r. Keith Crandall is the lead author of "Considering evolutionary processes in conservation biology," (Trends in Ecology & Evolution 15[7]: 290-5, July 2000), which has been selected by ISI Essential Science Indicators  as a Fast-Breaking Paper in Environment/Ecology, a paper published in the past two years that has received the most citations in its particular field. Dr. Crandall is the Director of the Crandall Lab in the Department of Zoology at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

  What, in your view, is the significance of this paper for the field?

A key component to classifying a population as endangered or not has been a characterization of the amount of differentiation of that population from others. Historically, this has been done using a combination of ecological and genetic information. However, recently, such decisions have been dominated by genetic information. Our paper outlined why this was inappropriate and why going back to a combination of ecological and genetic information was a better approach. We then further suggested that a simple dichotomy between differentiated or not was not ideal, but that multiple options would better represent the continuum of possibilities. We therefore presented a new scheme for classification of population differentiation with multiple categories incorporating both ecological and genetic data in a straightforward hypothesis-testing framework. This new approach can be easily used by researchers investigating endangered species to explore the extent of ecological and genetic differentiation.

  What were the greatest challenges in performing and presenting your work?

This was truly a multi-authored piece. The greatest challenge for me as lead author was in incorporating ideas and text from three colleagues with my own to develop a manuscript that flowed in ideas and reading. This effort was greatly facilitated by our meeting at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and by the great cooperation among the authors.

  How did you decide where to submit or publish your paper?

We looked for a high profile journal that would target the audience of interest. Trends in Ecology & Evolution fit the bill. They offer rapid publication with a very accessible format.

What would you like to convey to the general public about your work?

While the designation of endangered species in the United States and around the world is a very politically sensitive issue (with many "conservation" agencies reluctant to designate endangered species for fear of political [budgetary] retribution), there can be good science behind such designations and there are objective criteria to apply when making such decisions.

What are the implications of your work for the future of your field or neighboring fields?

We developed a new approach for designating organismal populations for conservation concern. It has direct relevance to conservation biologists, wildlife biologists, politicians, economists, etc. The field of conservation biology, in general, has broad interest, so the presentation of a new methodology that is essential to the evaluation of endangered species under the Endangered Species Act has very broad appeal.

Would you like to leave any other comments about your work or share a personal side of yourself to be included in the piece?

In addition to this theoretical/methodological perspective of designating endangered populations of species for conservation, I also work extensively with conservation organizations in the field of conservation genetics. I especially enjoy the freshwater stream ecosystems and conservation genetics of freshwater crayfishes.

Dr. Keith Crandall
Brigham Young University
Department of Zoology
Provo, UT, USA