Ecological thinking is about studying organisms in space and time, classifying patterns of distribution and describing the response of populations to physical/biological factors and the impact of human exploitation. This basic ecological knowledge is applied to make conservation management plans in order to predict the consequences of a particular action in a conservation management system.
A conservation management system is based on evidence about:
- boundaries (e.g. the study of species area relationships)
- distributions of species (e.g. the study of effects of local variations in light)
- classification of communities (e.g. vegetation analysis)
- inputs and flows of energy (e.g. analysis of food chains)
- inputs and cycling of nutrients (e.g. measurement of nutrient reservoirs)
- behaviour of populations in response to: -
- physical factors such as climate, geography and soils;
- biological factors such as disease and predation;
- human factors connected with the use of land and water; such as pollution;
- the exploitative management of species and habitats; such as hunting.
- experience from management systems for the same species in similar habitats
Conservation management implies the control of environmental and socioeconomic factors in order:
- to make more efficient use of materials,
- to recycle materials and energy that are vital to human survival,
- to restore derelict land
- and to maintain the capacity of ecosystems, which are the basis of all economies, to renew and grow.
This is a vast area of applied science and technology, which is developing alongside new social organisations that are changing cultural attitudes towards the value of natural resources.
Over the years, particularly at a governmental level, conservation management has come to focus on biological resources such as:
- Agriculture and pastoralism
- Fisheries
- Forest ecosystems
- Water
- Tourism and recreation
- Wildlife
- Genetic resources
From this perspective the aim is to foster attitudes in community and industry to the use of biological resources, changing from the 'maximum yield' approach to one of ecologically sustainable yield. This new attitude recognises the need for conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological integrity.
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