95th ESA Annual Meeting (August 1 -- 6, 2010)

SYMP 21-1 - Introduction: The challenge of conservation when nature is on the move

Thursday, August 5, 2010: 1:40 PM
Blrm BC, David L Lawrence Convention Center
Thomas Lovejoy, George Mason University & Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
Background/Question/Methods and Results/Conclusions

Traditional conservation approaches were based on the assumption of a stable climate and a relatively static landscape and biogeography. With initial climate change nature is very much in flux and the current protected areas system while valid in a sense of safe havens from which new biogeographic pattern can emerge will not be able to safeguard a lot of the species for which the areas were set aside. This requires a new approach to conservation and thinking on a new, indeed planetary scale.