I. Introduction: The Needs for a Comprehensive Conservation Theory. - 1. Defining the Scientific Issues. - 2. Part 1. Gretchen Long GlickmanScience Conservation Policy and the Public. - 2. H. Ronald PulliamProviding the Scientific Information that Conservation Practitioners Need. - 3. Michael J. BeanA Policy Perspective on Biodiversity Protection and Ecosystem Management. - 3. Conservation and Human Population Growth: What are the Linkages?. - 4. Developing an Analytical Context for Multispecies Conservation Planning. - 5. Operationalizing Ecology under a New Paradigm: An African Perspective. - II. Foundations for a Comprehensive Conservation Theory. - Themes. - 6. The Paradigm Shift in Ecology and Its Implications for Conservation. - 7. The Emerging Role of Patchiness in Conservation Biology. - 8. Linking Ecological Understanding and Application: Patchiness in a Dryland System. - III. Biodiversity and Its Ecological Linkages. - Themes. - 9. The Evaluation of Biodiversity as a Target for Conservation. - 10. Conserving Ecosystem Function. - 11. The Relationship between Patchiness and Biodiversity in Terrestrial Systems. - 12. Reevaluating the Use of Models to Predict the Consequences of Habitat Loss and Fragmentation. - 13. Managing for Heterogeneity and Complexity on Dynamic Landscapes. - 14. Toward a Resolution of Conflicting Paradigms. - 15. The Land Ethic of Aldo Leopold. - IV. Toward a New Conservation Theory. - Themes. - 16. The Future of Conservation Biology: What's a Geneticist to Do?. - 17. Habitat Destruction and Metapopulation Dynamics. - 18. How Viable is Population Viability Analysis?. - 19. Reserve Design and the New Conservation Theory. - 20. Ecosystem Processes and the New Conservation Theory. - 21. Measurement Scales and Ecosystem Management. - 22. BiogeographicApproaches and the New Conservation Biology. - 23. Conserving Interaction Biodiversity. - V. The Application of Conservation Ecology. - Themes. - 24. State-Dependent Decision Analysis for Conservation Biology. - 25. Expanding Scientific Research Programs to Address Conservation Challenges in Freshwater Ecosystems. - 26. Standard Scientific Procedures for Implementing Ecosystem Management on Public Lands. - 27. Whatever It Takes for Conservation: The Case for Alternatives Analysis. - 28. Conservation Activism: A Proper Role for Academics?. - 29. Getting Ecological Paradigms into the Political Debate: Or Will the Messenger Be Shot?. - VI. Synthesis and a Forward Look. - Themes. - 30. A Summary of the Sixth Cary Conference. - 31. The Linkages between Ecology and Conservation. - 32. The Central Scientific Challenge for Conservation Biology. - 33. Toward a Comprehensive Conservation Theory. - Epilogue: A Vision of the Future. Language: English