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Scientific Meeting - Saving Species on the Edge: From Theory to Practice
Dates: 13 Mar 2007
Times: 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
This meeting highlights the importance of prioritising evolutionarily distinct species and safeguarding global biodiversity when approaching mammalian conservation.
Many of the world's most evolutionarily distinct species are on the edge of extinction, yet they receive little or no conservation attention. For example, China's Yangtze river dolphin and the solenodons of Hispaniola and Cuba, are the last surviving representatives of entire families of mammals, yet are unfamiliar to both conservationists and the public, and are frequently overlooked by current conservation initiatives.
© Eladio FernandezIf such evolutionarily distinct species are not highlighted and conserved, then we will not only lose many of the world's most interesting species, but also greatly reduce the potential for future evolution. The concept of using phylogeny as a tool for setting conservation priorities is presented, with reference to an innovative approach to species conservation currently being developed by ZSL scientists.
The importance of prioritising evolutionarily distinct species and safeguarding global biodiversity, and some practical implications of this approach for mammalian conservation will be discussed.
Organised by Dr Jonathan Baillie, Institute of Zoology, ZSL
Speakers:
Dr Nick Isaac, Research Fellow, Institute of Zoology, ZSL, London;
Dr Arne Mooers, Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin, Germany; and
Dr Jonathan Baillie, Research Fellow, Institute of Zoology, ZSL, London
Guest Chair:
Professor Andy J. Purvis, Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London
Saving species on the EDGE: from theory to practice Scientific Meeting abstracts (48 KB)
Please note that this event was part of the 2006-07 Scientific Meetings programme
Related links
ZSL Scientific Meetings
find out more about the EDGE of Existence programme
