Need for Flexibility in Conservation Practices: Exotic Species as an Example. Environmental Management 47, 315–321 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-011-9615-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-011-9615-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation