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Biodiversity and Conservation
Published in: Biodiversity and Conservation 8/2013

01-07-2013 | Brief Communication

A pragmatic and utilitarian view of species translocation as a tool in conservation biology

Authors: Hanna Müller, Ove Eriksson

Published in: Biodiversity and Conservation | Issue 8/2013

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Abstract

We discuss the controversial issue of species translocation for conservation, i.e. the intentional moving of a species to a non-native area when the species is threatened by extinction in its native area. Based on an argument inspired by utilitarianism: “a conservation method is good when the number of global extinctions it prevents exceeds the number of global extinctions it causes”, we identify and briefly discuss the answer to two critical research questions, and conclude that translocation has the potential to reduce net decline in global species diversity and therefore should be accepted more widely as a tool for conservation.
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Metadata
Title
A pragmatic and utilitarian view of species translocation as a tool in conservation biology
Authors
Hanna Müller
Ove Eriksson
Publication date
01-07-2013
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Biodiversity and Conservation / Issue 8/2013
Print ISSN: 0960-3115
Electronic ISSN: 1572-9710
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0504-6

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