title: Biodiversity in the Anthropocene: prospects and policy.
abstract: Meeting the ever-increasing needs of the Earth's human population without excessively reducing biological diversity is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity, suggesting that new approaches to biodiversity conservation are required. One idea rapidly gaining momentum-as well as opposition-is to incorporate the values of biodiversity into decision-making using economic methods. Here, we develop several lines of argument for how biodiversity might be valued, building on recent developments in natural science, economics and science-policy processes. Then we provide a synoptic guide to the papers in this special feature, summarizing recent research advances relevant to biodiversity valuation and management. Current evidence suggests that more biodiverse systems have greater stability and resilience, and that by maximizing key components of biodiversity we maximize an ecosystem's long-term value. Moreover, many services and values arising from biodiversity are interdependent, and often poorly captured by standard economic models. We conclude that economic valuation approaches to biodiversity conservation should (i) account for interdependency and (ii) complement rather than replace traditional approaches. To identify possible solutions, we present a framework for understanding the foundational role of hard-to-quantify 'biodiversity services' in sustaining the value of ecosystems to humanity, and then use this framework to highlight new directions for pure and applied research. In most cases, clarifying the links between biodiversity and ecosystem services, and developing effective policy and practice for managing biodiversity, will require a genuinely interdisciplinary approach.
authors.affiliation: Biodiversity Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK nathalie.seddon@zoo.ox.ac.uk.|Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.|International Institute for Environment and Development, 80-86 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8NH, UK.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1880-6104
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Seddon
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Georgina M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Mace
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Shahid
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6569-2648
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naeem
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK.
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2429-6179
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tobias
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, London, UK.|Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, PO Box 11103, Groningen 9700 CC, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alex L
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3516-1117
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Pigot
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2474-9716
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cavanagh
authors.affiliation: MARBEC, UMR CNRS-UM2 9190, Université Montpellier, Montpellier, France.|Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mouillot
authors.affiliation: UNEP, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vause
authors.affiliation: UNEP, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walpole
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003657:Decision Making; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D018803:Models, Economic
keywords: biodiversity services; conservation; ecosystem; interdisciplinary; sustainable development; values