Depletion and Conservation of Japan's Forests

Book reviewed in this article:
The Green Archipelago: Forestry in Preindustrial Japan . Totman, C.
Conservation Biology: Outlook for the Future
Conservation for the Twentyfirst Century. Western, D., and Pearl, M., editors.
Conservation Biology: Hawai'I
Conservation Biology in Hawai'i. Stone, C. P., and Stone, D. B.
Important Recent Developments in Valuing Environmental Goods
Using Surveys to Value Public Goods: The Contingent Valuation Method. Mitchell, R. C., and Carson, R. T.
Tropical Forest Conservation: Getting the Act Together
The Future of the Tropical Rain Forest. Proceedings of an international conference organized by the Oxford Forestry Institute. McDermott, M. J., editor.
Saving the Tropical Forests. Gradwohl, J., and Greenberg, R.
Crop Breeders' Use of Gene Bank Collections
The Use of Plant Genetic Resources. Brown, A. H. D., Frankel, O.H., Marshall, D.R., and Williams, J. T., editors.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
National Forests: Policies for the Future. Volume 2: Protecting Biological Diversity. Wilcove, D. S. 1988.
Reforming the Forest Service. O'Toole, R. 1988.
Seeds and Sovereignty: The Use and Control of Genetic Resources. Kloppenburg, J. R., editor. 1988.
Viable Populations for Conservation. Soule, M. E., editor. 1987.
Models of Nature: Ecology, Conservation and Cultural Revolution in Soviet Russia. Weiner, D. R.
The Conservation of Australian Wetlands. McComb, A. J., and Lake, P. S., editors.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
A Morally Deep World: An Essay on Moral Significance and Environmental Ethics. Johnson, L. E.
Discordant Harmonies. Botkin, D. B.
The Preservation and Valuation of Biological Resources. Orians, G. H., Brown, G. M., Kunin, W. E., and Swierzbinski, J. E., editors.
Seabirds of Hawaii: Natural History and Conservation. Harrison, C. S.
Neotropical Wildlife Use and Conservation. Robinson, J.G., and Redford, K. H., editors.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Conservation Biology: A New Discipline Comes of Age Conservation Biology. The Science of Scarcity and Diversity. Soulé, Michael E., ed. 1986.
Conserving Biological Diversity, in Our National Forests. Norse, E.A.; Rosenbaum, K.L.; Wilcove, D.S.; Wilcox, B.A.; Romme, W.H.; Johnston, D.W.; Stout, M.L. 1986.
Foundations for a National Biological Survey. Kim, Ke Chung; Knudson, L., eds. 1986.     

Logging, Conservation, and Native Rights in Sarawak Forests

Books reviewed in this article:
Rainforest Conservation in Sarawak: An International Policy for WWF . Kavanagh, M.; Rahim, Abdullah Abdul; and Hails, C.J. 1989
The Promotion of Sustainable Forest Management: A Case Study in Sarawak, Malaysia . 1990. International Tropical Timber Organization
The Tropical Timber Industry In Sarawak, Malaysia . Congressional Staff Study Mission to Malaysia. 1989
Keepers of the Forest: Land Management Alternatives in Southeast Asia . Poffenberger, M., editor. 1990
Endangered Animals of Thailand . Humphrey, S. R, and Bain, J. R. 1990.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
The Expendable Future: U.S. Politics and the Protection of Biological Diversity. Tobin, R.
Australian Ecosystems: 200 Years of Utilization, Degradation and Reconstruction. Saunders, D. A., Hopkins, J. M., How, R.A., eds.
Ecosystems of Florida. Myers, R. and Ewel, J., editors.
Nature Reserves: Island Theory and Conservation Practice. Sha- fer, Craig L.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Americans and Their Forests: A Historical Geography. Williams, M.
The Forest and the Trees: A Guide to Excellent Forestry. Robinson, G.
Population Harvesting: Demographic Models of Fish, Forest, and Animal Resources . Getz, W. M. and Haight, R. G. 1989.
Floristic Inventory of Tropical Countries: The Status of Plant Systematic, Collections, and Vegetation, Plus Recommendations for the Future. Campbell, D. G., and Hammond, H. D., editors. 1989.
Biotic Diversity in Southern Africa—Concepts and Conservation. Huntley, B.J., editor. 1989.
Amphibians and Roads. Langton, T. E. S., editor.1989.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Research Priorities for Conservation Biology. Soulé, M. E., and Kohm, K.A., editors. 1989.
Evaluation of Biodiversity Projects. Committee on Criteria and Guidelines for the Evaluation of Projects Designed to Protect or Enhance Biodiversity. 1989.
The Ecology of Australia's Wet Tropics. Proceedings of the Ecological Society of Australia. Volume 15. Kitching, R.L., editor 1988.
Stones of Silence: Journeys in the Himalaya. Schaller, G. B.
Tiger Moon. Sunquist, F., and Sunquist, M. 1988.
The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States. Benyus, J. M. 1989.
The Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Western United States. Benyus, J. M. 1989.
Books Received (September 1988-August 1989) (Some of the books in the list below may be reviewed in future issues.)     

Conservation Biology in Historical Perspective

Book reviewed in this article:
The American Conservation Movement: John Muir and His Legacy . Fox, S.
Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work. Meine, C.
An Overview of Biodiversity
Biodiversity. Wilson, E. O., editor.
Value of Biodiversity
Why Preserve Natural Variety? Norton, B.G.
Management of Common Property Resources
Proceedings of the Conference on Common Property Resource Management. Panel on Common Property Resource Management (Bromley, D. W., chair).
Conservation and Management of Bird Populations
The Pheasant: Ecology, Management and Conservation. Hill, D., and Robertson, P.
Ecology and Conservation of Grassland Birds. Goriup, P. D., editor.
Mammal Populations
Mammal Populations Mammal Population Studies. Harris, S., editor.
Taking a Stand for Forests
Last Stand of the Red Spruce . Mello, R. A.     

Timber Certification: Where Is the Voice of the Biologist?

Editor's note: This Conservation Forum begins with a reprinted editorial by Elizabeth Bennett from the August 2000 issue of Conservation Biology . Several papers were submitted in repsonse to that piece, and it is reprinted here to start this forum.     

Recently Received Books

For over 16 years, Conservation Biology has been the voice of our global community of conservation biologists. Now, the Society of Conservation Biology and the Editorial Office of Conservation Biology need to hear YOUR voice!
To make the journal as relevant as possible, we invite you to participate in an anonymous online survey for our Conservation Biology readers, authors and reviewers. This survey is the first of its kind for Conservation Biology — your feedback is extremely valuable!
To participate, simply go to www.conservationbiology.org/journalsurvey
We hope to hear from you soon!
Society for Conservation BiologyThe Editorial Office of Conservation Biology     

Cover Caption

Cover: The Caerulean Paradise-Flycatcher (Eutrichomyias rowleyi) from Sangihe Island, Sulawesi, graced the cover of the first issue of Conservation Biology in May 1987 and at that time was thought to be extinct. As we celebrate 20 years of Conservation Biology with a special anniversary issue (see pp. 629-712), we can also celebrate the good news that this species is in fact extant (see pp. 918-920) (painting by Stephen V. Nash; photo by Jon Riley).     

Who's Who in Conservation Biology—an Authorship Analysis

Abstract:  As the flagship journal of the field, Conservation Biology represents a multidisciplinary, global constituency of conservation professionals—a constituency composed of more than 5200 authors representing 1500 organizations and 89 countries. Using bibliometric records of research published in Conservation Biology , I evaluated trends in authorship of research papers from 1987 to 2005. Authorship diversified and became increasingly collaborative over time. North Americans now compose one-half of primary authorship, down from 75% in the 1990s, and European primary authors contribute a quarter of the journal's contributed research. Forty-five countries were represented in volume 19 of the journal. The top three most-cited authors are Australian. The percentage of single-authored papers declined from 57% in 1987 to 18% in 2005. Collectively, academic institutions contribute the most research to Conservation Biology , although a government agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, was the single most-productive organization. The maturing of conservation biology as a discipline, the complex geographic and multidisciplinary nature of conservation questions, and the increased ease of communication in a technologically connected world contribute to the increasingly diverse and collaborative Conservation Biology authorship.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Plants in Danger: What Do We Know? David, S., Droop, S., Gregerson, T., Henson, O., Leon, C., Gilla-Lobos, J., Synge, H., and Zantovska, J.
Botanic Gardens and The World Conservation Strategy. Bramwell, D., Hamann, O., Heywood, W., and Synge, H., eds. 1987
Forest Conservation and the Forestry Master Plan for Sri Lanka: A Review. Ranjen Fernando and S. W. R. de A Samarasinghe, eds. 1988.
Pharmacopées Traditionnelles en Guyane. Grenand, P., Moretti, C., and Jacquemin, H. 1987.
Submission of New Books     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this artcle:
The Fall of a Sparrow. Ali, Salim. 1987.
Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences-Animal and Plant Sciences-Supplement. Rao, C.N., ed. 1986.
Concise Flowers of the Himalaya Polunin, O., and Stainton, A. 1987.
Conservation for Productive Agriculture. Chopra, V. L., and T. N. Khoshoo, eds. 1986.
Encyclopedia of Indian Natural History. Centenary Publication of the Bombay Natural History Society, 1883–1983. Hawkins, R. E., ed. 1986.
The Ecology of Sumatra. Whitten A. J., Damanik, S. J., Anwar, J., and Hisyam, N. 1987.
The Ecology of Sulawesi. Whitten, A. J., Mustafa, M., and Henderson, G. S. 1987.     

When Agendas Collide: Human Welfare and Biological Conservation

Abstract:  Conservation should benefit ecosystems, nonhuman organisms, and current and future human beings. Nevertheless, tension among these goals engenders potential ethical conflicts: conservationists' true motivations may differ from the justifications they offer for their activities, and conservation projects have the potential to disempower and oppress people. We reviewed the promise and deficiencies of integrating social, economic, and biological concerns into conservation, focusing on research in ecosystem services and efforts in community-based conservation. Despite much progress, neither paradigm provides a silver bullet for conservation's most pressing problems, and both require additional thought and modification to become maximally effective. We conclude that the following strategies are needed to make conservation more effective in our human-dominated world. (1) Conservation research needs to integrate with social scholarship in a more sophisticated manner. (2) Conservation must be informed by a detailed understanding of the spatial, temporal, and social distributions of costs and benefits of conservation efforts. Strategies should reflect this understanding, particularly by equitably distributing conservation's costs. (3) We must better acknowledge the social concerns that accompany biodiversity conservation; accordingly, sometimes we must argue for conservation for biodiversity's sake, not for its direct human benefits.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Managing Protected Areas in the Tropics. MacKinnon, John; MacKinnon, Kathy; Child, Graham; and Thorsell, Jim
Jaguar: One Man's Struggle To Establish the Worlds First Jaguar Preserve. Rabinowitz, A.
Bird Conservation     

A Science for Survival: Values and Conservation Biology

Practice of conservation biology that does not actively and continuously question the values that shape it is self-defeating: Conservation biology is inescapably normative. Advocacy for the preservation of biodiversity is part of the scientific practice of conservation biology. If the editorial policy of or the publications in Conservation Biology direct the discipline toward an "objective, value-free" approach, then they do not educate and transform society but rather narrow the focus to the "object of knowledge" (be this species, gene pools, landscapes, or ecosystems). To pretend that the acquisition of "positive knowledge" alone will avert mass extinctions is misguided. Conservation biologists should reflect on the constitutive values (especially contextual, but also methodological and bias) underlying their research programs and policy recommendations. Such reflection is itself an inherent element of scientific objectivity and takes into account the social nature of scientific knowledge. Without openly acknowledging such a perspective, conservation biology could become merely a subdiscipline of biology, intellectually and functionally sterile and incapable of averting an anthropogenic mass extinction.     

The Importance of the Water Conservation Areas in the Everglades to the Endangered Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)

During 1985–1989, numbers of the endangered Wood Stork ( Mycteria americana ) in the Water Conservation Areas of the Everglades, Florida, showed an annual peak in February or March of 1233 to 7874 birds. The annual maxima are significantly greater in dry years than in wet years (P < 0.05). Most storks are nonbreeders and are found foraging in open habitats along the eastern and southern parts of Conservation Area 1 and Conservation Area 2A and along the west-central side of Conservation Area 3A. In dry years, large numbers move into the southern half of Conservation Area 3A. We estimated that in spring, the total southeastern United States population of Wood Storks is between 14,000 and 20,000 individuals. The annual maxima of the water conservation areas were at least 8% to 10% of the total southeastern U.S. population in wet years and possibly as much as 55% in dry years. The Water Conservation Areas appear to be critical foraging habitat for wintering storks, especially during drought years when most of the rest of south Florida is dry. Changes in the management of these areas could have a major impact on the status of storks throughout the southeastern United States.     

Evaluating the Potential for Conservation Development: Biophysical, Economic, and Institutional Perspectives

Abstract:  The widespread conversion of rural land to low-density residential development poses an immediate threat to biodiversity and to the provision of ecosystem services. Given that development will continue and environmental stakes are high, analyzing alternative growth strategies is critical. Conservation development is one such strategy that has the potential to benefit ecosystems and diverse stakeholders including developers, homebuyers, governments, and society as a whole. Conservation development clusters homes on one part of a property to manage the most ecologically important land for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. We draw on lessons learned from landscape ecology, open-space development, and regional planning to weigh the biophysical, economic, and institutional evidence for and against conservation development. Conservation development offers many potential environmental and economic advantages: relatively high home values and appreciation rates, lower development costs, and social and ecological benefits to society including landscape connectivity, protection and active stewardship of important ecological assets, and the maintenance of ecosystem services. But this approach also has shortcomings: it may require enlightened institutional regulations and regional planning (and/or ecologically aware developers), it is not always more profitable than conventional development and thus may require subsidies or incentives, and additional research is required to fully understand its benefits and drawbacks. With more information on the effects of clustering, the development of flexible zoning laws, and effective regional planning, conservation development could be a viable strategy for sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services in changing landscapes.