Misdirections in conservation biology

The hypothesis that conservation biology is proceeding along two separate t rajectories (Caughley 1994) has provoked extensive discussion. Caughley's d ichotomy, a "small-population" paradigm versus a "declining-population" par adigm, has recently been exemplified in discussion of management strategies for conservation of the Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch). Recommendations f rom extensive fieldwork focused on reducing the major known threat to the s pecies-habitat destruction-and proposed a strategy of forest management and protection. A population and habitat viability analysis focused on an enti rely different issue-low genetic diversity-and proposed a program of single -species genetic management. It is not surprising that geneticists see inbr eeding as a major conservation problem, and it is not unusual that ecologis ts focus on how ecology relates to conservation. A problem results when man agers assume that addressing only one or the other of these factors is the appropriate conservation action. Conservation biologists must learn to thor oughly analyze every conservation problem before trying to solve it. We mus t actively involve experts from all fields in forming and reviewing conserv ation strategies. If only captive breeding specialists or ecologists are in vited to address a problem, then the techniques employed to solve it will b e irrevocably biased. We do not all see the world in the same way, even wit hin the relatively small field of conservation. To achieve effective conser vation action, we must learn to balance and capitalize on our different per spectives.