Evolution and Ecology Program

EEP Books
Cambridge Studies in Adaptive Dynamics

Evolutionary Conservation Biology Edited by Régis Ferrière, Ulf Dieckmann, and Denis Couvet Cambridge University Press (2004). From the Back Cover As anthropogenic environmental changes spread and intensify across the planet, conservation biologists have to analyze dynamics on large spatial and temporal scales. Ecological and evolutionary processes are then closely intertwined. In particular, evolutionary responses to anthropogenic environmental change can be so fast and pronounced that conservation biology can no longer afford to ignore them. To tackle this challenge, currently disparate areas of conservation biology ought to be integrated into a unified framework. Bringing together conservation genetics, demography, and ecology, this book introduces evolutionary conservaton biology as an integrative approach to managing species in conjunction with ecological interactions and evolutionary processes. Which characteristics of species and which features of environmental change foster or hinder evolutionary responses in ecological systems? How do such responses affect population viability, community dynamics, and ecosystem functioning? Under which conditions will evolutionary responses ameliorate, rather than worsen, the impact of environmental change? This book shows that the grand challenge for evolutionary conservation biology is to identify strategies for managing genetic and ecological conditions such as ensuring the continued operation of favorable evolutionary processes in natural systems embedded in a rapidly changing world.


Introduction "Evolution has molded the past and paves the future of biodiversity. As anthropogenic damage to the Earth's biota spans unprecedented temporal and spatial scales, it has become urgent to tear down the traditional scientific barriers between conservation studies of populations, communities, and ecosystems from an evolutionary perspective. Acknowledgment that ecological and evolutionary processes closely interact is now mandatory for the development of management strategies aimed at the long-term conservation of biodiversity."

Table of Contents Part A - Theory of Extinction Part B - The Pace of Adaptive Responses to Environmental Change Part C - Genetic and Ecological Bases of Adaptive Responses Part D - Spatial Structure Part E - Community Structure

Book Review in Bulletin of Mathematical Biology "The book provides an excellent overview of current tools for modelling evolutionary processes associated with different types of populations and landscape patterns."

Book Review in BioScience "Evolutionary Conservation Biology is an ambitious attempt to integrate genetics, ecology, and demography in order to manage species from a conservation biology perspective. Written in the style of an advanced textbook, it provides a current review of key topics in conservation, population biology, and evolutionary ecology."


Book Review in Ecoscience " I recommend this book to forward-thinking conservation biologists as well as to evolutionary ecologists interested in applying their research."