Current normative concepts in conservation

A plethora of normative conservation concepts have recently emerged, most o f which are ill-defined: biological diversity biological integrity, ecologi cal restoration ecological services, ecological rehabilitation, ecological sustainability, sustainable development ecosystem health, ecosystem managem ent adaptive management and keystone species are salient among them These n ormative concepts can be organized and interpreted by reference to two new schools of conservation philosophy, compositionalism and functionalism. The former comprehends nature primarily by means of evolutionary ecology and c onsiders Homo sapiens separate from nature. The latter comprehends nature p rimarily by means of ecosystem ecology and considers Homo sapiens a part Of nature. Biological diversity, biological integrity and ecological restorat ion belong primarily in the compositionalist glossary; the rest belong prim arily in the functionalist glossary. The former set are more appropriate no rms for reserves, the latter for areas that are humanly inhabited and explo ited. In contrast to the older schools of conservation philosophy, preserva tionism and resourcism, compositionalism and functionalism are complementar y, not competitive and mutually exclusive. As the historically divergent ec ological sciences-evolutionary ecology and ecosystem ecology-are increasing ly synthesized, a more unified philosophy of conservation can be envisioned .