| In the past two decades, biological diversity is a term and concept that has come to dominate the concerns of the environmental community. It is most commonly defined as the variety of life on earth examined at three levels: genetic; species; and ecosystem. But rather than simply serving as a hierarchical system for studying the diversity of life, the concept has grown to represent the many significant ways in which humans value the natural world. Arguably, from the time of the term's first published definition in 1980, the maintenance of biological diversity has become the most influential paradigm for nature protection over the last two decades of the twentieth century. It is apparent that biological diversity was able to gain favor amongst a wide variety of people because it succeeded in expressing a range of values and concerns which were scattered disparately throughout the scientific and conservation communities. But most importantly, the concept has successfully enveloped a number of environmentally-related concerns under one umbrella title, bringing together certain constituencies who had not previously worked in a unified manner. Given the current pervasive quality of biological diversity in conservationists' vocabulary and its rapid broad acceptance into the pantheon of environmental issues, it is worth asking certain questions about its undeniable popularity. How did this ambitious concept for conservation evolve? What are the historical precursors to the concept? What were the events, the values, and the ideas that have contributed to the development and popularity of biological diversity? This dissertation provides the history of the concept through the research of a wide range of documents, including articles from scientific journals and popular magazines, popular books, scholarly books, textbooks, government documents, conference proceedings, congressional hearings and debates, and language in legislation. The goal is to explore the roots of the biological diversity concept, illuminating the sources of our present concerns for the living natural world, and illustrating the link between changing cultural values and our evolving conceptions of nature. |
