BSC 4930 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Arthur Tansley, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Reductionism
Document Summary
Main thread of the field: description, explaination, appreciation, protection, and perpetuation of biological diversity. Discovery of biodiversity unfolded with colonialism, the industrial revolution, population growth, and expansion of capitalism. Progressive-era reform- gave conservation in the us its modern meaning and turned it into a national concern: utilitarian: resource conservation ethic. The greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time : romantic: transcentdental preservation ethic. Celebrated the aesthetic and spiritual value of connection with nature. Protection of parklands, refugees, forests and wildlife just because it was so natural and good (moral/romantic as opposed to efficient and rational usage: both were human-centered, primarily economic in orientation, reductionist in tendencies, and selective in application. National environmental policy act (1970): required analysis of environmental impacts in federal decision-making. Endangered species act (1973): called for an unprecendented degree of scienfitic involvement in the identification, protection, and recovery of species threated with extinction.
