Marine Conservation Biology : The Science of Maintaining the Sea's Biodiversity

Humans are terrestrial animals, and our capacity to see and understand the importance and vulnerability of life in the sea has trailed our growing ability to harm it. While conservation biologists are working to address environmental problems humans have created on land, loss of marine biodiversity, including extinctions and habitat degradation, has received much less attention. At the same time, marine sciences such as oceanography and fisheries biology have largely ignored issues of conservation. Marine Conservation Biology brings together for the first time in a single volume, leading experts from around the world to apply the lessons and thinking of conservation biology to marine issues. Contributors including James M. Acheson, Louis W. Botsford, James T. Carlton, Kristina Gjerde, Selina S. Heppell, Ransom A. Myers, Julia K. Parrish, Stephen R. Palumbi, and Daniel Pauly offer penetrating insights on the nature of marine biodiversity, what threatens it, and what humans can and must do to recover the biological integrity of the world's estuaries, coastal seas, and oceans. Sections examine: distinctive aspects of marine populations and ecosystems; threats to marine biological diversity, singly and in combination; place-based management of marine ecosystems; the often-neglected human dimensions of marine conservation. Marine Conservation Biology breaks new ground by creating the conceptual framework for the new field of marine conservation biology — the science of protecting, recovering, and sustainably using the living sea. It synthesizes the latest knowledge and ideas from leading thinkers in disciplines ranging from larval biology to sociology, making it a must-read for research and teaching faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate and advanced undergraduate students (who share an interest in bringing conservation biology to marine issues). Likewise, its lucid scientific examinations illuminate key issues facing environmental managers, policymakers, advocates, and funders concerned with the health of our oceans. Why marine conservation biology? / Elliott A. Norse and Larry B. Crowder Back to the future in marine conservation / Larry B. Crowder pt. 1. Marine populations : the basics / Larry B. Crowder and Elliott A. Norse. The life of the sea : implications of marine population biology to conservation policy / Stephen R. Palumbi and Dennis Hedgecock ; The Allee effect in the sea / Don R. Levitan and Tamara M. McGovern ; Extinction risk in marine species / Ransom A. Meyers and C. Andrea Ottensmeyer ; Behavioral approaches to marine conservation / Julia K. Parrish pt. 2. Threats to marine biological diversity / Elliott A. Norse and Larry B. Crowder. The potential for nutrient overenrichment to diminish marine biodiversity / Nancy N. Rabalais ; The magnitude and consequences of bioinvasions in marine ecosystems : implications for conservation biology / James T. Carlton and Gregory M. Ruiz ; Diseases and the conservation of marine biodiversity / Kiho Kim ... [et al.] ; Multiple stessors in marine systems / Denise L. Breitburg and Gerhardt F. Riedel pt. 3. The greatest threat : fisheries / Larry B. Crowder and Elliott A. Norse. Global fisheries and marine conservation : is coexistence possible? / Dave Preikshot and Daniel Pauly ; The global destruction of bottom habitats by mobile fishing gear / Les Watling ; Effects of fishing on long-lived marine organisms / Selina S. Heppell ... [et al.] ; Evolutionary impacts of fishing on target populations / Richard Law and Kevin Stokes ; Are sustainable fisheries achievable? / Ray Hilborn pt. 4. Place-based management of marine ecosystems / Larry B. Crowder and Elliott A. Norse. Marine protected areas and biodiversity conservation/ Callum M. Roberts ; Marine reserve function and design for fisheries management / Joshua Sladek Nowlis and Alan Friedlander ; Placed-based ecosystem management in the open ocean / Elliott A. Norse ... [et al.] ; Metapopulation structure and marine reserves / Romuald N. Lipcius, Larry B. Crowder, and Lance E. Morgan pt. 5. Human dimensions / Elliott A. Norse and Larry B. Crowder. Developing rules to manage fisheries : a cross-cultural perspective / James M. Acheson ; The role of legal regimes in marine conservation / Alison Rieser, Charlotte Gray Hudson, and Stephen E. Roady ; Uncertainty in marine management / Louis W. Botsford and Ana M. Parma ; Recovering populations and restoring ecosystems : restoration of coral reefs and related marine communities / Robert H. Richmond ; Toward a sea ethic / Dorinda G. Dallmeyer ; Ending the range wars on the last frontier : zoning the sea / Elliott A. Norse. Loss of marine biodiversity, including extinctions and habitat degradation, has received little attention. At the same time, marine sciences such as oceanography and fisheries biology have largely ignored issues of conservation. Here, experts from around the world to apply the lessons and thinking of conservation biology to marine issues.