Species-Level Approach To Conservation

Current conservation programs are focused on the species level because in order to develop a strategy for conserving biodiversity, a substantial awareness of the abundance and distribution of species throughout the world is required (Textbook pg. 53,60). Our current knowledge of the amount of species present on Earth is imprecise for a variety of reasons; however, in order to move forward with protecting biodiversity, conservation biologists must have at least minimal knowledge of what they are setting out to conserve (Textbook pg. 60). Convincing a legislative body to divert money and attention into conserving an ecosystem that there is little solid information about could prove to be a difficult endeavor (pg. 76). Providing a tangible number, even an estimation of the number of species or extinction rate in an area, could potentially be a critical tool to use in demonstrating the importance of conservation projects. Identifying and classifying new species, as well as collecting data about known species are both important to conservation efforts because they provide essential information that is used to determine which species and ecosystems are most in need of protection (Textbook pg. 166).
To prioritize their efforts, conservation programs such as the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) often rely on species-level …show more content…
First, it provides tangible numerical information about many diverse categories of organisms and their populations over time. This standardized quantitative information can be collected across many diverse species and ecosystems and can be made widely accessible to conservation biologists and municipal bodies. Additionally, this approach provides information about the abundance and distribution of species across the globe, allowing conservation programs to prioritize those ecosystems and species that are most in jeopardy of extinction (Textbook pg.