Restorationists Return Native Species To Damaged Lands

Is conservation enough? This new breed of scientists seeks to do more, repairing the harm done by man CHICAGO--As a boy in his native England, ecologist Stuart L. Pimm spent almost every weekend watching birds. As an adult, he abandoned the outdoors to take up such theoretical pursuits as modeling change in biological communities. But now the University of Tennessee ecologist is back on a birdwatch of a different sort, this time in the tropical underbrush of a small Pacific island near Guam.

Christine Mlot

| 8 min read

Listen with Speechify

0:00

8:00

Is conservation enough? This new breed of scientists seeks to do more, repairing the harm done by man

CHICAGO--As a boy in his native England, ecologist Stuart L. Pimm spent almost every weekend watching birds. As an adult, he abandoned the outdoors to take up such theoretical pursuits as modeling change in biological communities. But now the University of Tennessee ecologist is back on a birdwatch of a different sort, this time in the tropical underbrush of a small Pacific island near Guam.

For Henry F. Howe, restoration biology has been a labor of love. A tropical ecologist by training, the 43-year-old Howe became curious about prairies when he arrived at the University of Iowa in 1978. "I wanted a project that allowed me to stay at home" in the U.S., recalls Howe, who had been doing most of his work in Costa Rica and Panama. Specifically, he wondered what ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here