Principles of Conservation Biology [Hardcover]

Gary K. Meffe (Author), C. Ronald Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997 | ISBN-10: 0878935215 | ISBN-13: 978-0878935215 | Edition: 2nd

Revised and updated to include current case studies, this textbook addresses several themes including: population issues; community and ecosystem concerns; human dimensions; and the practical application of conservation biology in a real and complex world. This second edition of the text also features a new chapter on becoming more effective in the implementation of science in conservation policy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

". . . remains the most comprehensive textbook and reference currently available on the subject." -- —Jari Niemelä, Conservation Biology

"... an excellent springboard for advanced biology students and a valuable resource for practitioners of conservation biology." -- —Terry L. Derting, BioScience

"It is simply the best book available on the many aspects of conservation biology and ramifications of biodiversity loss. " -- —Joseph C. Mitchell, ASB Bulletin

About the Author

Martha J. Groom is an Associate Professor in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences program at the University of Washington, Bothell and the Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle. She teaches conservation biology, ecology, landscape planning and topical courses on science, policy, and society. She has won several teaching awards. Her research focuses on the influences of fragmentation and landscape context on species persistence. Gary K. Meffe is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. He is senior author of Ecosystem Management: Adaptive, Community-Based Conservation, coauthor of Conserving Biodiversity on Military Lands: A Handbook for Natural Resources Managers, and coeditor of Ecology and Evolution of Livebearing Fishes. Since 1997 he has served as Editor of the international journal Conservation Biology. C. Ronald Carroll is the former Director of the Institute of Ecology at the University of Georgia and currently the Director for Science in the River Basin Science and Policy Center at the University of Georgia. He is the series editor for the newly initiated Southern Environment Series of the UGA Press. He teaches conservation ecology and conducts research on invasive species in the southeastern United States. He is also engaged in a large conservation and sustainable development project in Ecuador known as the Chocó-Andean Corridor Project. The project is located in northwestern Ecuador and embraces two globally significant hotspots of biological diversity, the Chocó and the Western Andean slopes. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 729 pages
• Publisher: Sinauer Associates Inc; 2nd edition (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878935215
• ISBN-13: 978-0878935215
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #399,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Conservation Biology review, March 8, 2007

By 

K. Sutton "missreadsalot" (Ananheim, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Principles of Conservation Biology, Third Edition (Hardcover)

Excellent book, either for the serious student or for someone just interested in the subject. However most of the graphics are in black and white, so it takes some getting used to, but there are some nice color plates in the middle of the book. It is generally written well and seldom assumes you know what they are talking about without an explanation of some of the concepts.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed bag, November 13, 2007

By 

Formicarius (NE Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles of Conservation Biology, Third Edition (Hardcover)

Individual chapters are done well. Case studies and essays are a nice touch and make great reading assignments for students. However, I find the redundancy of information a bit frustrating. To make matters worse, there are many times when the same information (e.g., population dynamics) is presented using different terminology. There is another issue in having to wade through pages of examples in the text to distill out a generalization. It would also be nice for the authors to address some of the more public issues directly with references. For example, in the Global Warming chapter, I would have liked to have "common misconceptions" and then the studies that support the scientific consensus. I think this is a valuable text but the next iteration should aim to cut down on redundancy, standardize terms, and have the major points of each chapter at the beginning of each chapter. Just to make life easier, it would be nice if there was a CD to accompany the text with figures and graphs from the text.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enriching text, the best of the best, March 13, 2009

By 

Deniz Ozut (Ankara, Turkey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Principles of Conservation Biology, Third Edition (Hardcover)

I have come across Principles of Conservation Biology, while I was an undergraduate student. I remember wondering these times, whether I have changed or that textbook makes itself read. These days we had to read to get good grades, and we used to read literature to entertain ourselves; until this book. This book is both a textbook and a philospphy, a literature, a travel journal, a life book. It synthesizes and delivers so diverse subjects so nicely, elegantly and fully that, it becomes the book the conservation biology deserves. This book is not only for students or practitioners of nature conservation, but for everybody who wishes to understand our role in nature as human beings. This book gets to you with a detailed enough, realistic and widescope view, written in a way that harmonizes scholar, everyday, and philosophical language. A must read.