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PRODID:Amateur Entomologists' Society Events listings
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UID:20100225T000000-322@amentsoc.org
SUMMARY:Foundations of Biodiversity: saving the world's non-vertebrates
LOCATION:Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London NW1 4RY, UK.
DESCRIPTION: While species coverage of vertebrates in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has increased in number each year since the inception of the Red Data Book in the 1960s, coverage of non-vertebrate groups, which represent the majority of the world's biodiversity, has been very poor indeed. This is in stark contrast to the important role non-vertebrates play in the functioning of our ecosystems, thereby providing the very foundations for the existence of more charismatic megafauna and humans alike. The importance of non-vertebrate biodiversity from ecological, social and economic perspectives will be highlighted and a first preliminary overview of the conservation status of selected non-vertebrate taxa will be given. Ways in which we can fill the gaps in our current knowledge will be addressed with regard to taxonomy, conservation strategies and policies, and the prioritisation of research. Most importantly, promoting invertebrate, fungi, plant and ecosystem conservation without the need to focus on charismatic megafauna requires us to build more capacity in the field and raise the profile of non-vertebrate biodiversity with the general public.
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