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Book Reviews

Private Property and Public Benefit: Habitat Conservation Planning for Endangered Species

The Science of Conservation Plan-ning: Habitat Conservation Un-der the Endangered Species Act.

Noss, R. F., M. A. O’Connell, and D. D.Murphy. 1997. Island Press, Wash-ington, D.C. 247 pp. $40.00 (hard-cover). ISBN 1-55963–566–5. $25.00(paperback). ISBN 1–55963–567–3.

When property owners whose landsor waters harbor endangered speciesdecide to develop their property,they often make use of habitat con-servation plans (HCPs), an instru-ment for species conservation pro-vided by the U.S. Endangered SpeciesAct of 1973 (ESA), as amended. Thequality of HCPs as vehicles for spe-cies conservation runs the gamutfrom exemplary to completely inef-fective, and the wide variance in re-sults makes them highly controver-sial. Yet they are vitally important,because approximately 80% of feder-ally listed species rely on privateproperty to provide some of theirhabitat, and 50% of such species haveall of their remaining habitat subjectto private property rights. The HCPprocess, however, has not proven tobe a notable success thus far: 62% ofall species subject to HCPs continueto decline.

The Science of Conservation Plan-ning: Habitat Conservation Underthe Endangered Species Act

providesa breakthrough in the challenge ofcreating effective habitat conserva-tion plans, primarily because it servesas an instruction manual on the sci-ence of habitat conservation planningwhich is grounded in field-tested prin-ciples of conservation biology. Noss,O’Connell, and Murphy have donethat field testing and distinguishedthemselves in the process. This book

provides diagnoses of problems withthe current batch of HCPs, culls gen-erally applicable guidelines from casestudies, and dispenses constructivepalliatives from conservation science’syouthful apothecary of accumulatedlessons. Both the principles of con-servation planning and the author’srecommendations do not obsolesce:the book is and will remain as valu-able as the day it was published.

While giving a practical overviewof the HCP process and scientific ap-proach to conservation planning,the authors also analyze the conceptitself. Pointing out that the HCP pro-cess was “born in political compro-mise,” they note that the disconnectbetween law and science presents afundamental challenge for the con-servation practitioner. As a case inpoint, the authors argue that HCPsembody a standard of performancethat is inconsistent with the ultimateobjective of the ESA, not to mentionthe raison d’être of conservation bi-ology, the long-term survival of focalspecies. An HCP is expected to “notappreciably reduce” the prospectsfor survival and recovery of the spe-cies. Cumulatively, however, plan-ning that follows this guideline canadd up to ever-diminishing pros-pects for the species. Instead, theauthors call for conservation plansthat confer, at a minimum, a net sur-vival benefit for the species.

The authors contend that the HCPprocess generally has been treated asan economic permitting process ratherthan a conservation process. Oftenplans fail to require adequate monitor-ing, or the funding provided is notcommensurate with the task at hand.In general, conservation strategies inHCPs tend to be designed without

advance study in a “crisis atmo-sphere.” The authors argue that anoptimal conservation strategy cannotusually be resolved in advance be-cause we don’t often know enoughabout a species to plan for its survival.An HCP therefore should not attemptto impose certainty upon a biologicalworld that is inherently uncertain. Butwhile the authors believe that the out-come of HCPs could be improved byapplying and supplementing more ef-fectively what information is avail-able, they also note that failing tomove ahead with planning and man-agement because of uncertaintywould be an even bigger mistake.

Noss, O’Connell, and Murphy alsotackle what is perhaps the most con-tentious issue in conservation plan-ning: the so-called “no surprises” pol-icy that provides regulatory assurancesto private parties. Landowners coop-erate in the development of HCPs forone reason only, to obtain a modicumof predictability. They are entitled tono less. As the authors state, “Individu-als who now own the land on whichendangered species reside may oftenbe the least responsible for their en-dangerment.” Rather than debatingthe merits of providing assurances,the authors suggest that the debate beshifted to the questions of how and atwhat level adaptive management ofconservation plans will be provided.They provide excellent recommenda-tions for applying principles of conser-vation biology at the formative stagesof a conservation plan. For its clear ex-planation of the science of conserva-tion planning, as well as the politics,legal framework, and incentive struc-ture, a dog-eared copy of this book be-longs on every practitioner’s book-shelf.

328

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Conservation BiologyVolume 14, No. 1, February 2000

Gregory A. Thomas

Natural Heritage Institute, 2140 Shattuck Ave-nue, 5th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, U.S.A., emailgat@n-h-i.org

Moving Beyond Eco-Dread

Eco-Pioneers: Practical VisionariesSolving Today’s EnvironmentalProblems.

Lerner, S. 1998. The MITPress, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 462pp. $16.50 (paper-back). ISBN 0–262–62124–X. $33.00 (hardcover). ISBN0-262–12207–3.

Returning from the Earth Summit in1992, Steve Lerner “hungered forsomething more grounded than in-ternational conferences—some evi-dence that sustainable developmentwas indeed possible.” Environmen-tal problems were so overwhelming,politicians so dithering, and politicaldiscourse so polarized that he wantedto see people who were actually do-ing something to solve discrete envi-ronmental problems. Lerner thus setout on the 10,000-mile research tripthat resulted in

Eco-Pioneers

, a bookof short, 10- to 20-page profiles ofenvironmentalists working in thetrenches to move us toward a better,more sustainable future. Profiles in-clude John Todd, working to build“living machines” to treat municipalsewage without harsh chemicals;Walton Smith, managing Appalachianforests with selective cutting and un-even-aged stands; Kenny Ausubel,rescuing traditional food and medi-cinal crops from extinction; and 27more environmental heroes. Lerner’sselection is well balanced, representinga cross-section of urban and rural envi-ronmentalists, builders and designers,eco-justice activists and wildlands cru-saders. What they all have in commonis a willingness to roll up their sleeves,tackle difficult environmental prob-lems, and work for incremental changeover the long term.

This is an upbeat book. Readingthese stories, I felt a sense of hope forthe future, and gratitude toward thosewho are working to make things bet-

ter. Lerner writes that he has “inten-tionally chosen to accentuate the pos-itive” because he believes “manyAmericans are so saturated with badnews about the environment thatthey feel practical solutions are be-yond reach.” Too often, as one learnsmore about the scope of problems,an initial concern to protect the envi-ronment gives way to resignation,precluding sustained personal effortto protect the environment. As eco-pioneer Daniel Einstein, Environmen-tal Management Coordinator at theUniversity of Wisconsin, says, “Stu-dents want to stop pollution, stopglobal climate change, and save therain forest.” He channels them intoprojects that they can complete in asemester, so they can see results andknow that their efforts have made adifference. Similarly, Learner hopesthat his book can be used to fan stu-dents’ first, passionate concerns forenvironmental protection into asteady, self-sustaining burn.

While upbeat, however,

Eco-Pio-neers

is not the work of a Pollyanna.Lerner’s visionaries suffer setbacksand failures: calculations go awry,funding dries up, communities loseinterest, plans must be scaled back.The book provides lessons in how ac-tivists keep going in the face of dis-couragement. Lerner also packs hisstories with much useful detail on en-vironmental problems and highlightsquestions about the adequacy of theresponses to them. He celebrates theriver restoration efforts of ThomasSchueler and Robert Boone but con-siders whether continued develop-ment in the Anacostia watershed isundoing all the good that restorationhas accomplished. He praises JackTurnell’s experiments in sustainableranching in Wyoming but includesGeorge Wuerthner’s arguments thatefforts fall far short of what is neededto preserve native biodiversity. Ler-ner’s heroes take the long view: “Ittook generations to destroy [the Ana-costia River] watershed and it willtake generations to restore it,” saysThomas Schueler.

Eco-Pioneers

has an important

message and deserves a wide audi-ence. It is written in a snappy, journal-istic style but is well documented andecologically literate. The book wouldbe particularly valuable in classes in en-vironmental ethics, environmental pol-icy, or environmental management attechnical universities, where studentsmight be less interested in philosophi-cal subtleties than in the nuts-and-bolts work of conservation (conser-vation-minded engineers need heroes,too!). Its presentation of complica-tions and alternative voices should in-crease its value as a teaching tool.

Eco-Pioneers

concludes with a soberingchapter reminding readers that the he-roic efforts described are dwarfed bythe activities of the conventional indus-trial economy and will achieve theirfull value only if they are widely opera-tionalized. Here Lerner argues for a re-form of laws, taxes, and subsidies andfor a national green plan to help bringthis about. He thus ties the personal tothe political in a final, necessary codato an excellent work.

Philip Cafaro

Department of Philosophy, Colorado State Uni-versity, Fort Collins, CO 80523, U.S.A., emailcafaro@lamar.colostate.edu

Nonindigenous Fishes at Home in Inland Waters of theUnited States

Nonindigenous Fishes Intro-duced into Inland Waters of theUnited States.

Fuller, P. L., L. G.Nico, and J. D. Williams. 1999. Spe-cial Publication 27. American Fisher-ies Society, Bethesda, Maryland. 613pp. $49.00 ($34.00 for AFS mem-bers). ISBN 1–888569–14–X.

In June 1871, some 12,000 Americanshad (

Alosa sapidissima

), ended theirwestward journey on the recentlycompleted transcontinental railroad,traveling some 4000 miles from theHudson River (New York) to their fi-nal destination in the SacramentoRiver (California) to inaugurate what

Book Reviews

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Conservation BiologyVolume 14, No. 1, February 2000

would become more than a centuryof fish introductions to California(Dill & Cordone 1997). Approxi-mately 128 years after this first intro-duction, California has been the re-cipient of at least 161 additional taxaof nonindigenous fishes, more thanhas been introduced into any otherstate. This substantial figure repre-sents 44 families of fish, or 59% of allfamilies of nonindigenous species re-corded in the United States.

The California experience is, how-ever, only a part of the long historyof introductions of fishes in theUnited States. With this in mind, I re-viewed this volume with great inter-est, for its explicit purpose is to pro-vide individual species accounts forall known nonindigenous fishes ininland, open waters of the UnitedStates. The authors define nonindig-enous as “an individual, group, orpopulation of a [fish] species that isintroduced into an area or ecosystemoutside its historic or native geo-graphic range . . . the term includesboth foreign (i.e., exotic) and trans-planted species, and is used synony-mously with

alien

,

nonnative

and

in-troduced

. Compilation of the volumerelied on the more than 16,000records of the status and distributionof nonindigenous fishes maintained atthe laboratory of the Biological Re-source Division of the U.S. GeologicalSurvey (USGS) in Gainesville, Florida.Species accounts were also derivedfrom an impressive variety of othersources such as published and unpub-lished reports, museum vouchers,and personal communications.

The Introduction includes a briefbut illuminating discussion of the sta-tus and reported occurrences of non-indigenous fishes, well highlighted ina series of tables and figures. For ex-ample, of the 536 fish taxa (i.e., fishspecies, hybrids, and certain uniden-tified forms) introduced outside theirnative ranges within U.S. waters, 316(61%) are native to the United States,but they have been recorded outsidetheir native ranges. An additional 185taxa (35%) are from foreign lands.Overall the number of nonindigenous

fishes reported from U.S. inland wa-ters is remarkable, because in all ofNorth America (including Canadaand parts of Mexico) there are onlyapproximately 1200 native freshwa-ter fishes (Williams & Miller 1990).And although California is first in thenumber of nonindigenous fish taxarecorded (

n

5

162), Florida (127),Texas (105), Colorado (106), and Ne-vada (93) also have substantial num-bers of nonindigenous fishes. Whenthe numbers in these four states arecombined with those in Californiaand Hawaii, they account for

.

60%of all nonindigenous fish introduc-tions in the United States. One partic-ularly informative graphic depicts thenumber of nonindigenous fishes bytaxa for major drainage basins throughuse of the USGS Hydrologic UnitCode (HUC) system at two differentspatial scales.

The Introduction provides addi-tional useful summary statistics onrates of introduction of nonindige-nous fish taxa, the geographic originof foreign, nonindigenous fish taxaby country or international region andby state, and the proportion of nonin-digenous fishes introduced throughvarious methods or pathways (i.e.,stocked for sport, bait release, aquar-ium release, ballast water, biocontrol,conservation purposes, or unknownreasons). Finally, the Introductionconcludes with discussions on termi-nology, the arrangement and formatof the individual species accounts (in-cluding species maps), and how theauthors dealt with the issue of hybridfishes.

The bulk of this tome containsindividual species accounts listed phy-logenetically. These accounts containa vast amount of often extensively ref-erenced information on a particulartaxon, including its scientific andcommon name, identification, nativerange, nonindigenous occurrences,means of introduction, current sta-tus, effects of introduction, and otherrelevant remarks. A map depictingstates in the native range and stateswith nonnative records accompanieseach taxon. A separate category of

species considered by the authors tobe erroneous is also included. Inshort, the species accounts form animpressive compilation of referenceinformation. A 65-page LiteratureCited and Personal Communicationssection follows the species accounts.Useful appendices include a list ofspecies included in the volume, aglossary of terms, and matrices ofnonindigenous foreign, native, andhybrid fishes introduced to variousstates. The volume ends with an ex-tensive species index.

Nonindigenous Fishes

would havebeen improved by overlaying the in-dividual species account maps thatdepict introductions of nonindige-nous taxa with artificial state bound-aries on the USGS 4-digit HUC drain-age basin system, as exemplified inFig. 3 of the Introduction. Increasingly,biologists concerned with aquatic eco-system conservation and manage-ment are focused on watershed anddrainage-basin boundaries rather thanarbitrary political divisions such asstates. Another comment concernsthe lumping of taxa regardless ofcurrent status—populations that areestablished, not established, or of un-known status—as nonindigenous forpurposes of summarizing data in theIntroduction

.

It would be useful forany number of conservation pur-poses to differentiate between thesedifferent status categories whensummarizing data. For example, al-though California has 162 reportednonindigenous introductions, onlyapproximately 58 taxa (36%) havebeen introduced successfully to be-come reproducing populations (Dill& Cordone 1997). After all, knowingwhich species are invaders is as in-teresting as knowing which have be-come successfully established. I no-ticed only a few other minor errorsin the volume. In Appendix E,which lists hybrid fishes introducedto inland U.S. waters by state, the au-thors appear to have overlooked sev-eral common nonindingenous hy-brids occurring in California waters(e.g.,

Lepomis

macrochirus

3

L

.

gib-bosus

and

Lavinia

exilcauda

3

L

.

330

Book Reviews

Conservation BiologyVolume 14, No. 1, February 2000

symmetricus

). Finally, the northernpike (

Esox lucius

) is listed as extir-pated in California when, in fact, asuccessfully reproducing populationapparently persists in Lake Davis, atributary to the Sacramento River sys-tem, despite recent attempts to erad-icate the species by poisoning. Not-withstanding these minor oversightsand errors,

Noninidigenous FishesIntroduced into Inland Waters ofthe United States

is an excellent andnecessary reference volume for any-one focusing on the role and man-agement of introduced organisms inaquatic ecosystems.

Literature Cited

Dill, W. A., and A. J. Cordone. 1997. Historyand status of introduced fishes in Califor-nia, 1871–1996. Fish bulletin. Volume178. California Department of Fish andGame, Sacramento.

Williams, J. E., and R. R. Miller. 1990. Conser-vation status of the North American fishfauna in freshwater. Journal of Fish Biology

37:

79–85.

Robert A. Leidy

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (WTR-8),75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105,U.S.A., email leidy.robert@epamail.gov

Iberoamerican Biodiversity,Part 2

La Diversidad Biológica de Ibero-américa II.

Halffter, G., compiler.1998. Volumen Especial, Acta Zoolog-ica Mexicana, n.s. Instituto deEcología. A.C., Xalapa, México, D.F.337 pp. $15.00 (paperback). ISBN968–7863–33–1. $25.00 (hardcover).ISBN 968–7863–34–X.

In spite of the global urgency to under-stand biological diversity, Iberoameri-can specialists tend to work aloneand are confronted with a scarcity ofhuman and financial resources thatweakens and retards the progress oftheir natural-resources studies as wellas their publications. With the jointeffort of the Iberoamerican Programof Science and Technology for De-

velopment (Programa Iberoameri-cano de Ciencia y Tecnología para elDesarrollo, CYTED) and the Instituteof Ecology of Mexico (Instituto deEcología, A.C.), the second volumeof

The Biological Diversity of Ibero-america (La Diversidad Biologicade Iberoamérica

) has been pub-lished. This volume and its predeces-sor are offered by Iberoamerican re-searchers and reflect the current stateof knowledge of the natural resourcesof the region.

Gonzalo Halffter, National Emeri-tus Investigator of Mexico and Inter-national Coordinator of the BiologicalDiversity Subprogram of CYTED, hascompiled both volumes. Halffter in-augurates the contributions of thesecond volume with a provocativechapter in the General Part of thebook by proposing a work strategyto measure biological diversity at thelandscape level, a spatial scale atwhich the effect of human activitiesis clearly evident. The strategy isbased on an analysis of species rich-ness within each community (alphadiversity), the change in speciescomposition between communities(beta diversity), and the total rich-ness of the landscape (gamma diver-sity). These biodiversity componentswere taken up theoretically by thesame author in volume one of the se-ries, but in this new volume the anal-ysis is posed through the use of indi-cator organisms. The applications ofHalffter’s strategy are wide, from theimmediate evaluation of the effectsof anthropogenic alterations (whetherthey are due to fragmentation orhabitat modification) to the long-term monitoring of biodiversity atsites with different levels of protec-tion.

Among those aspects essential forthe evaluation of biodiversity is itscorrect identification and classifica-tion and the discovery and recon-struction of its evolutionary history,two labors undertaken by the sci-ence of systematics. Thus, two addi-tional chapters in the General Part(by Ogata & De Luna and Sosa &Ogata) are dedicated to methodolog-

ical description and the conceptualbases of systematics. Particularly in-teresting is the cogent analysis of theconsequences that different approxi-mations in systematics may have forthe conservation of biodiversity. Also,the relevance of the distinct types ofsystematic works is described and dis-cussed, emphasizing the undeniablevalue of biological inventories. Inven-tories from Cuba, Mexico, and theDominican Republic form the rest ofthe book.

Antonio Lopez contributes two es-says on the flora of Cuba. This flora iscomposed of approximately 6000species, half of which are endemic tothe island. Lopez’s analyses are basedon the floristic richness of the differ-ent sectors of the island and highlightthe endemic species, their evolution-ary history, and the role of island bio-geography in shaping Cuba’s flora.Two other chapters on Mexicanbiodiversity are included. In the first,Gaston Guzman presents an exhaus-tive review of the question “How manyfungi exist in Mexico?” His results re-veal impressive numbers, suggestingthat in Mexico up to 200,000 species offungi may exist, of which only 3.3% areknown. For the second chapter onMexican biodiversity, Patricia Moreno-Casasola and collaborators collatedexisting information and analyzedtrends in the flora of the sandy androcky coastal environments in Mex-ico. Their results indicate that thisvegetation is represented by 1638taxa, or somewhere between 5%and 7% of all Mexican angiosperms.Against the pressure of urban growthand the development of megatourismin coastal zones, the urgent need foran integrated planning process toconserve biodiversity in these envi-ronments stands out. Finally, Jack-line Salazar coordinated the chaptersdedicated to the biodiversity of theDominican Republic, which possessesthe greatest diversity of ecosystemsanywhere in the Antilles. These chap-ters characterize the geography ofthe Republic and describe its terres-trial, marine, and fresh-water ecosys-tems, along with the Republic’s flora

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Conservation BiologyVolume 14, No. 1, February 2000

and fauna. Also, threatened speciesfrom different biological groups areenumerated and the present state ofDominican biodiversity is evaluated.

Taken together, the two volumespublished to date, as well as thosevolumes expected to appear in

TheBiological Diversity of Iberoamer-ica

series, reflect a state-of-the-artunderstanding of the biodiversity onIberoamerica. As expected, the depthof analysis and maturity of the differ-ent chapters is heterogeneous andstrongly dependent upon the capaci-ties and interests in understanding acountry’s biodiversity. Both the generalchapters and the more specific chap-ters about the various biotas of differ-ent countries (including Colombia,Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Panama,and the Dominican Republic) repre-sent a rich source of information forall those interested in the varied bio-logical resources of the region.

Claudia E. Moreno

Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Apartado Postal 63,Xalapa, Veracruz 91000, México, D.F.

A Glimpse of theSlow Lane

Life in the Slow Lane: Ecology andConservation of Long-lived Ma-rine Animals.

Musick J. E., editor.1999. Symposium volume 23. Ameri-can Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Mary-land. 265 pp. $47.00. ISBN 1–888569–15–8.

More than three decades ago, Mac-Arthur and Wilson explained in se-lection terminology what fishermenhave long known to be true—namely,that fisheries are likely to be sustain-able if the targets are small, fast-grow-ing, highly fecund, and early-matur-ing species, and that others, such as

large cetaceans and loggerhead tur-tles that grow too slowly and havetoo few young, are bound to col-lapse. Much has been learned as fish-ery technology has advanced andnew fisheries have appeared and ex-panded (and many collapsed) in re-cent years, but despite the efforts ofmodelers and

r

/

K

practitioners, manydebacles such as that of the orangeroughy (

Hoplostethus atlanticus

)could have been avoided if our spe-cies had learned from its previousmistakes.

Jack Musick attempted to work to-ward that solution by assembling agroup of cetologists, marine orni-thologists, ichthyologists, and sharkand sea turtle biologists at the 1997American Fisheries Society meeting.His intent was to convene “scientistswho worked with many differentlong-lived marine taxa . . . to discussand debate the ecological similari-ties—and differences—and to exam-ine management strategies that mightlead to better conservation.” Musickchaired the Symposium on the Ecol-ogy and Conservation of Long-LivedMarine Animals, and this book com-prises the papers presented. Its 19chapters include studies of the life his-tory and management of certain Aus-tralian and American sharks, wreck-fish, tilefish, groupers, and sturgeon;issues concerning the life-history pa-rameters of chelonia, seabirds and ma-rine mammals (cetacea and monkseals); and a potpourri of chaptersand subchapters on aging techniques,genetic variation, elasticity analysis,and the difficulty of recognizing thenonanthropogenic factors involvedin an exploited fishery. It is unfortu-nate that none of the discussions thatfollowed the symposium’s presenta-tions are included. A final chaptersummarizing the enquiries and con-versations that are often the most in-teresting and serendipitous events at

such a symposium would have beenworthy of inclusion.

The volume lacks an index and ageneral review of other long-livedcreatures in the sea. Mention of thelongevity and life-history parametersof Antarctic or deep-sea creatures andthe inclusion of appropriate citationswould have been useful. For example,if you are amazed to discover that or-ange roughy reach 150 years or more,consider that some of its coral by-catch was 500 years old. All of thechapters stand alone, and some arevery informative. Particularly instruc-tive was John Stevens’ paper, whichneatly compared the Tasmanian sharkfisheries for two closely related sharks,the over-exploited schoolies (

Gale-orhinus galeus

, long-lived, slower tomature but more fecund) and the sus-tainable gummies (

Mustelus

antarcti-cus

, short-lived, quicker to mature butless fecund). Stevens demonstratedthat proper management and carefulexamination of life-history parameterscan provide a sustainable fishery forsome but not all target species. Rob-ert Russell’s chapter on the “Compar-ative Demography and Life HistoryTactics of Seabirds: Implications forConservation and Marine Monitoring”is a valuable distillation of the rolethat seabirds can play as indicators ofecosystem health.

This book is a useful compilationof papers. It does not deliver whatits title proffers in that it discussesonly certain long-lived marine ani-mals. It is not a volume for every bi-ologist’s bookshelf, but it certainlyshould be read by fishery biologistsand should reside in the library of ev-ery marine lab, fishery lab, and aca-demic institution.

John E. McCosker

California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA,94118, U.S.A., email jmccosker@calacademy.org