Presents an introduction to the area of evolutionary conservation biology.

Contributing authors; Acknowledgements; Notational standards; 1. Introduction Régis Ferrière, Ulf Dieckmann and Denis Couvet; Part A. Theory of Extinction: Introduction; 2. From individual interactions to population viability Wilfried Gabriel and Régis Ferrière; 3. Age structure, mating system and population viability Stéphane Legendre; 4. Spatial dimensions of population viability Mats Gyllenberg, Ilkka Hanski and Johan A. J. Metz; Part B. The Pace of Adaptive Responses to Environmental Change: Introduction; 5. Responses to environmental change: adaptation or extinction Richard Frankham and Joel Kingsolver; 6. Empirical evidence for rapid evolution David Reznick, Helen Rodd and Leonard Nunney; 7. Genetic variability and life-history evolution Kimberly A. Hughes and Ryan Sawby; 8. Environmental stress and quantitative genetic variation Alexandra G. Imasheva and Volker Loeschcke; Part C. Genetic and Ecological Bases of Adaptive Responses: Introduction; 9. Fixation of new mutations in small populations Michael C. Whitlock and Reinhard Bürger; 10. Quantitative-genetic models and changing environments Reinhard Bürger and Christoph Krall; 11. Adaptive dynamics and evolving biodiversity Ulf Dieckmann and Régis Ferrière; Part D. Spatial Structure: Introduction; 12. Genetic structure in heterogeneous environments Oscar E. Gaggiotti and Denis Couvet; 13. Conservation implications of niche conservatism and evolution in heterogeneous environments Robert D. Holt and Richard Gomulkiewicz; 14. Adaptive responses to landscape disturbances: theory Kalle Parvinen; 15. Adaptive responses to landscape disturbances: empirical evidence Bruno Colas, Chris D. Thomas and Ilkka Hanski; Part E. Community Structure: 16. Co-evolutionary dynamics and extinction Judith Bronstein and Ulf Dieckmann; 17. Ecosystem evolution and conservation Michel Loreau, Claire de Mazancourt and Robert D. Holt; 18. The congener as an agent of extermination and rescue of rare species Donald A. Levin; 19. Epilogue Régis Ferrière, Ulf Dieckmann and Denis Couvet; References; Index.