Turning setbacks into stepping-stones for growth in conservation paleobiology

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
By: , and 

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Abstract

Conservation paleobiology is a cross-disciplinary field that utilizes the geohistorical record of past life on Earth to inform present-day decisions in conservation and restoration and assist in planning for future natural resource management. However, information on how past ecosystems and species responded to environmental change over decadal to millennial timescales is rarely incorporated into conservation and restoration decision-making. To heighten awareness among conservation and restoration practitioners of the relevance of geohistorical data and to bridge the gap between research and implementation in conservation paleobiology, we proposed a Research Topic titled “Integrating Conservation Biology and Paleobiology to Manage Biodiversity and Ecosystems in a Changing World”. The 21 articles subsequently published demonstrate the diversity and breadth of geohistorical information available to resource management and the challenges of translating these results into conservation practice and policy. Here we discuss the lessons we learned from editing the Research Topic and suggest a pathway forward for conservation paleobiologists who aspire to generate actionable research results to solve current problems in biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Turning setbacks into stepping-stones for growth in conservation paleobiology
Series title Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
DOI 10.3389/fevo.2024.1384291
Volume 12
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher Frontiers
Contributing office(s) Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Description 1384291, 6 p.
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