HKS Authors

See citation below for complete author information.

Harvey Brooks Research Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development

Abstract

Should attempts to improve the material conditions of human life be constrained by attempts to ensure the long-term survival of habitats and species? The connection between sustainability and biodiversity is neither conceptually clear nor practically straightforward, but it is of fundamental significance. Whether slowing the loss of biodiversity is necessary or sufficient for the transition to a sustainable society depends not only on the material relationships between diversity and the provision of ecosystems services to human society, but also on the philosophical basis for the value of biodiversity.

Citation

Cavender-Bares, Jeannine, James Hefferman, Elizabeth King, Stephen Polasky, Patricia Balvanera, and William C. Clark. "Sustainability and Biodiversity." Encyclopedia of Biodiversity. Ed. Simon Levin. Academic Press, 2013, 71-84.