The Conservation Paradox - Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Change - page 11

these days of rapid global change and unprecedented human impact (Gillson and Marchant
2014). he aim of this topic is therefore to explore how long-term data can contribute to conser-
vation philosophy and practice. Palaeoecology, satellite data, historical ecology, and long-term
monitoring and experimental plots can all contribute to a multidisciplinary approach to under-
standing present change in the context of the past-present-future continuum (Figure 1.4) (Daw-
son et al. 2011, Gillson and Marchant 2014).
By focusing on urgent conservation problems of today, some general principles emerge for
integrating long-term thinking into conservation planning and management. Chapter 2
explores the question of elephant culling, using palaeoecological data from elephant habitat.
Chapter 3 looks at issues of re-wilding, and whether large mammals can and should be intro-
duced to 'wilderness' areas. Chapter 4 examines the controversies surrounding fire manage-
ment. Chapter 5 explores the multifaceted question of adapting and responding to climate
change. Chapter 6 examines the management and restoration of ecosystem services, and
Chapter 7 investigates opportunities for strengthening the linkages between nature and cul-
ture in the Anthropocene and points to a way forward for the multifunctional landscapes of
today. Chapter 8 draws out general principles from these case studies, including the role of
conservation science in these days of high uncertainty and risk.

Box 1.1 Mainstreaming palaeoecology?

Ecology is the study of the interactions between
plants, animals, and their environment. Palaeoecol-
ogy is the study of these interactions on timescales
of decades to millions of years, using fossils, micro-
fossils and other environmental proxies to under-
stand the dynamics of environmental change and
plant and animal communities. Often, such prox-
ies are extracted from lake or marine cores, which
preserve chronological records of environmental
change in their sedimentary sequences, though
palaeoecological data can also be extracted from
other long-term records such as tree rings, middens,
peat beds and archaeological sites. Archaeology,
long-term monitoring plots, historical records, and
satellite images also contribute to our understand-
ing of long-term change.
Questions about the causes and consequences of
ecosystem change are common to both neo- and pal-
aeoecology, and the theoretical frameworks and ap-
plications of the two disciplines in conservation and
ecosystem management overlap. However, specialist

techniques are required in in palaeoecology, because
of the timescales involved, and these methodologi-
cal differences have created a barrier between pal-
aeoecologists and neoecologists, partly because the
technical jargon associated with palaeo-work can
seem off-putting, and partly because the links with
ecological theory and application are sometimes
not fully explored by palaeoecologists. Recently, the
growing need to understand ecosystem dynamics
and resilience has created a new impetus for inter-
disciplinary studies that integrate multiple sources of
data to understand that past-present-future con-
tinuum, and it seems time for palaeoecology to step
into the mainstream. Some common palaeoecologi-
cal techniques include:
Charcoal analysis: the study of charcoal abun-
dance in sedimentary records as an indicator of
past fire history.
Dendrochronology: the study of tree rings, which
can indicate climatic change and fire history.

continued