The history, goals, and application of conservation physiology

Abstract

Conservation physiology is a rapidly expanding, multi-disciplinary field that utilizes physiological tools, knowledge, and concepts to understand and solve conservation problems. Here we provide a consolidated overview of the scope and goals of conservation physiology, with a focus on animals. We outline the major avenues by which conservation physiology is contributing to the monitoring, management, and restoration of animal populations, and provide a summary of the tools currently available in the conservation physiology toolbox. Overall, we illustrate how a conservation physiology approach can provide sensitive biomarkers of environmental change, reveal the underlying mechanisms of conservation issues, and allow for proactive conservation strategies. In turn, conservation physiology can tackle diverse conservation issues ranging from monitoring environmental stress, predicting the impact of climate change, understanding disease dynamics, improving captive breeding, reducing human–wildlife conflict, and many others. The diversity of taxa, biological scales, and ecosystems that are highlighted illustrate the far-reaching nature of the discipline and allow readers to gain an appreciation of the purpose, value, and status of the field.