ABSTRACT
Conservation of biodiversity long has relied on strategies that seek either to preserve current ecological conditions or restore back to some historical period. As the scope and severity of climate-driven impacts on natural systems grow, the effectiveness of these traditional approaches will be challenged (see also Chapter 4). Conservation in an era of climate change increasingly will need to manage toward a dynamic future rather than a static past, and be open to the challenging task of reconsidering long-held conservation goals and objectives. In particular, there will be a need to shift from a focus on maintaining specific patterns of ecological diversity – species and habitats – toward sustaining underlying processes – both ecological and evolutionary – that promote continued ecological functioning in the face of inevitable transitions. Consequently, successful adaptation will be defined less by the persistence of current patterns and conditions, and more by managing change in ways that sustain core conservation values and human needs.
