Abstract
Loss of our natural surroundings - and the biodiversity it harbours - has become such an issue that we are currently in the first era of mass extinction caused by man. For many years now, scientists have studied trends of degradation and biodiversity loss, providing essential insight in the consequences of these trends for ecosystem functioning. Yet, how much of this fundamental scientific insight has directly led to innovative approaches in conserving our natural surroundings and the biodiversity within? This edition of Current Themes in Ecology addresses the role of fundamental science in contributing to the sustainable conservation of nature, where various points of entry are used: - Insight in behaviour and responses of systems, animals, and plants; opening innovative roads to conservation - Methodology; with meta-analyses revealing patterns that individual studies do not show - Technology; such as drones, satellite imagery, 3D scans of organisms and even whole ecosystems - Theory; with paradigms shifting the view on conservation, or debates like land sparing/land sharing, or the effectiveness of the ecosystem services approach We aim to address these different points of entry at which innovation in conservation can occur and present examples of how these have changed the way individual species or even complete ecosystems are being conserved.
Netherlands