The Importance of Species: Perspectives on Expendability and Triage

Published by Princeton University Press 2003

The Importance of Species

Perspectives on Expendability and Triage

Edited by: Peter Kareiva and Simon A. Levin

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400866779

Overview
Contents

About this book

A great many species are threatened by the expanding human population. Though the public generally favors environmental protection, conservation does not come without sacrifice and cost. Many decision makers wonder if every species is worth the trouble. Of what consequence would the extinction of, say, spotted owls or snail darters be? Are some species expendable?

Given the reality of limited money for conservation efforts, there is a compelling need for scientists to help conservation practitioners set priorities and identify species most in need of urgent attention. Ecology should be capable of providing guidance that goes beyond the obvious impulse to protect economically valuable species (salmon) or aesthetically appealing ones (snow leopards). Although some recent books have considered the ecosystem services provided by biodiversity as an aggregate property, this is the first to focus on the value of particular species. It provides the scientific approaches and analyses available for asking what we can expect from losing (or gaining) species.

The contributors are outstanding ecologists, theoreticians, and evolutionary biologists who gathered for a symposium honoring Robert T. Paine, the community ecologist who experimentally demonstrated that a single predator species can act as a keystone species whose removal dramatically alters entire ecosystem communities. They build on Paine's work here by exploring whether we can identify species that play key roles in ecosystems before they are lost forever. These are some of our finest ecologists asking some of our hardest questions.

They are, in addition to the editors, S.E.B. Abella, G. C. Chang, D. Doak, A. L. Downing, W. T. Edmondson, A. S. Flecker, M. J. Ford, C.D.G. Harley, E. G. Leigh Jr., S. Lubetkin, S. M. Louda, M. Marvier, P. McElhany, B. A. Menge, W. F. Morris, S. Naeem, S. R. Palumbi, A. G. Power, T. A. Rand, R. B. Root, M. Ruckelshaus, J. Ruesink, D. E. Schindler, T. W. Schoener, D. Simberloff, D. A. Spiller, M. J. Wonham, and J. T. Wootton.

Author / Editor information

Peter Kareiva is a member of The Nature Conservancy's Science Council and the lead scientist for the Pacific Region. Coeditor of Spatial Ecology (Princeton) and other books, he has also taught at Brown University and the University of Washington. Simon A. Levin is George M. Moffett Professor of Biology at Princeton University. He is the author of Fragile Dominion and served as Editor in Chief of the five-volume Encyclopedia of Biodiversity.

Reviews

I recommend this book both as practical advice for conservation practitioners, and as a summary of recent theory and experiments for any ecologist interested in the interface between species and their communities and ecosystems.---Gareth J. Russell, Ecology

"I have great regard for this book, which addresses a new and highly important question: are some species expendable? It is a book that, given the complexity of the subject, necessarily speaks with many voices. It draws together an outstanding team of scholars and is well written and unusually well organized and synthetic."—G. David Tilman, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of Minnesota

"This book deals with issues at the cutting edge of contemporary ecology and has no direct competitors. The editors have succeeded in assembling an impressive group of authors—from major established figures to the best young guns—to produce an interesting and frequently provocative series of chapters."—H. Charles J. Godfray, Director, NERC Centre for Population Biology

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Foreword Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xv
Part I. Using Experimental Removals of Species to Reveal the Consequences of Biodiversity Depletion
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Native Thistles: Expendable or Integral to Ecosystem Resistance to Invasion? Svat̆a M. Louda and Tatyana A. Rand Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
2. The Overriding Importance of Environmental Context in Determining the Outcome of Species-Deletion Experiments Bruce A. Menge Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
3. Species Importance and Context: Spatial and Temporal Variation in Species Interactions Christopher D. G. Harley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
4. Effects of Removing a Vertebrate versus an Invertebrate Predator on a Food Web, and What Is Their Relative Importance? Thomas W. Schoener and David A. Spiller Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
5. Understanding the Effects of Reduced Biodiversity: A Comparison of Two Approaches J. Timothy Wootton and Amy L. Downing Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Part II. The Anthropogenic Perspective
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
6 . Models of Ecosystem Reliability and Their Implications for the Question of Expendability Shahid Naeem Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
7. Predicting the Effects of Species Loss on Community Stability Dan Doak and Michelle Marvier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	140
8. One Fish, Two Fish, Old Fish, New Fish: Which Invasions Matter? Jennifer L. Ruesink Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
9. Ecological Gambling: Expendable Extinctions Versus Acceptable Invasions Marjorie J. Wonham Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
10. Rarity and Functional Importance in a Phytoplankton Community Daniel E. Schindler, Gary C. Chang, Susan Lubetkin, Sally E. B. Abella and W. T. Edmondson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
11. Community and Ecosystem Impacts of Single-Species Extinctions Daniel Simberloff Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Part III. Linkages and Externalities
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
12. Social Conflict, Biological Ignorance, and Trying to Agree Which Species Are Expendable Egbert Giles Leigh Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
13. Which Mutualists Are Most Essential? Buffering of Plant Reproduction against the Extinction of Pollinators William F. Morris Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	260
14.The Expendability of Species: A Test Case Based on the Caterpillars on Goldenrods Richard B. Root Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
15. An Evolutionary Perspective on the Importance of Species: Why Ecologists Care about Evolution Stephen R. Palumbi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	292
16. Recovering Species of Conservation Concern—Are Populations Expendable? Mary Ruckelshaus, Paul McElhany and Michael J. Ford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
17. Virus Specificity in Disease Systems: Are Species Redundant? Alison G. Power and Alexander S. Flecker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	330
Conclusion: Bob Paine’s Contributions to the Science of Assessing Species Importance: Past, Present, and Future? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	353
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	415