University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore

Includes bibliographical references (pages 553-586) and index.

What is conservation biology? -- What is biological diversity? -- Where is the world's biological diversity found? -- Ecological economics and direct use values -- Indirect use value -- Ethical values -- Extinction -- Vulnerability to extinction -- Habitat destruction, fragmentation, degradation, and global climate change -- Overexploitation, invasive species, and disease -- Problems of small populations -- Applied population biology -- Establishing new populations -- Ex situ conservation strategies -- Establishing protected areas -- Designing networks of protected areas -- Managing protected areas -- Conservation outside protected areas -- Restoration ecology -- Conservation and sustainable development at the local and national levels -- An international approach to conservation and sustainable development -- An agenda for the future.

This volume combines theory with applied and basic research to explain the connections between conservation biology and environmental economics, ethics, law, and the social sciences. It stresses the need for theory, research and an interdisciplinary approach in solving conservation problems.