Plant Conservation Science And Practice

This book focuses on global efforts to protect plant diversity and the role that botanic gardens play in conserving plant species.

Faced with widespread and devastating loss of biodiversity in wild habitats, scientists have developed innovative strategies for studying and protecting targeted plant and animal species in "off-site" facilities such as botanic gardens and zoos. Such ex situ work is an increasingly important component of conservation and restoration efforts. Ex Situ Plant Conservation, edited by Edward O. Guerrant Jr., Kayri Havens, and Mike Maunder, is the first book to address integrated plant conservation strategies and to examine the scientific, technical, and strategic bases of the ex situ approach. The book examines where and how ex situ investment can best support in situ conservation. Ex Situ Plant Conservation outlines the role, value, and limits of ex situ conservation as well as updating best management practices for the field, and is an invaluable resource for plant conservation practitioners at botanic gardens, zoos, and other conservation organizations; students and faculty in conservation biology and related fields; managers of protected areas and other public and private lands; and policymakers and members of the international community concerned with species conservation.

Commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature and IUCN - The World Conservation Union as part of their joint endeavor of "building the capacity to conserve," this work by David R. Given elucidates the concepts that underlie successful conservation efforts. Drawing on his own work and involving international collaboration, the author also presents a large number of real-life case studies that illustrate the principles of conservation in action. Chapters are devoted to the natural - and unnatural - causes of plant rarity and endangerment, and the management of plant populations in natural habitats, in modified landscapes, and off-site to preserve germplasm. Going beyond the biology of conservation, other chapters are devoted to the ethical, educational, and economic aspects of plant conservation. Cyrille de Klemm, an expert on international law, has contributed a chapter on conservation legislation.

Plant Conservation in the Tropics presents a set of case studies reviewing some of the most pertinent plant conservation being carried out by experts at the tropical biodiversity frontline.

"This book is a review of the current scientific knowledge that underpins seed banking, a technology which plays a key role in the conservation of both domesticated and non-domesticated plant speices..."--Publisher description.

Through a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches, this book explores the role of international environmental law in protecting and conserving plants. Underpinning every ecosystem on the planet, plants provide the most basic requirements: food, shelter and clear air. Yet the world’s plants are in trouble; a fifth of all plant species are at risk of extinction, with thousands more in perpetual decline. In a unique study of international environmental law, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and restrictions associated with protecting and conserving plants. Through analysing the relationship between conservation law and conservation practice, the book debates whether the two work symbiotically, or if the law poses more of a hindrance than a help. Further discussion of the law’s response to some of the major threats facing plants, notably climate change, international trade and invasive species, grounds the book in conservation literature. Using case studies on key plant biomes to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the law in practice, the book also includes previously unpublished results of an original empirical study into the correlations between the IUCN Red List and lists of endangered/protected species in international instruments. To conclude, the book looks to the future, considering broader reforms to the law to support the work of conservation practitioners and reshape humanity’s relationships with nature. The book will be of interest to scholars and students working in the field of international environmental law and those interested more broadly in conservation and ecological governance frameworks.