Bioprospecting is the exploration of biodiversity for new resources of social and commercial value. It is carried out by a wide range of established industries such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and agriculture as well as a wide range of comparatively new ones such as aquaculture, bioremediation, biomining, biomimetic engineering and nanotechnology. The benefits of bioprospecting have emerged from such a wide range of organisms and environments worldwide that it is not possible to predict what species or habitats will be critical to society, or industry, in the future. The benefits include an unexpected variety of products that include chemicals, genes, metabolic pathways, structures, materials and behaviours. These may provide physical blueprints or inspiration for new designs. Criticism aimed at bioprospecting has been addressed, in part, by international treaties and legal agreements aimed at stopping biopiracy and many activities are now funded by agencies that require capacity-building and economic benefits in host countries. Thus, much contemporary bioprospecting has multiple goals, including the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable management of natural resources and economic development. Ecologists are involved in three vital ways: first, applying ecological principles to the discovery of new resources. In this context, natural history becomes a vast economic database. Second, carrying out field studies, most of them demographic, to help regulate the harvest of wild species. Third, emphasizing the profound importance of millions of mostly microscopic species to the global economy.

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生态与生物勘探

生物勘探是探索具有社会和商业价值的新资源的生物多样性。它由广泛的成熟行业（例如制药、制造业和农业）以及大量相对较新的行业（例如水产养殖、生物修复、生物采矿、仿生工程和纳米技术）进行。生物勘探的好处来自世界范围内如此广泛的生物和环境，以至于无法预测未来哪些物种或栖息地对社会或工业至关重要。好处包括意想不到的各种产品，包括化学品、基因、代谢途径、结构、材料和行为。这些可能为新设计提供物理蓝图或灵感。针对生物勘探的批评已部分得到解决，通过旨在制止生物剽窃的国际条约和法律协定，许多活动现在由需要东道国能力建设和经济利益的机构资助。因此，许多当代生物勘探有多个目标，包括保护生物多样性、自然资源的可持续管理和经济发展。生态学家以三种重要方式参与其中：首先，将生态学原理应用于新资源的发现。在这种情况下，自然历史成为一个庞大的经济数据库。其次，开展实地研究，其中大部分是人口统计，以帮助规范野生物种的收获。第三，强调数以百万计的主要是微观物种对全球经济的深远重要性。