From Assessing to Conserving Biodiversity : : Conceptual and Practical Challenges.

• Superior document: History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences Series ; v.24
• Author: Casetta, Elena.
• TeilnehmendeR: Marques da Silva, Jorge.; Vecchi, Davide.
• Place / Publishing House: Cham : : Springer International Publishing AG,, 2019.; ©2019.
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (455 pages)

Table of Contents

From Assessing to Conserving Biodiversity -- Contents -- About the Contributors -- Part I: Estimating Biodiversity: Data Collection and Monitoring Challenges -- Chapter 1: Biodiversity Healing -- 1.1 Assessing and Diagnosing the Patient. Estimating Biodiversity: Data Collection and Monitoring Challenges -- 1.2 Are We Taking Care of the Right Patient? Characterising Biodiversity: Beyond the Species Approach -- 1.3 Treating the Patient. Conserving Biodiversity: From Science to Policies -- 1.4 The Way Ahead: Interdisciplinary Solutions to Biodiversity Healing -- References -- Chapter 2: The Hidden Biodiversity Data Retained in Pre-Linnaean Works: A Case Study with Two Important XVII Century Italian Entomologists -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Parasitoid and Predatory Wasps -- 2.3 Diacinto Cestoni's Letter -- 2.4 Gall Wasps and Other Gall Insects -- 2.5 Discussion -- References -- Chapter 3: Marine Biodiversity Databanks -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 What Does It Mean and What Does It Take to Know Biodiversity? -- 3.2.1 Our Current Knowledge of Biodiversity and the Difficulties It Faces -- 3.2.2 Improving Our Knowledge of Biodiversity via Cyber-Infrastructures -- 3.2.2.1 A Brief History of Biodiversity Databanks -- 3.2.2.2 Biodiversity Cyber-Infrastructures -- 3.2.2.3 What Are Data in Biodiversity Databanks? -- 3.3 Uses of Biodiversity Databanks -- 3.3.1 What Do Scientists Do with the Data They Retrieve from Biodiversity Databanks? -- 3.3.2 Databanks vs. Catalogs -- 3.3.3 Databanks' Organization and the Dynamics of Biodiversity Knowledge -- 3.4 On the Properties of Useful Biodiversity Databanks: Concluding Remarks -- References -- Chapter 4: Problems and Questions Posed by Cryptic Species. A Framework to Guide Future Studies -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Why It Is Important to Recognize Cryptic Species -- 4.3 How to Detect and Classify Cryptic Species.

4.3.1 Identification of Genetic Isolation and Biological Species -- 4.3.2 Morphological Differentiation -- 4.4 Identifying the Multiple Causes of Cryptic Species -- 4.4.1 Taxonomic Process -- 4.4.2 Other Causes Besides the Taxonomic Process -- 4.4.2.1 Recent Divergence -- 4.4.2.2 Deceleration in the Accumulation of Diagnostic Morphological Differences or in Morphological Divergence Relative to Genetic Divergence -- 4.4.3 How to Determine If a Cause Is Likely to Explain a CGI Case -- 4.5 Preliminary Results -- 4.6 Concluding Remarks on the Use of Morphospecies for Biodiversity Assessment -- References -- Chapter 5: The Importance of Scaling in Biodiversity -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 An Example from Fractals -- 5.3 Scaling and the Species-Area Relationship -- 5.4 Scaling and Species Abundance Distributions -- 5.5 Final Remarks -- References -- Chapter 6: Measures of Biological Diversity: Overview and Unified Framework -- 6.1 Richness -- 6.2 Entropies and Diversity -- 6.3 Effective Numbers -- 6.4 Parametric Measures of Diversity -- References -- Chapter 7: Essential Biodiversity Change Indicators for Evaluating the Effects of Anthropocene in Ecosystems at a Global Scale -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.1.1 The Need for Essential Biodiversity Variables -- 7.1.2 The Challenges of Biodiversity Change Indicators -- 7.1.3 The Need for Surrogates of Biodiversity Change -- 7.1.4 The Importance of Drivers Limiting or Impacting Biodiversity Change -- 7.1.5 The Nature and Intensity of the Drivers from the Past to the Future -- 7.2 Objective and Rationale -- 7.3 How to Choose Biodiversity Change Metrics in Relation to Driver's Intensity -- 7.3.1 Low Intensity Drivers may Change Biodiversity Metrics from Genetic Composition to Species Populations -- 7.3.2 Intermediate Intensity Drivers May Change Biodiversity Metrics from Species Traits to Community's Composition.

7.3.2.1 Intraspecific Trait Variation -- 7.3.2.2 Functional Trait Metrics -- 7.3.2.3 Multi-trait Metrics -- 7.3.2.4 Taxonomic Diversity Metrics -- 7.3.3 Surrogates of Ecosystem Structure and Functioning Change from Remote Sensing -- 7.4 Final Remarks -- References -- Part II: Characterizing Biodiversity: Beyond the Species Approach -- Chapter 8: Are Species Good Units for Biodiversity Studies and Conservation Efforts? -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Species as the Units of Biodiversity and Conservation -- 8.3 Why Species Are Not Good Units of Biodiversity and Conservation -- 8.4 What to Do with the Species Concept? -- 8.5 Concluding Remarks -- References -- Chapter 9: Why a Species-Based Approach to Biodiversity Is Not Enough. Lessons from Multispecies Biofilms -- 9.1 Microbial Biodiversity and Bacterial Modes of Living -- 9.2 How Multispecies Biofilms Increase Phenotypic and Genetic Diversity -- 9.3 Multispecies Biofilms as Drivers of Evolution -- 9.3.1 The Origin of Biodiversity -- 9.3.2 Are MPB and BSCs Evolutionary Individuals? -- 9.4 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 10: Considering Intra-individual Genetic Heterogeneity to Understand Biodiversity -- 10.1 Introduction to Intra-individual Genetic Heterogeneity -- 10.2 Examples of IGH -- 10.2.1 Mosaic Individuals -- 10.2.2 Chimeric Individuals -- 10.2.3 Mosaic vs. Chimeric Individuals -- 10.3 The Importance of IGH in Ecology and Evolution -- 10.3.1 The Metazoan Bias -- 10.3.2 Biological Organization, Hierarchy and Relevance -- 10.4 Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 11: Biodiversity, Disparity and Evolvability -- 11.1 A Concern for Biodiversity: Evolution's Products at Risk -- 11.1.1 Beyond Species Number -- 11.1.2 Disparity vs. Diversity -- 11.1.3 Functional Diversity -- 11.1.4 Phylogeny vs. Function -- 11.1.5 Antiquarian Sensibility -- 11.2 Conserving Evolutionary Processes.

11.3 Evo-Devo: Evolvability, Robustness, Plasticity -- 11.4 A Lesson from Past Mass Extinctions? -- References -- Chapter 12: Probing the Process-Based Approach to Biodiversity: Can Plasticity Lead to the Emergence of Novel Units of Biodiversity? -- 12.1 Entity-Based and Process-Based Approaches Are Complementary -- 12.2 Entity-Based Approaches to Biodiversity Are Deficient -- 12.2.1 The Limits of Conservation Fundamentalism -- 12.2.2 Towards an Entity and Process-Based Approach to Conservation -- 12.3 Does a Process-Based Approach to Biodiversity Make Sense? -- 12.4 Can Phenotypic Plasticity Confer Evolutionary Potential? -- 12.4.1 A Model of Plasticity -- 12.5 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 13: Between Explanans and Explanandum: Biodiversity and the Unity of Theoretical Ecology -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 The Unity of Ecology -- 13.3 The Explanatory Reversibility of Diversity -- 13.4 Diversity as an Explanandum: Conceptual and Historical Aspects of the Ecological Coexistence Issue -- 13.5 Diversity as an Explanans -- 13.6 A "Conceptual Space" Approach to the Diversity Concept -- 13.7 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 14: Functional Biodiversity and the Concept of Ecological Function -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Ecological Functions and Levels of Selection -- 14.3 Ecological Functions in Functional Ecology -- 14.3.1 Ecological Context vs. Selective History -- 14.3.2 The Explanatory Aim of Ecological Functions -- 14.3.3 By-Products and the Notion of "Functioning as" -- 14.4 What Is an Ecological Function, Then? -- 14.5 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 15: Integrating Ecology and Evolutionary Theory: A Game Changer for Biodiversity Conservation? -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 On the Relationship Between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services -- 15.2.1 Ecosystem Services in Brief.

15.2.2 Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity: Epistemological and Ethical Troubles -- 15.2.3 Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity: An Ecologist's Perspective -- 15.3 Eco-Evolutionary Feedback Theory -- 15.3.1 EEFB and Contemporary Evolution: Three Empirical Cases -- 15.3.1.1 Alewives and Zooplankton -- 15.3.1.2 Trinidad Guppies and Nutrients Cycling -- 15.3.1.3 Populus and Soil Nutrients Levels -- 15.3.2 EEFB, Niche Construction, and Ecosystem Engineering -- 15.3.3 EEFB and Environmentally-Mediated Gene-Associations -- 15.4 Eco-Evolutionary Feedback Theory: Some Consequences for Biodiversity Conservation -- 15.4.1 Ecosystem Engineers First? -- 15.4.2 Genetic Diversity: Better Safe than Sorry -- 15.4.3 EEFB Theory and Evolutionary-Enlightened Management -- 15.5 Conclusions -- References -- Part III: Conserving Biodiversity: From Science to Policies -- Chapter 16: On the Impossibility and Dispensability of Defining ''Biodiversity'' -- 16.1 The Integrative Power of 'Biodiversity' -- 16.2 On Defining 'Biodiversity' -- 16.3 Representing Biodiversity -- 16.4 The Hybridization of Facts and Values in 'Biodiversity' -- 16.5 Conclusion: Biodiversity as an Absolute Metaphor -- References -- Chapter 17: The Vagueness of "Biodiversity" and Its Implications in Conservation Practice -- 17.1 Introduction -- 17.2 The False Transparency of the Definition of Biodiversity -- 17.2.1 Diverging Definitions of "Biodiversity" Coexist -- 17.2.2 The Various Disciplinary Studies "of Biodiversity" Do Not Study the Same Things -- 17.2.3 The Various Disciplinary Studies "of Biodiversity" Presuppose that they Study Various Aspects of a Common Entity -- 17.2.4 Defining "Biodiversity" Thanks to the Notions of Diversity or Variety Is Insufficient to Identify such a Common Entity -- 17.3 How False Transparency Creates Concrete Problems for Conservation Science and Action.

17.3.1 The False Transparency of "Biodiversity" Can Impair the Coordination of Interacting Conservation Actions.