@BOOK{NAP4978, author = "National Research Council", title = "Science and the Endangered Species Act", isbn = "978-0-309-09017-9", doi = "10.17226/4978", abstract = "The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a far-reaching law that has sparked intense controversies over the use of public lands, the rights of property owners, and economic versus environmental benefits.\nIn this volume a distinguished committee focuses on the science underlying the ESA and offers recommendations for making the act more effective.\nThe committee provides an overview of what scientists know about extinction\u2014and what this understanding means to implementation of the ESA. Habitat\u2014its destruction, conservation, and fundamental importance to the ESA\u2014is explored in detail.\nThe book analyzes:\n\n Concepts of species\u2014how the term \"species\" arose and how it has been interpreted for purposes of the ESA.\n Conflicts between species when individual species are identified for protection, including several case studies.\n Assessment of extinction risk and decisions under the ESA\u2014how these decisions can be made more effectively.\n\nThe book concludes with a look beyond the Endangered Species Act and suggests additional means of biological conservation and ways to reduce conflicts. It will be useful to policymakers, regulators, scientists, natural-resource managers, industry and environmental organizations, and those interested in biological conservation.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/4978/science-and-the-endangered-species-act", year = 1995, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" }