1 Wildlife, Ecology, and Conservation
This textbook is meant to provide an introduction to wildlife ecology and conservation. Perhaps the most fundamental starting point for that introduction is to define each of the terms “wildlife”, “ecology”, and “conservation”, so that you, the reader, have a sense of what we will cover in the following chapters. However, before reading the descriptions below, spend a moment thinking about these terms and challenge yourself to define each of them without looking at external resources.
What is “Wildlife”
Wildlife is an interesting term to attempt to define. At its most basic it implies all living things that are wild, meaning not domesticated and not human. But that includes a vast array organisms, from bacteria to fungus, slime molds to plants, clams to worms, and so on. These are all living organisms that are not domesticated, but they are also not something a wildlife biologist would focus on, they are instead the realm of a microbiologist for bacteria, mycologists for fungus, botanists for plants, malacologists for clams, helminthologist for worms, and who knows what for those fascinating slime molds. The next natural assumption might be to narrow down the field of wild living organisms to those that have a vertebral column (backbone), e.g., the Vertebrata or Vertebrates. The vertebrates include five major groups of animals, the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. We are much closer to the organisms that would typically fall in the realm of wildlife biology, but one major group, the fish, is again something left to other fields of study, such as ichthyology. It is the remaining four groups (Classes) of animals, the birds (Aves), mammals (Mammalia), reptiles (Reptilia), and amphibians (Amphibia), that are truly what is studied by a wildlife biologist.
The reason that wildlife biologists focus on birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians is historically rooted in why we first became interested in studying and managing wildlife in North America. There were two main reasons, one is that various bird and mammal species were important agricultural pests necessitating control, the other is that some bird and mammal species were animals harvested for food or fur without regulation, and population declines began to impact hunting and furtaking. As time moved on the list of animals began to expand to include non-game and non-pest vertebrate species, both due to recreational interests, such as bird watching, but also our increased understanding of their importance in healthy ecosystems. Briefly, there was even an attempt to wrap fisheries biology and wildlife biology together, at least in the federal government, but a coalition of fisheries biologists reneged, and ever since the two professions have remained separate, even if managed under the same agency.
As stated in the beginning of this section, wildlife is an interesting term to attempt to define. It can mean all non-domesticated living things, or it can mean only the non-domesticated birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. In the context of wildlife biology or ecology we are typically focusing just on those four classes of animal, and given that this is the theme of this book we will henceforth use the term wildlife as such.
What is “Ecology”
Fortunately, the definition of “Ecology” is more straightforward than that of wildlife. Although the study of what we now call ecological concepts had occurred since the 1700s, Ernst Haeckel, a German zoologist and naturalist, first coined (devised) the term Ecology in 1866. Haeckel admired Darwin’s theory of evolution and recognized the need for a term to describe the science of the relations of organisms to the environment. In a paper discussing organism morphology and Darwin’s theory of evolution, he combined the Greek words oikos meaning home and logos meaning study of, and wrote “By ecology, we mean the whole science of the relations of the organism to the environment including, in the broad sense, all the conditions of existence” (translated by Stauffer 1957). We now recognize the term “ecology” as “the study of the interactions among organisms and their biophysical environment (meaning both living and non-living components of the ecosystem).” In this text we will provide an introduction to various ecological concepts throughout Section II as a necessary foundation for understanding the severity of the threats to wildlife discussed in Section III and the importance of conservation actions described in Section IV.
What is “Conservation”
The origins of the term “Conservation” lie in the 14th century with the combination of the Latin com (assimilated to con before an “s”) meaning “with, together” and servare, meaning to “keep watch, maintain” to become conservacioun: preservation of health and soundness, the act of guarding or keeping with care. However, it was not until the early 1900s, during the Era of Protection in North America (see chapter 9), that the term was specifically applied to wildlife and wild places by Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot, a 1989 graduate of Yale, had travelled Europe to be trained in forestry and was later appointed by Theodore Roosevelt as the first Chief of the newly formed United States Forest Service. In this role, he was at odds with both the timber companies, that were overexploiting the nation’s National Forests, as well as the preservationists, such as John Muir, that sought to stop commercial use of the forests all together. Pinchot believed that we should use our natural resources, including our forests, but in a manner that allowed for sustained renewal, rather than complete exhaustion. It was in finding a middle ground between overutilization and strict preservation that Pinchot established the modern definition of conservation as applied to our natural resources; in his book Breaking New Ground he wrote “Conservation is the foresighted utilization, preservation, and / or renewal of forests, waters, lands, and minerals, for the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time.” Although the word “conservation” is now often conflated with “preservation”, they are not synonymous, indeed Pinchot was specifically trying to use a word that did not imply only strict preservation, but rather focused on sustainable use of our natural resources when possible.
The Role of a Wildlife Conservation Biologist
Given the breadth of species that fall into our definition of wildlife, the complexity of their ecological interactions, and the range of conservation needs that they face, the role of a wildlife conservation biologists can vary widely and there is a plethora of career paths that can be taken. The Wildlife Society, North America’s largest professional organization for wildlife biologists, lists and describes several of these careers, including: Wildlife Biologist, Wildlife Manager, Wildlife Educator, Public Educator, Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer, Wildlife Technician, Wildlife Inspector and Forensic Specialist, Communications and Public Relations Specialist, Wildlife Policy Analyst, Wildlife Consultant, Wildlife Economist, Wildlife Administrator, and GIS Specialist. This list does not even delve into how varied each of these careers can be across state, federal, and non-governmental organizations.
Summary
Although technically any living organism that is neither man, nor domesticated by man, could be described as “wildlife”, history and convention leads us to focus primarily on birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians in the field of wildlife biology. Understanding the ecology of wildlife, i.e., how they interact with each other and their environment, is critical to our ability to conserve them for future generations. It is thus the broad goal of wildlife conservation biologists to understand and manage our wildlife resources in a sustainable manner. The means to do so are broad, varied, and quite frankly, often very exciting.
