An increasing variety of biological problems involving resource
management, conservation and environmental quality have been dealt with
using the principles of population biology (defined to include
population dynamics, genetics and certain aspects of community ecology).
There appears to be a mixed record of successes and failures and almost
no critical synthesis or reviews that have attempted to discuss the
reasons and ways in which population biology, with its remarkable
theoretical as well as experimental advances, could find more useful
application in agriculture, forestry, fishery, medicine and resource and
environmental management.
This book provides examples of state-of-the-art applications by a
distinguished group of researchers in several fields. The diversity of
topics richly illustrates the scientific and economic breadth of their
discussions as well as epistemological and comparative analyses by the
authors and editors. Several principles and common themes are emphasized
and both strengths and potential sources of uncertainty in applications
are discussed.
This volume will hopefully stimulate new interdisciplinary avenues of
problem-solving research.