Preface

Summary

Conservation biology is an applied multidisciplinary science that often deals with crisis situations. Of the many sciences from which conservation biology draws, it relies most heavily on ecology and its various sub-disciplines (population biology and genetics, community ecology, landscape ecology, etc.). One of these sub-disciplines, behavioral ecology, began in the past two decades receiving particular attention regarding its role in conservation biology. Specifically, several books (e.g. Clemmons & Buchholz 1997, Caro 1998, Festa-Bianchet & Apollonio 2003, Blumstein & Fernández-Juricic E. 2010) and papers (e.g. Sutherland 1998, Caro 1999, Linklater 2004, Angeloni et al. 2008, Greggor et al. 2014) began focusing on the interface between conservation biology and behavioral ecology, arguing that the discipline of behavioral ecology is an important component of conservation theory and practice, but has not yet received the attention it deserves. Further published opinions claimed that, in contrast to other ecology sub-disciplines, behavioral ecology has little bearing on conservation (Caro 2007), while others argued that behavioral ecology is, and always was, an important component of conservation biology (Harcourt 1999 and Buchholz 2007, respectively). A survey of the literature by Angeloni et al. (2008) indicated that only ~5% of papers published in leading conservation journals included the term behavior (or its derivatives) in their title, and that there is no evidence of an increasing trend. Angeloni et al. (2008) concluded, based on these findings, that a gap exists between the two disciplines and that the importance of behavioral ecology to conservation has yet to be fully realized. More recently, Nelson (2014) made a similar analysis and reached the same conclusions. When one considers that similar debates never took place with regard to the role of other ecology sub-disciplines in conservation, this debate is somewhat intriguing. It is especially interesting since all the aforementioned papers appear to pose legitimate arguments backed by logic and data that underpin two basic points of contention: (1) is behavioral ecology an important factor in conservation thinking and decision-making? And (2) is conservation behavior (i.e. the application of animal behavior in conservation) a young discipline not yet receiving the attention it deserves?

Biodiversity is a pivotal issue in conservation biology. The logic is straightforward: Diversity is the engine that drives evolution and enables species to change as the world changes. If ecosystems are to continue to provide the services man needs, diversity must be maintained to enable adaptation to a rapidly changing globe.