Ecosystem Stewardship as a Framework for Conservation in a Directionally Changing World

This chapter describes how ecosystem stewardship acts as a framework for biological conservation. Ecosystem stewardship explicitly considers humans as a ‘keystone species’ at regional and global scales, and often at local scales. The stewardship framework focuses on the dynamics of ecological change and the management options that influence pathways and rates of change. The goals of this framework are to sustain required ecosystem services and support human well-being as societies attempt to improve the well-being of disadvantaged segments of an ever-growing human population. Ecosystem stewardship focuses on maintaining and enhancing species that are viewed as important for a variety of ecosystem services, including cultural services. Both novel ecosystems and interventionist conservation efforts are important and compatible components for achieving this framework. The relationship between key features of ecosystem stewardship and their implications to conservation and restoration activities is also presented.