16 • Technologies To Maintain Biological Diversity 



To accelerate research and application of 

 diversity-conserving technologies, a shift of em- 

 phasis is necessary in research funding. Agen- 

 cies that fund or conduct research (e.g., the 

 National Science Foundation (NSF) and the 

 Agricultural Research Service of the USDA) 

 generally do not focus on applying research to 

 technology development; they usually are ori- 

 ented toward supporting basic research. For 

 example, research funds are available for de- 

 scriptive studies of population genetics but not 

 for studies on applications of genetic theory to 

 onsite population management. Scientists are 

 rewarded for research that tests hypotheses 

 relatively quickly and for publication of re- 

 search results in academic journals. These in- 

 centives discourage broad, long-term studies 

 and neglect analyzing research results to de- 

 velop technology systems. 



Another avenue to increasing the ability to 

 maintain diversity is to encourage development 

 and implementation of programs by private 

 organizations. Although many private efforts 

 are not defined in terms of diversity conserva- 

 tion per se, activities to conserve aspects of 

 diversity (i.e., ecosystems, wild species, agri- 

 cultural crops, and livestock) have had signifi- 

 cant impact. These efforts are not likely to re- 

 place public or national programs, but they 

 could be an integral part of the Nation's attempt 

 to maintain its biological heritage. 



Option 3.1: Direct the National Science Foun- 

 dation to establish a program for conserva- 

 tion biology. 



The field of conservation biology seeks to de- 

 velop scientific principles and then apply those 

 principles to developing technologies for diver- 

 sity maintenance. Recently, the development of 

 this discipline has gained momentum through 

 the establishment of study programs at some 

 universities and the formation of a Society of 

 Conservation Biology, with its own professional 

 journal. Nevertheless, conservation biology is 

 only beginning to be recognized by the aca- 

 demic community as a legitimate discipline. No 

 research funds support it explicitly. Therefore, 

 few scientists can afford to conduct innovative 

 conservation biology research. 



Current funding for research and technology 

 development in conservation biology is negli- 

 gible, in large part because NSF considers it 

 to be too applied, while other government agen- 

 cies consider it to be too theoretical. Congress 

 could encourage scientists to specialize in con- 

 servation biology by establishing within NSF 

 a separate conservation biology research pro- 

 gram that would support the broad spectrum 

 of basic and applied research directed at de- 

 veloping and applying science and technology 

 to biological diversity conservation. 



To enhance interprogram links, this program 

 could fund studies that integrate onsite and off- 

 site methods— at the ecosystem, species, and 

 genetic levels. Such a program would also bring 

 much needed national recognition, research 

 funding, and scientific expertise to the field of 

 conservation biology. This support would accel- 

 erate its acceptance and growth within the sci- 

 entific community and the development of new 

 principles and technology. 



Current statutory authority of NSF would 

 cover such a program. NSF programs are sup- 

 posed to support both basic and applied scien- 

 tific research relevant to national problems in- 

 volving public interest; the maintenance of 

 biological diversity is such a problem. 



NSF might resist establishing such a program, 

 because NSF views conservation biology as a 

 mission-oriented activity. Since conservation 

 biology includes technology development, NSF 

 might view a diversity program as a potentially 

 dangerous precedent to its role as the Nation's 

 major supporter of basic research. Further- 

 more, NSF might argue that a new research pro- 

 gram is not needed because its Division of Bi- 

 otic Systems and Resources already supports 

 about 60 basic research projects that address 

 biological diversity issues. These projects, how- 

 ever, largely ignore the social, economic, po- 

 litical, and management aspects of biological 

 diversity, and conservation is usually of sec- 

 ondary importance to the projects. 



An alternative to establishing an NSF pro- 

 gram could be to enhance or redirect existing 

 programs in other agencies to promote research 

 in diversity maintenance. The Institute of 



