(eBook PDF) Conservation Biology by

Bradley Cardinale
Go to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-conservation-biology-by-bradley-cardinal
e/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

(eBook PDF) Conservation Biology by Bradley J.

Cardinale

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-conservation-biology-by-
bradley-j-cardinale-2/

(eBook PDF) Conservation Biology by Bradley J.

Cardinale

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-conservation-biology-by-
bradley-j-cardinale/

(eBook PDF) An Introduction to Conservation Biology by

Richard B. Primack

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-an-introduction-to-
conservation-biology-by-richard-b-primack/

(eBook PDF) Principles of Conservation Biology. 3nd

Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-principles-of-
conservation-biology-3nd-edition/
(eBook PDF) Essentials of Conservation Biology 6th
Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-essentials-of-
conservation-biology-6th-edition/

(eBook PDF) An Introduction to Conservation Biology 2nd

Edition

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-an-introduction-to-
conservation-biology-2nd-edition/

(eBook PDF) The Economy Today 15th by Bradley Schiller

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-the-economy-today-15th-
by-bradley-schiller/

(Original PDF) Clinical Experiences in Counseling by

Bradley T. Erford

http://ebooksecure.com/product/original-pdf-clinical-experiences-
in-counseling-by-bradley-t-erford/

(eBook PDF) Essentials of Economics 11th Edition by

Bradley Schiller

http://ebooksecure.com/product/ebook-pdf-essentials-of-
economics-11th-edition-by-bradley-schiller/
 Conservation Biology

00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 1 8/27/19 4:25 PM

 viii | Contents
4 Global Patterns and Drivers of Biodiversity
Biodiversity through Geologic Time
Formation of early life 82
Radiation events 82
Historical extinctions 84
Global Patterns of Biodiversity 87
How many species are there? 87
Box 4.1 Case in Point
Discovery of a New Way to Make Life
Box 4.2 Success Story
Rediscovery of an Extinct Species
Part II Importance of Biodiversity
5 The Many Values of Biodiversity
Values and Ethics 118
Types of Value Systems 119
Intrinsic values 120
Box 5.1 Success Story
The Public Makeover of Sharks 124
Box 5.2 Case in Point
Religion and Conservation 126
6 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 141
What Are Ecosystem Services? 143
History of Ecosystem Services 143
Ecosystem valuation 144
Biodiversity and ecosystem function 146
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 147
Types of Ecosystem Services 149
Supporting services 150
Provisioning services 153
Regulating services 157
Box 6.1 Success Story
How New York City Keeps Its Drinking
Water Clean 159
7 Ecological Economics 181
Principles of Ecological Economics 182
Decision-Making Analyses 185
Cost-effectiveness analysis 186
Cost-benefit analysis 187
Multicriteria decision analysis 190
00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 8
82 Box 4.3 Case in Point
81
Discovery of the Human Biome 92
Realms, biomes, and ecoregions 93
The most diverse ecoregions 93
Biodiversity hotspots 96
Latitudinal gradients 97
Drivers of Biodiversity 99
89 Evolutionary drivers 99
Ecological drivers 105
Synopsis 110
90
115
117
Instrumental values 126
Relational values 129
Ethical Worldviews 135
Anthropocentrism 135
Biocentrism 136
Ecocentrism 137
Box 6.2 Case in Point
Wetland Loss and Hurricane Katrina 163
Cultural services 164
Alternative frameworks 168
Biotic Control of Ecosystem Services 169
Functional traits 170
Biodiversity 171
Box 6.3 Challenges & Opportunities
The Dilution Effect 175
Ecosystem Markets and Payments for Ecosystem
Services 177
Total Economic Value (TEV) Framework
Direct use value 193
192
Indirect use value 194
Option value 194
Existence value 194
8/27/19 4:25 PM

Box 7.1 Case in Point
The Option Value of Biodiversity 195
Estimates of TEV 196
Methods of Valuing Ecosystem Services 198
Revealed preference methods 198
Real market techniques 199
Box 7.2 Conservation in Practice
An Example of the Market Pricing Method:
Fisheries and Pollution 201
Part III Threats to Biodiversity
8 Extinction 215
Global Patterns of Endangerment
The IUCN Red List 216
Box 8.1 Conservation in Practice
The IUCN Red List 217
Estimates of global extinction 221
Box 8.2 Challenges & Opportunities
Are We Entering the Sixth Mass Extinction?
Drivers of Extinction 226
Habitat loss 226
Overexploitation 227
Invasive alien species 227
Climate change 228
Most threatening factors 228
9 Habitat Loss, Fragmentation, and Degradation 249
Habitat Loss 250
Primary drivers of habitat loss 251
Box 9.1 Challenges & Opportunities
Land Sharing versus Land Sparing
Box 9.2 Success Story
The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Detroit
Habitat loss by biome 260
Box 9.3 Case in Point
The Unsustainable Use of Palm Oil
Future development threats 267
Habitat Fragmentation 269
Biological consequences of fragmentation 270
Species-specific responses to fragmentation 276
00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 9
Contents | ix
Surrogate market techniques 203
Cost-based techniques 204
Stated preference methods 206
Box 7.3 Success Story
Contingent Valuation Helps Reduce Human-Wildlife
Conflict 208
Benefits transfer method 209
One Final Comment 209
Box 7.4 Challenges & Opportunities
Taking Anthropocentrism to the Extreme 210
213
216 Local Changes in Biodiversity
Species-area relationships 230
230
Empirical measures 233
Better monitoring and assessment programs 236
Box 8.3 Success Stories
Citizen Science and Biodiversity Monitoring 239
224 Controls of Extinction Risk 240
Demographic parameters 240
Box 8.4 Case in Point
Why Are Frogs and Toads Croaking? 241
Ecological controls 242
Life-history traits 243
Stochastic processes 245
Habitat Degradation
Pollution 277
277
Desertification 283
254 Erosion and sedimentation 284
Metapopulations and Landscape Mosaics 285
257 The “classic” metapopulation model 286
Source-sink dynamics 287
Conservation of metapopulations 288
263 Box 9.4 Conservation in Practice
The Mainland-Island Metapopulation Model 289
8/27/19 4:25 PM
 x | Contents
10 Overexploitation 293
History of Overexploitation 294
Psychology of Overexploitation 297
Types of Overexploitation 299
Commercial exploitation 299
Box 10.1 Challenges & Opportunities
No Fish Left, or Let Us Eat Fish? 303
Box 10.2 Conservation in Practice
CITES: The Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 306
11 Invasive Alien Species
Overview of the Problem 330
The Population Biology of IAS 333
329
Introduction of alien species 334
Establishment of alien species 338
Spread of invasive alien species 341
Box 11.1 Conservation in Practice
Predicting an Invasive Alien Species Wave Front
Impacts of Invasive Alien Species 343
Impacts on biodiversity 343
Impacts on ecosystems 348
12 Climate Change 369
Anthropogenic Climate Change 370
Predicted Response to Climate Change 374
Methods and models 375
Current forecasts 378
Box 12.1 Conservation in Practice
Toward Mechanistic Climate Envelope Models
Documented Responses to Climate Change
Population decay and local extirpation 382
Box 12.2 Case in Point
Meet the First Species to Go Extinct Because of
Anthropogenic Climate Change 383
Geographic range shifts 384
Altered phenologies 386
Biome regime shifts and alternative states
Change in ecosystem services 389
00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 10
Subsistence overexploitation 314
Recreational overexploitation 317
Box 10.3 Success Story
The Taimen Conservation Project 322
Theory of Sustainable Harvesting 322
Sustainable yield 323
Fixed quota (Q) harvesting 324
Fixed effort (proportional) harvesting 325
Limitations of MSY models 326
Economic impacts 349
Positive values of IAS 351
Box 11.2 Challenges & Opportunities
Should Species Be Judged by Their Origin,
or by What They Do? 353
Management and Control 354
342 Box 11.3 Success Story
To Catch a Goat 355
Risk assessment 356
Risk management 361
Managing Effects of Climate Change on
Biodiversity 392
Establishing refugia and safe havens 393
Optimizing migration pathways 395
Building evolutionary resilience 396
378 Box 12.3 Challenges & Opportunities
382 Assisted Colonization: A Key Tool for Conservation,
or Pandora’s Box? 397
Using biodiversity for climate mitigation 398
Developing green infrastructure 398
Box 12.4 Success Story
China’s Sponge City Program: Using Green Infrastructure
to Mitigate Natural Disasters 400
388
8/27/19 4:25 PM
 Contents | xi

Part IV Approaches to Conservation 403

13 Species-Level Conservation 405

Box 13.1 Success Story
Record-Breaking Recovery: Island Foxes of
Box 13.2 Conservation in Practice
Estimating Animal Density: The Distance Sampling
California 406 Approach 423
Goals of Species-Level Conservation 408 Capture-mark-recapture techniques 424
Challenges to Conserving Box 13.3 Case in Point
Small Populations 409 Detector Dogs Support Research and Conservation
Demographic stochasticity 410 Efforts 425

Environmental stochasticity 411 Models of Population Size 426

Loss of genetic variability 413 Geometric growth model 427
Effective Population Size 415 Exponential growth model 429
Determining effective population size 415 Logistic growth model 429
Unequal sex ratio 416 Age- and stage-based models 430
Variation in reproductive output 417 Stochastic models 433
Population fluctuations and bottlenecks 417 Predicting Population Persistence 434
Extinction Vortices 420 Minimum population size 434
Population viability analysis 436
Estimating Population Size 421
Census 421 Conservation Trade-Offs 440

14 Community and Ecosystem Conservation 445

Classification of Protected Areas 446
Strict nature reserves and wilderness areas
Effectiveness of Protected Areas
Terrestrial protected areas 461
461

(Category I) 446 Marine protected areas 463

National parks (Category II) 448
Box 14.2 Success Story
Natural monuments (Category III) 448 Innovative Partnerships Protect One of Earth’s
Habitat/species management area Last Remaining Marine Wilderness Areas 464
(Category IV) 448 Impacts on Human Well-Being 466
Protected landscape/seascape
Predictors of Success 469
(Category V) 448
Effective management 469
Managed resource protected area
(Category VI) 449 Stakeholder and community involvement 471
Integrated social development and conservation
Global Status of Protected Areas 449
goals 472
Approaches for Choosing Protected Areas 453
Hotspots of biodiversity 453
Box 14.3 Challenges & Opportunities
Fences and Fines … or … Integrated Conservation
Ecoregions 455 and Development? 474
Box 14.1 Case in Point
Conserving Half: A Bold Agenda for Conservation 457
Political and economic boundaries 457
Ecosystem services 458
Areas of cultural importance 459

00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 11 8/27/19 4:25 PM

 xii | Contents
15 Landscape-Scale Conservation 477
Creating Networks of Protected Areas 479
Establishing new protected areas 479
Criteria used to select and prioritize new protected
areas 481
Box 15.1 Success Story
Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas: The Right to
Decide 482
Tools used to optimize selection of protected
areas 487
Box 15.2 Conservation in Practice
Decision-Making Algorithms 488
Connecting Individual Protected Areas
into Networks 493
16 Ex Situ Conservation 521
Box 16.1 Case in Point
A Comprehensive Conservation Plan Saved
the Giant Panda 523
Ex Situ Conservation Facilities 524
Zoos and aquariums 524
Botanical gardens 531
Gene banks and seed banks 534
Contributions to In Situ Conservation
Captive-breeding programs 538
17 Conservation and Sustainable Development 555
What Is Sustainable Development? 556
International Efforts to Achieve Sustainable
Development 558
The United Nations 558
International conventions 560
Funding for Sustainable Development
The World Bank 565
Global Environment Facility 567
Individual governments 568
Non-governmental organizations 570
Box 17.1 Challenges & Opportunities
China’s Belt and Road Initiative 570
Glossary G-1
References R-1
Index I-1
00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 12
Incorporating unprotected areas into conservation
plans 497
Conservation opportunities in urban habitat 499
Conservation opportunities in agricultural
habitat 502
Conservation opportunities in mixed-use
habitat 504
Managing the Conservation Landscape 506
Monitoring 506
Modeling 510
Ecosystem-based management 511
Landscape-Scale Challenges 515
BOX 15.3 Case in Point
Community-Based Natural Resource Management 516
Box 16.2 Challenges & Opportunities
Resurrection Science: Should Extinct Species
Be Brought Back to Life? 541
Box 16.3 Conservation in Practice
Measuring Inbreeding and Outbreeding 543
Reintroduction and reinforcement 544
Box 16.4 Success Story
538 Reintroduction Programs That Saved Species
from Extinction 546
Public education and engagement 549
Final Thoughts on Ex Situ Conservation 551
Box 17.2 Success Story
Snow Leopard Enterprises 572
Examples of Sustainable Development Projects 573
Ecotourism and biodiversity 573
Illegal wildlife trade 574
565 Box 17.3 Case in Point
Should the Ban on Elephant Ivory Trade Be Lifted? 575
Fisheries 576
Climate change 577
The Future Success of Sustainable Development 578
Box 17.4 Conservation in Practice
The Social Progress Index 582
Concluding Remarks 583
8/27/19 4:25 PM
 Preface

Earth is home to a spectacular variety of life. Humans share the planet with more
than a million described species, and there are probably another 8 million multicellular
companions that are unknown to science, and as many as 1 trillion types of unicellular
prokaryotic organisms we have yet to discover. This amazing biodiversity is the most
striking feature of our planet, and the only thing that makes Earth unique.
But the variety of life on our planet is in trouble. Humans now dominate every eco-
system on Earth, and we have co-opted the vast majority of limited resources for our-
selves. As this book goes to press, an inferno is destroying the Amazon rainforest at an
alarming rate as illegal clearing and burning makes way for cattle ranching. So it is no
surprise that biodiversity is being lost at rates that are unprecedented in human history.
We are at a crossroads. We have just a few generations to learn how to be good stew-
ards of our natural resources, and to live sustainably alongside the other nonhuman
species that share our planet. If we do not succeed, much of the biodiversity on Earth,
perhaps the majority of it, will be lost for good.

Why did we write this book?

We wrote this book to inspire the next generation of conservation biologists to help
humans become better stewards of the world’s biodiversity. We also wrote this book to
fill a gap in the education and training of conservation biologists. While most universi-
ties have entry level classes in conservation that are taught as part of their traditional
programs of biology, ecology, and environmental science, the number of universities that
offer more advanced courses is comparatively small. It is even more rare for universities
to offer interdisciplinary courses in conservation that extend beyond the discipline’s his-
torical roots in natural sciences to include the disciplines of social sciences, engineering,
and humanities that have become central to the modern mission of conservation. The
lack of advanced, interdisciplinary training has resulted in a paucity of graduates who
have the full set of skills needed to be successful in jobs. In fact, the skillset of graduates
in some countries is so underdeveloped that many conservation organizations have had
to design their own training programs to prepare their entering workforce.

Who is this book for?

This book is for aspiring conservation biologists who seek advanced training. The book
was developed to support classes designed for upper-division undergraduates who have
already had some introduction to environmental science, ecology, wildlife biology, for-
estry, or other field related to conservation. In addition, the book was developed to
support classes designed for beginning graduate students, such as those in the growing
number of professional master’s programs that provide advanced degrees in environ-
mental science, policy, management, or sustainability.
Our text is also relevant for those who want a more interdisciplinary perspective
than is typical of introductory conservation textbooks. Conservation is no longer a
bunch of ecologists, wildlife biologists, or other natural scientists trying to save their
favorite species in a dwindling habitat. The modern practice of conservation relies
on numerous disciplines from the social sciences that account for human behaviors,
values, needs, and decision making. Modern conservation relies on disciplines from

00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 13 8/27/19 4:25 PM

 xiv | Preface

engineering and architecture to help plan, design, and construct practical solutions
to problems. Modern conservation also relies on disciplines from the humanities that
compose law and policy, and that communicate effectively through literature, art, and
photography. Interdisciplinary approaches to conservation are integrated throughout
the text, and form the foundation for several individual chapters.

What pedagogical approaches does the book use?

To meet the conservation challenges of the future, the next generation of practitioners
will need to be better equipped than our predecessors. They will need a broader tool kit
that includes an ever-increasing body of quantitative methods and predictive models.
In addition, they will need a greater variety of qualitative tools such as stories, narra-
tives, and art that serve as effective forms of communication. This text uses a variety of
pedagogical approaches to develop the practitioner’s tool kit:

• Success Stories, included in every chapter, detail conservation biology’s most

important achievements to date. These stories provide inspiration, and remind
us that we can succeed.
• Conservation in Practice boxes detail some of the most common methods,
models, and techniques that form the quantitative foundations of the field
of conservation.
• Case in Point boxes describe case studies that reinforce key topics covered
in the chapters. They are designed to help translate concepts into real-world
applications.
• Challenges & Opportunities boxes summarize contemporary challenges,
controversies, and opportunities that future practitioners will face and need
to resolve over the course of their careers.
• Suggested Exercises provide opportunities to practice the methods, models,
and techniques described in the text, and to explore datasets and sources of
information that practitioners commonly use.
• Supplemental Videos are used to reinforce topics in each chapter with
compelling real-world examples and applications. These can be assigned with
readings, or used to augment lectures and discussions.
• Chapter Summaries succinctly recap the take-home points of each chapter.
• For Discussion questions can be assigned, or used to facilitate in-class
discussions that get students thinking more deeply about the key points and
issues from each chapter.
• Suggested Readings provide a list of additional papers students can read,
or that instructors can assign, if there is a desire to dig deeper.

In addition to the pedagogical approaches, students are provided with a companion

website that organizes all supplemental online material and keeps the weblinks current.
Instructors resources are also available online to aid instructors in creating presentations
and to assess student understanding.

What is our hope for this book?

It took us a long two years to develop the first edition of this textbook, and there were
many ups and downs along the way. But we were determined to complete the project
because of our optimism that the current trajectory of biodiversity loss can be altered
for the better. We need a new generation of individuals who have both a passion for
nature’s living things, and the skills needed to help conservation succeed more often
than it has in the past. For those who have both the passion and the skills, we believe
you will have a rewarding career filled with purpose. Our sincere hope is that this book
will help you become the next great champion for biodiversity.

00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 14 8/27/19 4:25 PM

 Acknowledgments | xv

Acknowledgments
We want to thank the large number of individuals who provided us with data, figures,
and tables that are used throughout this textbook. The next generation of practitioners
will stand atop your work. We extend our sincere gratitude to the many individuals who
graciously reviewed various chapters to help us improve this book. This includes several
anonymous reviewers, as well as the following outstanding individuals:

Dr. Matthew S. Becker, Prof. Aaron M. Ellison, Heidi Marcum, PhD,

Zambian Carnivore Programme Harvard University Baylor University
Andrew F. Bennett, Joel T. Heinen, Stephen G. Mech,
La Trobe University Florida International University Albright College
Nate Bickford, Ray Hilborn, Curt Meine,
University of Nebraska, Kearney University of Washington University of Wisconsin, Madison
Robert Boyd, Joshua D. Holbrook, Ben A. Minteer,
Auburn University Montreat College Arizona State University
Joseph W. Bull, Vanessa Hull, Vincent Nijman,
University of Kent University of Florida Oxford Brookes University
Abigail E. Cahill, Daniel Karp, Liba Pejchar,
Albion College University of California, Davis Colorado State University
J. Baird Callicott, Christopher Kellner, PhD, Charles Perrings,
University of North Texas Arkansas Tech University Arizona State University
Scott Connelly, Richard K. Kessler, Andrew Rassweiler,
University of Georgia Campbellsville University Florida State University
Brian L. Cypher, Jason A. Koontz, Michael Reed,
California State University, Stanislaus Augustana College Tufts University
Laura E. DeWald, Jay T. Lennon, Dov F. Sax,
Western Carolina University Indiana University Brown University
Dr. Nicole Duplaix, Mark Manteuffel, PhD, D. Alexander Wait,
Oregon State University Washington University Missouri State University

We are indebted to the team at Sinauer Associates/Oxford University Press that

included Dean Scudder (President, Sinauer Associates), Martha Lorantos (Senior
Production Editor), Peter Lacey (Senior Production Editor, Media), Meg Britton Clark
(Production Specialist), Joan Gemme (Production Manager), Mark Siddall (Photo Re-
searcher), Michele Beckta (Permissions Supervisor), Tracy Marton (Senior Production
Editor), artist Jan Troutt, and copy editors Lou Doucette and Carol Wigg. You took
our imperfect text and partially developed ideas and turned them into a polished and
beautifully illustrated book that we all can feel proud of. Thank you!
Lastly, we thank our families for putting up with us for two years as we completed
this project. Your love and patience were inspirational, and we were touched.

Bradley J. Cardinale
Richard B. Primack
James D. Murdoch

August 2019

00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 15 8/27/19 4:25 PM

 Media & Supplements
to accompany

Conservation Biology

oup.com/he/cardinale1e
For the Student
The Companion Website for Conservation Biology,
First Edition, provides students with study and
review tools to help them master the material
presented in the textbook, all free of charge and
requiring no access code.
The site includes the following resources:
Videos and Audio – Engaging media clips
provide information and inspiration on a range
of conservation biology topics.
Suggested Exercises– Students can learn
essential skills and practice analyzing real data
with these thoughtful exercises.
Web Links– Connect with the many
organizations and institutions discussed in the
text with helpful web links.
Chapter Outlines– Useful study aids summarize
each chapter’s key concepts.
Flashcards– Students can gain mastery over each
chapter’s key vocabulary and concepts with this
helpful flashcard set.
For the Instructor
(Instructor resources are available to adopting
instructors online. Registration is required. Please
contact your Oxford University Press representative
to request access.)
The Instructor Resources for Conservation Biology,
First Edition, include a variety of tools to help
instructors incorporate visual resources into their
lectures and course materials and enhance student
learning. The site includes:
Figure JPGs– Includes all of the figures and
tables from the textbook, formatted for optimal
legibility when projected. Complex images are
provided in both whole and split versions.
Figure PowerPoint Slides– Features all the
figures and tables from each chapter, with titles
on each slide, and complete captions in the
“notes” field.
Suggested Exercise Resources– For many of
the Suggested Exercises, instructors have access
to helpful materials, such as preformatted
spreadsheets for data-analysis exercises and
answers to exercise assessments.

eBook (ISBN 978-1-60535-882-6)

Conservation Biology, First Edition, is available as an eBook via several different eBook
providers, including RedShelf and VitalSource. Please visit the Oxford University Press
website at oup.com/ushe for more information.

00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 16 8/27/19 4:25 PM

 Conservation Biology

00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 17 8/27/19 4:25 PM

00_Cardinale1e_FM.indd 18 8/27/19 4:25 PM
 Part I
Foundations of
Conservation Biology

01_Cardinale1e_CH1.indd 1 8/26/19 12:50 PM

01_Cardinale1e_CH1.indd 2 8/26/19 12:50 PM
 1
The State of
Our Planet

© Katesalin Pagkaihang/Shutterstock.com

B
y‌ many if not most measures, humans are the most
remarkably successful species to ever inhabit planet
Earth. We have evolved one of the largest brains per
body size that exists in the animal kingdom, which has given
us an unparalleled intellectual capacity and ability to reason.
Our species is one of the more social organisms on the planet
(particularly among mammals), which has led to cooperation,
advanced learning, and a division of labor that has fostered
our success. Our mastery of tools and our technological
advances are unparalleled among other life-forms. These, and
other qualities, have allowed our species population to grow
rapidly and to conquer and dominate more of the planet than
almost any previous organism.
But there is one measure that humans do not yet excel
in, compared with other species—longevity. Homo sapiens
have existed on this planet for a mere 200,000 years, which is
but a fraction of the time that most species survive on Earth.
Will humans be able to sustain themselves for another million
years and achieve the longevity that is typical for one of Earth’s
species? Many of the very qualities that have allowed us to
be so remarkably successful thus far are eroding the natural
infrastructure of the planet—the collection of genes, spe-
Orangutans are presently found only in the rain
cies, and biological communities that compose the natural and forests of Borneo and Sumatra, where they are
managed ecosystems on which people depend. threatened with extinction by deforestation.

01_Cardinale1e_CH1.indd 3 8/26/19 12:50 PM

 4 | Chapter 1
Video 1.1 See the staggering
▲
growth of the human population
over time.
oup-arc.com/e/cardinale-v1.1
01_Cardinale1e_CH1.indd 4
If we are to ultimately become one of longest-lived species in Earth’s history,
humans are going to have to use our intellect to learn how to live more sustain-
ably on finite resources. We are going to have to use our tools and technology to
conserve the biophysical processes that regulate life on the planet. And we will
have to do so while using our social cooperation to generate a decent quality
of life for our fellow humans. If we succeed, then Homo sapiens will indeed be-
come the most remarkable species by all measures. If we fail, then our era will
be recorded in the geological record as one of the greatest periods of biological
loss in the history of life on Earth.
This chapter gives an overview of the current state of biology on our planet.
It is the precursor to all other chapters in this book, as it establishes some ba-
sic facts about the forms of environmental change that are occurring across
the globe as a result of human domination of the planet and the subsequent
impact that these changes are having on biodiversity. We begin with the state
of the human species, emphasizing gains that have allowed our species to be
successful, while also emphasizing the social inequalities that are preventing
many from having a good quality of life. We then review the state of our global
environment, emphasizing how human gains for some have come at a cost to
the environment. This, in turn, leads us to overview the state of biodiversity,
including biodiversity losses that are occurring as a result of environmental
change. We end the chapter with some reasons to be optimistic that we can, in
fact, become the most remarkable species ever to inhabit planet Earth—a spe-
cies that can provide a high quality of life to our own kind while, at the same
time, protecting the myriad of amazing life-forms that share our planet.
State of the Human Species
Modern humans first appeared in the fossil record about 200,000 years ago,
which is but a tiny fraction of the 3.5-billion-year history of life on Earth (Figure
1.1). For most of our brief history, our ancestors lived as hunters and gatherers—
a dangerous way of life that kept population sizes small, probably less than 10
million individuals across the entire globe.
As humans transformed from hunter-gatherer to agrarian societies, com-
munities evolved that could support more people. By roughly 1 ce, the world
population had expanded to 300 million, and it continued to increase at a con-
stant and steady rate for hundreds of years. Then the Industrial Revolution hit.
Living standards in the eighteenth century rose dramatically in the developing
countries of Europe and in the United States, and improvements in technology
and medicine reduced the prevalence of famines and epidemics in many parts
of the world. Population growth accelerated quickly, and humans reached their
first 1 billion individuals about 1800.
While it took nearly 200,000 years for Homo sapiens to reach the first 1 bil-
lion, it took just 130 years to reach the second billion, 30 years to reach the third
billion, and 15 years to reach the fourth billion. In a span of less than 200 years,
our species increased more than sevenfold to the current mark of 7.6 billion
in 2017 (see Figure 1.1). This staggering rate of growth is almost impossible
to convey with graphs or words (Video 1.1). No large vertebrate animal in the
history of the planet has ever grown as quickly, and with as much success, as
Homo sapiens, and that is a testament to our unique intellect, innovation, and
technological advances as a species.
The human population recently passed an inflection point called the demo-
graphic transition, where global growth has now shifted from unconstrained,
8/26/19 12:50 PM
 The State of Our Planet | 5

Figure 1.1 Human dominance is but a small fraction of Earth's 10

World population growth (in billions)

4.6-billion-year history. Although Homo sapiens evolved 200,000 years
ago, nearly all of human population growth has occurred in the last 8 Growth is slowing
200 years. Now at 7.6 billion, the population has passed an inflection
point (red dot) where growth has slowed and is heading toward a 6
steady state. (After T. P. Soubbotina et al. 2000. Beyond Economic
Growth: Meeting the Challenges of Global Development. Washington, 4
DC: World Bank.)
Developing Industrialized
2 regions
regions

0
1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000 2050
Year
Years (in billions)
Hadean Archean Proterozoic Phanerozoic

4.56 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0

mrowka; Mike Peel/CC BY-SA 2.0; © CHOTE

© iStock.com/Naeblys; © iStock.com/dzika_

Wisconsin-Madison; spot photos from left to

right: © Diego Barucco/Shutterstock.com;
Present

Timeline by Andrée Valley, University of

Formation Earth’s Moon Earliest Earliest Rise in First First Dinosaurs Humans
of Earth core formation isotopic fossils atmospheric cells with hard-shelled

BKK/Shutterstock.com
forms evidence (Apex oxygen nucleus animals
for life Chert)
Evidence
for oceans

exponential increases to reduced logistic growth that is headed toward a steady

state (see Figure 1.1). This inflection point represents the transition from high
birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates that have occurred as countries
have transitioned from preindustrial to industrialized economic systems. There
are many potential triggers of the demographic transition. Social triggers include
reduced fertility rates caused by improved access by the population to contracep-
tion, a reduction in subsistence agri-
culture, an increase in the status and
education of women, and a reduction

© Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com
1000
in the value of children’s work.1 Eco-
logical triggers include limitation by
Maximum population (billions)

essential resources like energy, food,

or water that become increasingly
scarce as the population approaches 100
Earth’s carrying capacity. 2,3

Whatever the triggers—whether Upper interval

social, ecological, or both­—it is now = 12 billion
Conservation Biology 1e Cardinale
clearOxford
that University
growth of the global hu-
Press 10
manTroutt
population has slowed and Lower interval
Visual Services
= 7.7 billion
will Cardin_01.01_v2.ai
soon reach some type of steady
8-20-19
state, perhaps as early as the middle
of this century. There have been at 1
least 65 attempts to estimate Earth’s 1650 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000
Year
carrying capacity for humans (Fig-
ure 1.2). While these range from ex- Figure 1.2 This graph shows 65 estimates of Earth’s carrying capacity for humans
treme pessimism (1 billion) to un- (y-axis) that have been published through time (x-axis). The credible interval for these
constrained optimism (1000 billion), estimates ranges from 7.7 to 12 billion, closely matching projections from the United
the credible interval of the estimates Nations of 7.8 to 12.5 billion. (After J. E. Cohen. 1995. Science 269: 341–346.)

01_Cardinale1e_CH1.indd 5 8/26/19 12:50 PM

 6 | Chapter 1

ranges from 7.7 to 12 billion,4 which closely matches projections from the United
Nations. Given that the human population is already at the lower bound of these
estimates, and given that the world’s current growth rate of 1.14% has a potential
doubling time of 61 years, those reading this book will likely be the first people in
history to know what Earth’s carrying capacity actually is for humans.
Given the staggering growth of the human population, it is perhaps surprising
that the “average” person born in the modern era will live a longer, healthier, and
more prosperous life than the average person born in any other period of human
history. Mortality rates in premodern countries for children under the age of five
were routinely 300 to 500 deaths per 1000 live births.5 But during the twentieth
century, modern medicine, central heating, improved hygiene, cleaner water, and
access to more food have all helped reduce infant mortality to historically low
rates (Figure 1.3A).6 Those born in the premodern world had life expectancies of
a mere 30 years.5 Since 1900 the global average life expectancy has more than
doubled, exceeding 76 years at the start of the twenty-first century. The average
person in the modern era will also have a better standard of living compared with
his or her ancestors. Since the 1800s, the global gross domestic product (GDP)
per capita has increased more than tenfold (Figure 1.3B).7 Modern technology and
the green revolution have led to nearly a doubling of per capita caloric intake
in modernized countries,8 and the per capita calorie supply has been increasing
steadily in nearly all regions of the globe since the 1960s.9
While conditions have improved for the “average” person on the planet, the
benefits of economic development have been unequally distributed across the
globe, leading to vast inequalities among countries and among those living in
individual countries (Video 1.2). For example, although Americans constitute
Video 1.2 Consider the just 5% of the world’s population, they consume 24% of the world’s energy.10,11
▲

argument for a more equitable If everyone on the planet consumed as much energy, food, water, minerals,
future for humanity. and space as the average U.S. citizen, we would need four Earths to sustain
oup-arc.com/e/cardinale-v1.2 them. There are also huge disparities among individuals. The wealthiest 10%
of the world’s population accounts for 59% of all consumption on the planet,

(B)

(A) 8000
2008
175 80 7000
Infant mortality ( per 1,000 births)

165 Life expectancy

(1990 international dollars)
Life expectancy at birth ( years)

150 76 6000
World GDP per capita

60
125 5000
47 Life expectancy
100 4000 GDP has been
increases while infant
© iStock.com/Sezeryadigar

40 rising exponentially.
75 morality rates drop. 3000
Infant
50 2000
mortality 20
25 1000
7
0 0 0
1900 1950 2000 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
Year Year

Figure 1.3 The average child born in the modern era will have 1900–1970, U.S. Public Health Service, Vital Statistics of the
(A) a greater chance of survival and a higher life expectancy United States, Vols. 1 and 2; 1971–1997, U.S. National Center for
and (B) greater per capita wealth than any generation in human Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States; National Vital
history. The resulting population growth and consumption, Statistics Report [NVSR] [formerly Monthly Vital Statistics Report];
particularly in fully developed countries, will be a major challenge and unpublished data; B, data from A. Maddison. 2009. Statistics
for conservation efforts. (A, data from U.S. Census Bureau, on World Population, GDP and Per Capita GDP, 1–2008 AD.
Statistical Abstract of the United States. 1999. Compiled from © Angus Maddison/University of Groningen.)

01_Cardinale1e_CH1.indd 6 8/26/19 12:50 PM

 The State of Our Planet | 7

© dbimages/Alamy Stock Photo

Figure 1.4 While the “average” person born in the modern era will live a longer, healthier, and more prosperous
life than his or her ancestors, more than 2 billion people still live in extreme poverty and are malnourished. People
whose basic needs are not met do not have the luxury of caring about biodiversity loss. Therefore, bringing com-
munities out of poverty, particularly in developing nations, will be a major challenge for conservation efforts.

whereas 1.3 billion people continue to live in absolute poverty, surviving on less
than US$1.25 per day (Figure 1.4).12 Still another billion people live in sufficient
poverty that they are malnourished, with food shortages disproportionately
represented in less-developed countries of the world. While the number of poor
and malnourished people is lower than recorded a few decades ago (suggest-
ing that some progress has been made), the need to alleviate the suffering of
those living in extreme poverty is still considered to be the greatest challenge
to achieving a sustainable human population on the planet.

Suggested Exercise 1.1 Use the Global Footprint Network’s website to

estimate your ecological footprint, which is the number of planets we’d need
if everyone lived like you. oup-arc.com/e/cardinale-ex1.1

State of the Global Environment

With our vastly expanded population size, increased affluence, and improved
technologies, human activities now control almost all physical and biological
processes that regulate life on the planet. While we do not wish to present a
“doom-and-gloom” narrative in this book, it is necessary to establish some basic
facts at the beginning of this book about what is happening across the globe as
a result of human domination of the planet. These facts form the template for
actions to save biodiversity.

Land
More than 50% of the inhabitable land surface of the planet has now been
transformed in some way to support the growing human population.13 To date,
5 billion hectares (50 million km 2 ) of natural habitat have been converted to
croplands and pastures,14 and an additional 350 million hectares (3.5 million
km2 ) of the world’s land surface have been converted into urban environments.15

01_Cardinale1e_CH1.indd 7 8/26/19 12:50 PM

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of For service
rendered
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: For service rendered

Author: Jesse F. Bone

Release date: December 15, 2023 [eBook #72422]

Language: English

Original publication: New York, NY: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company,

1963

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOR

SERVICE RENDERED ***
FOR SERVICE RENDERED

By J. F. BONE

Illustrated by COYE

Are you dissatisfied with the programs that

come through your television set? Don't complain
too much. Look what came through Miss Twilley's!

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from

Amazing Stories April 1963.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
Television made Miss Enid Twilley's life endurable by providing the
romance which life had withheld. So when the picture tube in her old-
fashioned set blew out, it was a major crisis. But Ed Jacklin's phone
didn't ring. The spare twenty-eight inch tube in Jacklin's T.V. shop
remained undisturbed on the shelf. And the drawn shades of Miss
Twilley's living room gave no hint of what was happening behind
them. The town of Ellenburg went its suburban way unaware of the
crisis in its residential district.
Which was probably just as well.
Frozen with terror, Miss Twilley sat in spastic rigidity, her horrified
eyes riveted on the thing in front of her. One moment she had been
suffering emphatic pangs of unrequited love with a bosomy T.V.
blonde, the next she was staring into a rectangular hole of Cimmerian
blackness that writhed, twisted and disgorged a shape that made her
tongue cleave to the roof of her mouth and her throat constrict
against the scream that fought for release.
It wasn't a large shape but it was enormously impressive despite the
lime green shorts and cloak that partially covered it. It was obviously
reptilian. The red skin with its faint reticulated pattern of ancestral
scales, the horns, the lidless eyes, the tapering flexible tail, the
sinuous grace and Mephistophelean face were enough to identify it
beyond doubt.
Her television set had disgorged the devil!
Silence draped the room in smothering folds as Miss Twilley's frozen
eyeballs were caught and held for a moment by the devil's limpid
green eyes whose depths swirled for an instant with uncontrolled
surprise. The devil looked around the room, at the closed drapes, the
dim lights, the shabby furniture and the plate of cookies and the
teapot on the tray beside Miss Twilley's chair. He shook his head.
"No pentacle, no candles or incense, no altar, no sacrifice. Not even a
crystal ball," he murmured in an impeccable Savile Row accent. "My
dear young woman—just how in Eblis' name did you do it? There isn't
a single sixth order focus in this room."
"Do what?" Miss Twilley managed to croak.
"Construct a gateway," the devil said impatiently. "A bridge between
your world and mine."
"I didn't," Miss Twilley said. "You came crawling out of the picture tube
of my T.V. set—or what was the picture tube," she amended as her
eyes strayed to the rectangle of darkness.
The devil turned and eyed the T.V. curiously, giving Miss Twilley an
excellent view of his tail which protruded through a slit in his cloak.
She eyed it with apprehension and distaste.
"Ah—I see," the devil murmured, "a third order electronic
communicator transformed to a sixth order generator by an accidental
short circuit. Most interesting. The statistical chances of this
happening are about 1.75 to the 25th power, give or take a couple of
hundred thousand. You are an extremely fortunate human."
"That's not what I would call it," Miss Twilley said.

The devil smiled, an act that made him look oddly like Krishna
Menon. "You are disturbed," he said, "but you really needn't keep
projecting such raw fear. I have no intention of harming you. Quite the
contrary in fact."
Miss Twilley wasn't reassured. Devils with British accents were
probably untrustworthy. "Why don't you go back to hell where you
came from?" she asked pettishly.
"I wish," the devil said with a shade of annoyance in his beautifully
modulated voice, "that you would stop using those terminal 'l's', I'm a
Devi, not a devil—and my homeworld is Hel, not hell. One 'l', not two.
I'm a species, not a spirit."
"It makes no difference," Miss Twilley said. "Either way you're
disconcerting, particularly when you come slithering out of my T.V.
set."
"It might give your television industry a bad name," the Devi agreed.
"But there are many of your race who claim the device is an invention
of mine."
"I don't enjoy being frightened," Miss Twilley said coldly. She was
rapidly recovering her normal self-possession. "And I would have felt
much better if you had stayed where you belonged and minded your
own business," she finished.
"But my dear young lady," the Devi protested. "I never dreamed that I
would frighten you, and besides you are my business." He smiled
gently at the suddenly re-frozen Miss Twilley.
I must be dreaming, Miss Twilley thought wildly. This has to be a
nightmare. After all, this is the Twentieth Century and there are no
such things as devils.
"Of course there aren't," the Devi said.
"I only hope I wake up before I go stark raving mad!" Miss Twilley
murmured. "Now he's answering before I say anything."
"You're not asleep," he said unreassuringly. "I merely read your
mind." He grimaced distastefully. "And what a mass of fears,
inhibitions, repressions, conventions and attitudes it is! Ugh! It's a
good thing for your race that minds like yours are not in the majority. It
would be disastrous. Or do you realize you're teetering on the verge
of paranoia. You are badly in need of adjustment."
"I'm not! You're lying! You're the Father of Lies!" she snapped.
"And liars (he made it sound like "lawyers") so I'm told. Nevertheless
I'm telling you the truth. I don't care to be confused with some
anthropomorphic figment of your superstitious imagination. I'm as real
as you are. I have a name—Lyf—just as yours is Enid Twilley. I'm the
mardak of Gnoth, an important entity in my enclave. And I have no
intention of seizing you and carrying you off to Hel. The Council
would take an extremely dim view of such an action. Passing a
human permanently across the hyperspatial gap that separates our
worlds is a crime—unless consent in writing is obtained prior to such
passage."

"Unless we have consent in writing, passing a human

permanently across the hyperspatial gap that separates our
worlds is a crime."

"I'll bet!"
"Are you calling me a liar?" Lyf asked softly.
"That's the general idea."
"There's a limit to human insolence," Lyf said icily. "No wonder some
of my colleagues occasionally incinerate members of your race."
Miss Twilley choked back the crudity that fluttered on her lips.
"That's better," Lyf said approvingly. "You really should practice self
control. It's good for you. And you shouldn't make assumptions based
upon incomplete data. Your books that deal with my race are
notoriously one-sided. I came through that gateway because you
needed my help. And yet you'd chase me off without really knowing
whether you want my services or not."
"I don't want any part of you," Miss Twilley said sincerely. "I don't
need a thing you can give me. I'm healthy, fairly well-off and"—she
was about to say "happy" but changed it quickly to "satisfied with
things as they are." It wasn't quite a lie.

Lyf looked at her critically. "Permit me to disagree," he said smoothly.

"But you are wrong on every count. You are neither satisfied, wealthy
nor happy. Frankly, Miss Twilley, you could use a great deal of help.
In fact, you need it desperately."
"I am thirty-eight years old," Miss Twilley said. "That's old enough to
recognize a high pressure sales pitch. And you needn't be so
insulting about my appearance. After all, I don't have my makeup on."
Lyf flinched. "I almost hate to do this," he murmured. "But you have
doubted my honesty. Perhaps it is compensation to hide a feeling of
inferiority. Primitive egos are notorious for such acts. But the truth is
probably less harmful than permitting you to lie to yourself."
Miss Twilley jumped angrily to her feet. "How dare you call me a liar!"
she snapped. She towered over the Devi, her tall bony body a knobby
statue of wrath.
Lyf's eyes locked with hers. "Sit down," he said coldly.
And to her surprised consternation, she did. A physical force seemed
to flow from him and force her back into the chair. She sat rigidly,
seething with a mixture of fear and indignation as Lyf picked up his
discourse where he had dropped it.
"You are not satisfied," he said quietly "because you are
undernourished, ungainly, and ugly. You would like to be attractive.
You wish to be admired. You long to be loved. Yet you are not."
"That's enough!" Miss Twilley snapped. "Neither man nor Devi has
the right to insult me in my own house."
"I am not insulting you," Lyf said patiently. "I am telling you the truth.
Now as for this business of being well-off, which I infer, means
moderately wealthy—you are not. There was a small inheritance from
your father, but through mismanagement and inept investments it is
today less than fifteen thousand dollars, although it was fifty thousand
when you received it a few years ago."
"You are the devil!" she gasped.
"I told you I could read your mind. I'm a telepath."
"I don't believe you. You found out somehow."
"You're not thinking," he said. "How could I? Now, as for your health,
you will be dead in six months without my help. You have
adenocarcinoma of the pancreas which has already begun to
metastasize. You cannot possibly survive with the present state of
medicine your race possesses. Of course, your doctors do have
ingenious ways of alleviating the pain," he added comfortingly, "like
chordotomy and neurectomy."
Miss Twilley didn't recognize the last two words, but they sounded
unpleasant. She had been worried about her health, but to hear this
quiet-voiced death sentence paralyzed her with a cold crawling terror.
"It's not true!" she gasped. Yet she knew it was.
"I could make a fortune as a diagnostician for your sham—your
doctors," Lyf said. "It's as true as the fact that I'm a Devi from Hel.
Actually, my dear Miss Twilley, I had no intention of coming here even
though your gateway appeared in my library. But I was intrigued
enough to scan through it. And when I saw you at the other end,
frightened, diseased, and friendless, I could not help feeling pity for
you. You needed my help badly." He sighed. "Empathy is a Devi's
weak point. Naturally I couldn't refuse your appeal." He shrugged. "At
least I have offered to help, and my conscience is clear if you refuse."
He wrapped his cloak around him with a movement of his lithe body
that was symbolic. The case had been stated. His part was done.

"I have nothing more to say," Lyf added. "If you do not wish me to
stay I shall leave." He turned toward the T.V. set. "After I have
vanished," he said over his shoulder "you may turn the set off. The
gateway will disappear." He shrugged. "Next time I'll look for a sabbat
or some other normal focal point before I enter a gateway. This has
been thoroughly unsatisfying."
"Wait!" Miss Twilley gasped.
He paused. "Have you changed your mind?"
"Maybe."
"For a human female, that's quite a concession," he said, "but I'm a
Devi. I need a more devinate—er—definite answer."
"Would you give me twenty-four hours?" Miss Twilley said.
"So you can check my diagnosis?"
She nodded.
Lyf shrugged. "Why not. If your T.V. holds out that long, I'll give you
that much time. Longer if necessary. You can't really be blamed for
being a product of your culture—and your culture has rejected the
Snake. It would be easier if you were a Taoist or a Yezidee."
"But I'm not," Miss Twilley said miserably. "And I can't help thinking of
you as the Enemy."
"We Devi get blamed for a lot of things," Lyf admitted, "and taken
collectively there's some truth in them. We gave you basic knowledge
of a number of things such as medicine, writing, law, and the scientific
method. But we can't be blamed for the uses to which you have put
them."
"Are you sure I have cancer?" she interrupted.
"Of the pancreas," he said.
"And you can cure it?"
"Easily. Anyone with a knowledge of fifth order techniques can
manipulate cellular structures. There's very little I can't do, and with
proper equipment about the only thing that can't be defeated is death.
You've heard, I suppose, of tumors that have disappeared
spontaneously." Miss Twilley nodded.
"Most of them are Devian work. Desperate humans sometimes use
good sense, find a medium and generate a sixth order focus. And
occasionally one of us will hear and come."
"And the others?"
"I don't know," Lyf said. "I could guess that some of you can crudely
manipulate fifth order forces, but that would only be a guess." He
spread his hands in a gesture of incomprehension incongruously
Gallic. "I don't know why I'm taking all this trouble with you, but I will
make a concession to your conditioning. See your doctors. And then,
if you want my help, call through the gateway. I'll probably hear you,
but if I don't, keep calling."
The darkness where the picture tube had been writhed and swirled as
he dove into it and vanished.
"Whew!" Miss Twilley said shakily. "That was an experience!"
She walked unsteadily toward the T.V. set. "I'd better turn this off just
in case he gets an idea of coming back. Trust a devil! Hardly!" Her
hand touched the switch and hesitated. "But perhaps he was telling
the truth," she murmured doubtfully. "Maybe I'd better leave it on."
She smiled wryly. "Anyway—it's insurance."
"Miss Twilley," the doctor said slowly, "can you take a shock?"
"I've done it before. What's the matter? Don't tell me that I have an
adenocarcinoma of the pancreas that'll kill me in six months."
The doctor eyed her with startled surprise. "We haven't pinpointed the
primary site, but the tests are positive. You do have an
adenocarcinoma, and it has involved so many organs that we cannot
operate. You have about six months left to live."
"My God!" Miss Twilley gasped. "He was telling the truth!"
"Who was telling—" the doctor began. But he was talking to empty
air. Miss Twilley had run from the office. The doctor sighed and
shrugged. Probably he shouldn't have told her. One never can tell
how these things will work out. She had the diagnosis right and she
looked like a pretty hard customer. But she certainly didn't act like
one.

Panting with fear, Enid Twilley unlocked the door of her house and
dashed into the living room. Thank G—, thank goodness! she thought
with relief. The set was still working. The black tunnel was still there.
"Help!" she screamed. "Lyf! Please! come back!"
The blackness writhed and the Devi appeared. He was wearing an
orange and purple striped outfit this time. Miss Twilley shuddered.
"Well?" Lyf asked.
"You were right," she said faintly. "The doctor says it's cancer. Will
you cure me?"
"For a price," Lyf said.
"But you said—"
"I said nothing except that I felt sorry for you and that I could cure
you. Even your own doctors charge a fee."
"There had to be a catch in it," Miss Twilley said bitterly.
"It will be a fair price. It won't be excessive."
"My soul?" Miss Twilley whispered.
"Your soul? Ha! Just what would I do with your soul? It would be no
use to me—assuming that you have one. No—I don't want your soul."
"Then what do you want?"
"Your body."
"So that's it!" Miss Twilley blushed a bright scarlet.
"Hmm—with that color you're not bad looking." Lyf said.
"Would you want my body right away?"
"Of course not. That wouldn't be a fair contract. You should have use
of it for a reasonable time on your homeworld. Say about ten years.
After that it becomes mine."
"How long?"
"For the rest of your life."
"That doesn't seem quite fair. I'm thirty-eight now. Ten years from now
I'll be forty-eight. I'll live perhaps to eighty. That gives you over thirty
years."
"It gives you them, too," Lyf said.
"But your world is alien."
"Not entirely. There are quite a few humans on Hel. You'd have plenty
of company."
"I can imagine," she said drily.
Lyf flinched. "I've told you I do not like those anthropomorphic
references to my race."
"So you say. But I don't trust you even though you've told me the truth
about my body. I won't sell my soul."
"I'll put a disclaimer in writing if that will satisfy you," Lyf said wearily.
"I'm tired of haggling."
"But will you obey it."
"With us Devi, a contract is sacred. Even your mythology tells you
that much."
She nodded. "Of course, I'd want a few more things than health," she
said. "I'd want to enjoy these ten years on earth."
"That is understandable. I'll consider any reasonable request."
"Beauty?"
"As you humans understand it. Sarcoplasty isn't too difficult."
"Wealth?"
"That's more difficult. And more expensive. But I could perhaps give
you a one month chronograph survey. In that time you could probably
arrange to become rich enough to be independent. But I can't
guarantee unlimited funds. And besides you're not worth it."
Miss Twilley bridled briefly and then nodded. "That's fair enough I
suppose. And there's one more thing. I want to be happy."
"I can do nothing about that. You make or lose your own happiness. I
can provide you such tangible things as a healthy body, beauty and
money, but what you do with them is entirely your own affair. No man
or Devi can guarantee happiness." He paused and looked
thoughtfully at a point above Miss Twilley's head. "I could, perhaps,
provide you with a talent such as singing or manual dexterity—and
even make sufficient adjustments in your inhibitions so you could
employ your skill. But that is all. Not even I can play Eblis."

Miss Twilley's eyes glittered. If he could only do what he said it would

be worth any payment he demanded. She had never been pretty. As
a child she had been bony, ungainly, awkward and ugly. As an adult
she had only lost the awkwardness. Boys had never liked her. Men
avoided her. And she wanted desperately to be admired. And, of
course, she was about to die. That alone would be reason enough.
She was appalled at the thought of dying. At thirty-eight she was too
young. Perhaps thirty or forty years from now the prospect wouldn't
be so terrifying, but not now—not when she hadn't lived at all. Life
had suddenly become very precious, and its immediate extinction
appalled her. She wasn't, she reflected wryly, the stuff from which
heroes or martyrs were made, and ten years were a lot more than six
months. As far as repayment was concerned it was a long way off,
and Hel was probably not much worse than Ellenburg.
"In my opinion Hel's infinitely better," Lyf interjected.
"You're prejudiced," Miss Twilley said absently,—"now if she had a
figure like—hmm—say one of those movie actresses, and a face like
—hmmm—and money to go with them—hmm—it just might be worth
the price. Of course, it might not. It could be something like a salt
mine—or—"
"It's nothing at all like a salt mine," Lyf said. "The hours are
reasonable and there's plenty of free time outdoors if you want it. The
food isn't the Cafe Ritz, but it's nourishing, and the life is healthful.
After all we Devi aren't savages."
"I wonder," she said thoughtfully—"now if I could—hmm—say a gold
lamé sheath dress—ah!—and perhaps in a bikini—"
"Women!" Lyf sighed and gave up. Why should he bother about
listing the disadvantage. She hadn't been listening to the advantages.
"What are you stopping for?" Miss Twilley demanded. "I'm listening."
"There are a few other things such as free medical care, splendid
recreation facilities, and conducted tours of Hel."
"And the disadvantages?"
"Very few. There's no pay, of course, and you will be required to
devote a certain amount of time to my service. On the whole,
employment on Hel isn't much different than here except that it's a bit
more enlightened."
"Like slavery?" Miss Twilley smiled unpleasantly. "You're not dealing
with a fool."
"The concept of freedom is a relative thing," Lyf said. "And who
among us, either Devi or human, is truly free. And what is the
essential difference between being a slave to society and a slave to
an individual? We Devi don't have such a high regard for physical
liberty—"
"Obviously."
"But as long as you do your work, there's no interference with your
outside activities. You can think and read as you please. We supply
our help with a very complete library—and keep it up to date."
"Is that so?"

Lyf paled to a dull pink. "I wish you'd stop mentally dredging those old
lies about fire and brimstone. They're embarrassing. It's been quite a
few thousand years since a Devi has derived any satisfaction from
sadism. We've removed that particular trait from our race. You won't
be overworked or cruelly treated. And you won't be beaten or
subjected to physical torture. Since I have no knowledge of what you
might consider mental torture, I couldn't say whether there would be
any or not. I think not, since no other human has complained of being
mentally misused, but I can't tell."

"Why can't you? You can read my mind."

"Only your thoughts, not your emotions or attitudes."
Miss Twilley shrugged. "It sounds fair enough, but twenty or thirty
years for ten is a high price."
"You fail to consider the costs involved. Your physical rehabilitation
will be expensive and your financial even more so. I'll have to employ
the Time Study Enclave to predict a financial plan for you, and
chronography isn't cheap."
"Why can't you just give me the money?"
Lyf shrugged. "I don't have it—and I couldn't supply you with gold. It
would be suspicious and we try to avoid attracting attention to our
clients or ourselves. Humans have some rather messy ways of
abrogating a fellow human's contract. So you acquire your wealth
within the framework of your society—through the stock market in
your case."
"Oh—I see."
"Your money is enough to start you off. I'll show you how to make it
multiply."
"And if I cheat you?" Miss Twilley asked.
"You won't, I'm not utterly naive. There is a security clause in the
contract which must be fulfilled."
"And what is that?"
"I put my mark on you. That makes you a permanent sixth order focus
I can contact at any time."
"That gives you quite an advantage."
"Have you ever read any contracts on your own world? I'm not asking
for a thing more than your grantors do. In fact, not as much. Read a
mortgage sometime if you don't believe me." Lyf eyed her with mild
reproof. "Think," he said. "When—even in your perverted mythology
—has one of my race failed to live up to his end of an agreement?
Who has done the cheating? Who attempts to break contracts? Your
whole history is filled with specious promises, broken words, and
outright falsehood. Just why do you think we had to make contracts in
the first place? Because you humans cheated at every opportunity.
And you still do. That's why we must have guarantees. We go to all
the expense, take all the risk and then run the added risk of being
double crossed. That's too much."
"But our souls are beyond price."
"I've already told you that I care nothing for your soul. It's useless to
me." He frowned. "We have had to fight that canard for centuries. We
Devi are practical folk, not starry-eyed idealists. We deal in real
property, not in intangibles. Now stop quibbling and make up your
mind. You've heard the concessions. After all, there is a limit to
altruism. Now if you don't want to deal, say so and I'll leave. It will be