Applied ecology focused on biodiversity preservation: extinction risk, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, population viability analysis. Substrate of IUCN Red List assessments and reserve-design practice.
conservation-biology
Biodiversity
Variety of life at three nested scales: genetic diversity within populations, species diversity within communities (α, β, γ), and ecosystem…
Extinction risk (IUCN)
IUCN Red List categories: LC, NT, VU, EN, CR, EW, EX with quantitative triggers (≥80% decline in 10 y or 3 gen → CR under A2). Basis of…
Habitat fragmentation
Large contiguous habitat broken into isolated patches; reduces effective population size (edge effects, lower connectivity), often more…
Population viability analysis (PVA)
Stochastic simulation of small-population dynamics integrating demographic stochasticity, environmental variance, catastrophes, and…
Minimum viable population (MVP)
Smallest isolated population with >95% probability of persistence for 100 years (or 1000 years in stricter formulations). Empirical rule of…
Invasive species
Non-native species whose introduction causes ecological, economic, or human health harm. Tens-rule: ~1 in 10 introductions establish, ~1 in…
Reserve design (SLOSS)
Single-Large vs Several-Small debate; resolved pragmatically via systematic-conservation-planning algorithms (Marxan) that optimise…
Inbreeding depression
Reduced fitness in offspring of related individuals due to exposure of deleterious recessives and loss of heterozygote advantage.…