Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems

Anthony D Barnosky; Elizabeth A Hadly; Patrick Gonzalez; Jason Head; P David Polly; A Michelle Lawing; Jussi T Eronen; David D Ackerly; Ken Alex; Eric Biber; Jessica Blois; Justin Brashares; Gerardo Ceballos; Edward Davis; Gregory P Dietl; Rodolfo Dirzo; Holly Doremus; Mikael Fortelius; Harry W Greene; Jessica Hellmann; Thomas Hickler; Stephen T Jackson; Melissa Kemp; Paul L Koch; Claire Kremen; Emily L Lindsey; Cindy Looy; Charles R Marshall; Chase Mendenhall; Andreas Mulch; Alexis M Mychajliw; Carsten Nowak; Uma Ramakrishnan; Jan Schnitzler; Kashish Das Shrestha; Katherine Solari; Lynn Stegner; M Allison Stegner; Nils Chr Stenseth; Marvalee H Wake; Zhibin Zhang

doi:10.1126/science.aah4787

Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems

Science. 2017 Feb 10;355(6325):eaah4787. doi: 10.1126/science.aah4787.

Authors

Anthony D Barnosky^{1

2}, Elizabeth A Hadly³, Patrick Gonzalez^{4

5}, Jason Head⁶, P David Polly⁷, A Michelle Lawing⁸, Jussi T Eronen^{9

10}, David D Ackerly¹¹, Ken Alex¹², Eric Biber¹³, Jessica Blois¹⁴, Justin Brashares⁵, Gerardo Ceballos¹⁵, Edward Davis¹⁶, Gregory P Dietl^{17

18}, Rodolfo Dirzo¹⁹, Holly Doremus²⁰, Mikael Fortelius^{21

22}, Harry W Greene²³, Jessica Hellmann²⁴, Thomas Hickler²⁵, Stephen T Jackson²⁶, Melissa Kemp²⁷, Paul L Koch²⁸, Claire Kremen²⁹, Emily L Lindsey³⁰, Cindy Looy³¹, Charles R Marshall³⁰, Chase Mendenhall^{32

33}, Andreas Mulch^{34

35}, Alexis M Mychajliw¹⁹, Carsten Nowak³⁶, Uma Ramakrishnan³⁷, Jan Schnitzler^{38

39}, Kashish Das Shrestha⁴⁰, Katherine Solari¹⁹, Lynn Stegner⁴¹, M Allison Stegner⁴², Nils Chr Stenseth⁴³, Marvalee H Wake⁴⁴, Zhibin Zhang⁴⁵

Affiliations

¹ Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. tonybarnosky@stanford.edu.
² Department of Integrative Biology and Museums of Paleontology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
³ Department of Biology, Department of Geological Sciences, Woods Institute for the Environment, Center for Innovations in Global Health, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94303, USA.
⁴ Natural Resource Stewardship and Science, U.S. National Park Service, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
⁵ Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
⁶ Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK.
⁷ Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
⁸ Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77845, USA.
⁹ Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Post Office Box 64, FIN-00014, Finland and BIOS Research Unit, Kalliolanrinne 4, Helsinki, Finland.
¹¹ Department of Integrative Biology, University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
¹² California Governor's Office of Planning and Research, Post Office Box 3044, Sacramento, CA 95812-3044, USA.
¹³ School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
¹⁴ School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA.
¹⁵ Instituto de Ecologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, C.U., Ap. Post. 70-275 Mexico, D.F. 04510, Mexico.
¹⁶ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
¹⁷ Paleontological Research Institution, 1259 Trumansburg Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94303, USA.
²⁰ School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
²¹ Department of Geosciences and Geography, Post Office Box 64, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
²² Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Post Office Box 1066 Blindern, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway.
²³ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
²⁴ Institute of the Environment, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
²⁵ Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) and Institute of Physical Geography, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany.
²⁶ U.S. Geological Survey, Department of Interior Southwest Climate Science Center and Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, 1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
²⁷ Center for the Environment, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
²⁸ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
²⁹ Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 9472, USA.
³⁰ Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
³¹ Department of Integrative Biology, Museum of Paleontology, University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
³² Center for Conservation Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
³³ The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA 22203, USA.
³⁴ Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
³⁵ Institute of Geosciences, Goethe-University Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
³⁶ Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Clamecystrasse 12, D-63571 Gelnhausen, Germany.
³⁷ National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research GKVK, Bellary Road, Bangalore 560065, India.
³⁸ Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
³⁹ Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
⁴⁰ City Museum, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal.
⁴¹ Continuing Studies Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
⁴² Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
⁴³ Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Post Office Box 1066, Blindern NO-0316, Oslo, Norway.
⁴⁴ Department of Integrative Biology and Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
⁴⁵ State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, P.R. China.

PMID: 28183912
DOI: 10.1126/science.aah4787

Abstract

Conservation of species and ecosystems is increasingly difficult because anthropogenic impacts are pervasive and accelerating. Under this rapid global change, maximizing conservation success requires a paradigm shift from maintaining ecosystems in idealized past states toward facilitating their adaptive and functional capacities, even as species ebb and flow individually. Developing effective strategies under this new paradigm will require deeper understanding of the long-term dynamics that govern ecosystem persistence and reconciliation of conflicts among approaches to conserving historical versus novel ecosystems. Integrating emerging information from conservation biology, paleobiology, and the Earth sciences is an important step forward on the path to success. Maintaining nature in all its aspects will also entail immediately addressing the overarching threats of growing human population, overconsumption, pollution, and climate change.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Biodiversity*
Climate Change
Conservation of Natural Resources / methods*
Conservation of Natural Resources / trends*
Endangered Species
Environmental Pollution
Extinction, Biological*
Gorilla gorilla
Humans
Introduced Species
Policy
Population Dynamics