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A Defence of Biodiversity As the Goal of Conservation Biology

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A Defence of Biodiversity As the Goal of Conservation Biology A Defence of Biodiversity as the Goal of Conservation Biology Charles Gibson A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy The University of Otago Dunedin New Zealand December 2018 i Dedication For my son Caelin, Who was born when this project began But was arguing with me by the time it was completed. May you have as much grass to run on as I did. ii Abstract Biodiversity has been the goal of conservation for thirty years but recent work by biodiversity eliminativists has raised serious challenges to its suitability as the primary goal of conservation. This project groups those challenges into three major arguments: the conceptual case for biodiversity’s elimination, the empirical case for biodiversity’s elimination, and the value compass case for biodiversity’s elimination. Aside from discussing biodiversity as a property, this thesis will also discuss biodiversity as a concept (as in biodiversity), and refer to the word biodiversity (as in ‘biodiversity’). In the conceptual case for biodiversity’s elimination, eliminativists argue that biodiversity misdirects the efforts of conservation and is not a scientifically coherent concept. In the empirical case, eliminativists argue that biodiversity is not operationalisable. In the value compass case, eliminativists argue that biodiversity does not reliably track biological value. I will argue that all three cases for biodiversity’s elimination are unsuccessful. Biodiversity is a complex concept with multiple dimensions of biological diversities but understanding it as a homeostatic property cluster avoids the conceptual case for its elimination. The empirical case is unsuccessful because the surrogacy strategy for measuring biodiversity can be defended against its limitations and the expanding multiplicity of biodiversity measures is overblown. The value compass case is correct about the inability of biodiversity to track pluralistic biological value, but for the wrong reasons. Biodiversity is not a reliable compass for pluralistic biological value because there are no reliable compasses for pluralistic biological value. However, biological value is distinct from conservation normativity—understood as what conservationists ought to do—and biodiversity is an excellent guide to conservation normativity. This makes biodiversity an excellent conceptual and empirical fit for its role as a guide to conservation normativity. iii Acknowledgements Thank you to my supervisors Professor James Maclaurin and Associate Professor Lisa Ellis. Your enthusiasm for my ideas, coupled with your patience, has helped me to further develop my critical thinking and analysis. Biodiversity has been a wonderful subject matter for a doctoral project. I am drawn to interesting problems and the challenges facing conservation are some of the most interesting that I have come across. Thank you to the Philosophy Department for providing such a collegial atmosphere. It is rare to be paid to do what you love, and rarer still, to do it with people who feel like a second family. Finally, my thanks to those who provided helpful feedback on this project. Critical feedback is essential to success. iv Table of Contents Dedication ................................................................................................................................... i Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... iv Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 i Opening Remarks ................................................................................................................ 1 ii Eliminativism about Biodiversity ....................................................................................... 2 iii Why a Defence of Biodiversity Is Important ..................................................................... 2 iv What I Will Argue in This Project ..................................................................................... 3 1 Conceptual Issues with Biodiversity and the Case for Its Elimination ................................... 5 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 The Multiple Uses of ‘Biodiversity’ ................................................................................ 6 1.2.1 Meanings in the 80s and 90s................................................................................. 6 1.2.2 General and Specific Meanings in Academia..................................................... 11 1.2.3 Sarkar’s Deflationary Meaning as a Proto-form of Eliminativism..................... 13 1.3 The Conceptual Case for Eliminating Biodiversity ....................................................... 15 1.3.1 The Lack of Consensus about Meaning Hampers Conservation Efforts............ 15 1.3.2 Santana’s Meaning-dilemma Argument ............................................................. 16 1.4 Specific Meanings of ‘Biodiversity’ Have Multiple Counterexamples ......................... 18 1.4.1 Biodiversity as Species Richness ....................................................................... 19 1.4.2 Biodiversity as Abundance ................................................................................. 20 1.4.3 Biodiversity as Phenotypic Diversity ................................................................. 21 1.4.4 Biodiversity as Phylogenetic Diversity .............................................................. 22 1.4.5 Biodiversity as Functional Diversity .................................................................. 23 1.4.6 Biodiversity as Genetic Diversity ....................................................................... 23 1.4.7 Biodiversity as Ecological Diversity or Process Diversity ................................. 24 1.4.8 Lessons from the Counterexamples to Specific Meanings of ‘Biodiversity’ ..... 24 1.5 General Meanings of ‘Biodiversity’ are Uninformative ................................................ 25 1.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 29 v 2 Biodiversity as a Homeostatic Property Cluster ................................................................... 31 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 31 2.2 The Conceptual Case for Biodiversity Eliminativism .................................................... 31 2.3 Burch-Brown and Archer’s General Conception of Biodiversity ................................. 32 2.4 Biodiversity as Homeostatic Property Cluster ............................................................... 34 2.4.1 Homeostatic Property Clusters ........................................................................... 35 2.4.2 Why Biodiversity is a Homeostatic Property Cluster ......................................... 39 2.4.3 Santana’s Case against Biodiversity as a Homeostatic Property Cluster ........... 45 2.5 The Success of an HPC solution for the species problem ............................................. 49 2.5.1 The Multiple Distinct Conceptions of Species ................................................... 50 2.5.2 Important Similarities between the Species Problem and the Biodiversity Problem ........................................................................................................................ 52 2.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 58 3 A Homeostatic Property Cluster Conception of Biodiversity Avoids the Conceptual Case for Elimination ......................................................................................................................... 59 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 59 3.2 Understanding Biodiversity as a Homeostatic Property Cluster Reduces Misdirection 59 3.3 How Biodiversity as a Homeostatic Property Cluster Escapes Santana’s Dilemma ..... 61 3.3.1 The Classical Semantic Measure of Information ............................................... 61 3.3.2 Biodiversity as a Homeostatic Property Cluster is General But Informative ..... 62 3.4 What a HPC Conception of Biodiversity is Not ............................................................ 63 3.5 Other Reasons to Conserve Biodiversity in the Face of Eliminativism ......................... 67 3.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 73 4 The Surrogacy Strategy for Measuring Biodiversity and the Empirical Case for Its Elimination .............................................................................................................................. 74 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 74 4.2 The Empirical Case for Biodiversity Eliminativism .....................................................
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