Principles and Practice of Plant Conservation

It is paradoxical that, despite the key role of plants in the book's preparation by reviewing manuscripts or the environment and our dependence on plant life for providing literature and case studies for inclusion. our very existence, the conservation movement has The preparation of the text, which went through var not given plants attention that is commensurate with ious drafts, involved Dr. Given in a great deal of re their importance. In an attempt to redress the balance search and travel for fact finding and consultation. of effort between plant and animal conservation, The completed draft was edited by Martin Walters, IUCN and WWF established in 1984 a joint Plant who also prepared it for publication. Professor Ver Conservation Programme, the aim of which was to non Heywood (IUCN) undertook a scientific edit of "assert the fundamental importance of plants in all the final draft. conservation activities:' Both IUCN and WWF would like to express their gratitude to Dr. Given for the enormous effort and One of the main themes of the joint Plant Conser painstaking labor that he has invested in the prepara vation Programme was "building the capacity to con serve. " This included a project, "Plant Conservation: tion of this book over a period of six years. The result Principles and Practice," aimed at providing practic is the first detailed overview ever to be published of ing conservationists with a handbook that explained this vitally important subject.

Klappentext

Principles and Practice of Plant Conservation is the first exhaustive and systematic treatment of the issues of plant conservation, other books on the subject have been collections of articles on specialized topics or of a regional nature. This book, growing out of a major sponsorship effort by two of the world's leading conservation organizations to 'assert the fundamental importance of plants in all conservation activities'. provides the well-integrated coverage that arises from an expert's thoughtful analysis of the entire subject.

Inhalt
1 Reasons for Conserving Plant Diversity.- Conservation and Development.- Developing a Rationale for Conservation.- 2 How Plants Become Threatened or Extinct.- The Process of Extinction.- Characteristics of Declining Populations.- The Influence of Humanity.- Future Losses and Gains.- 3 Documentation and Databases for Plant Conservation.- Types of Data.- Types of Databases.- Collecting and Describing Data.- Data Processing.- Access to Databases.- 4 Plant Population Management.- Biological and Ecological Considerations.- Maintaining Population Characteristics.- Viable Population Planning and Risk Analysis.- Maintaining Essential Habitat.- Field Study Techniques.- Population Management in the Real World.- 5 Plant Conservation in Protected Natural Areas.- Considerations in Designating Protected Areas.- Protected Area Categories.- Managing Protected Areas.- 6 Off-site Plant Conservation.- The Role of Botanic Gardens in Conservation.- Gene Banks and Germ Plasm Conservation.- Experimental Gardens.- Other Off-site Conservation Areas.- Research and Liaison Between Sites.- Constraints to Off-site Conservation.- 7 Plant Conservation in Modified Landscapes.- Types of Modified Landscapes.- Habitat Restoration.- Translocation and Reestablishment.- 8 Awareness and Education.- Environmental Awareness Programs.- Environmental Education Programs.- The Education Function of Protected Areas.- The Contribution of Professionals.- Environmental Education Resources.- The Media.- Social Ethics.- 9 Conservation Legislation, by Cyrille de Klemm.- The Basis for Legislation.- Species-centered Legislation.- Collection Controls.- Trade Controls.- Habitat Protection.- Dynamic Conservation.- Ecosystem-centered Legislation.- Future Directions.- 10 Economics and Plant Conservation.- ValuingResources.- The Costs of Development.- The Costs of Conservation.- International Trade and Foreign Aid.- Allocating Resources for Conservation.- Economic and Environmental Stability.- 11 Putting It Together: Integrated Conservation.- Conservation-A Crisis Discipline.- Cross-sectoral Conservation-Integrated Approaches.- International Organizations.- Multinational and Development Agencies.- Volunteers.- Research Priorities for Conservation.- The Funding Crisis.- The Information Crisis.- Focal Points.- The Last Frontier.- People and Plants.- Conversion Formulas.