Standing Between Life and Extinction: Ethics and Ecology of Conserving Aquatic Species in the American Southwest

Authors: Propst, David L., Williams, Jack, Bestgen, Kevin, Hoagstrom, Christopher

Year: 2016 (xlviii)

Abstract

In the 25 years that have passed since publication of ‘Battle Against Extinction; Native Fish Management in the American West’, considerable progress has been made in conservation of some species and little or none for others, new technologies and approaches for species conservation were developed and implemented, some known threats diminished, others increased, and heretofore unrecognized or unappreciated threats emerged. Considering the new challenges and opportunities, it is appropriate to again assess the landscape to review what has been accomplished and what may be done to provide a secure future for native aquatic fauna in the American West. Since initiation of this effort at the 2015 DFC meeting, a book prospectus was drafted, authors invited to contribute, a contract signed with The University of Chicago Press to publish ‘Standing Between Life and Extinctio n’, and authors began, hopefully, working on their chapters. The book title is from a statement by Phil Pister in a 1993 article h e wrote for Natural History (Vol. 102, Issue 1). As currently envisioned, the book will have 28 chapters that cover topics including biodiversity and its loss in arid-land systems, increasing human populations and human-induced habitat loss, recent discoveries and accomplishments, ongoing, evolving, and new challenges to aquatic fauna, and a future molded by a warming globe. We antici pate submitting a final draft to University of Chicago Press in September 2017 and publication by early 2019. We also anticipate organizing a special symposium at the 2018 Death Valley meeting featuring many of the book’s authors.