The Case for Deference in Ecosystem Management

Abstract Several theorists have argued that ecological systems and wildlife populations should be engineered to improve wild animal welfare, promote justice for wild animals, or maximize resources for people. These views are transformational, rather than deferential towards ecological and evolutionary processes. In this paper I advocate for deference in ecosystem management on environmental values, species/organism impartiality, and humility grounds. I defend deferential views against critiques from proponents of transformation to improve animal welfare, and argue that macroscale anthropogenic change, including climate change, strengthens rather than undermines the case for deference. Although not a comprehensive argument against transformation in general or transformation to improve wild animal welfare in particular, the considerations that support deference generate a substantial presumption against transformationalism.