An interesting commentary on recent research on conservation is in last week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Although it may be unintended, it sounds like the author is arguing for the application of Austrian Economics to environmental conservation in his conclusion:
although the goal of conservation is biological (e.g., maximize the number of species conserved), the means to obtain the goal are primarily socioeconomic... In the end, it is human actions that have caused the biodiversity crisis and changes in human behavior will be required to adequately resolve it.
