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We review the conceptual indeterminacies that plague the terms <jats:italic>nature<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>natural<\/jats:italic> but then show that comparable difficulties plague <jats:italic>biodiversity<\/jats:italic>. Then, we provide a new theory that sorts out the respective normative roles of naturalness and biodiversity within the ecocentric\u2013intrinsic school of conservation. This is an elaboration on the conservation philosophy presented by Saltz and Cohen (2023). They presented a 3\u2010tiered normative scheme: ultimate value, midlevel principles, and lower level case\u2010specific judgments. The ultimate value is naturalness, which exists on a gradient. Ethical judgment is needed to choose the most adequate midlevel principle or principles among autonomy, integrity, and resilience based on case\u2010specific parameters and the goal of maximizing naturalness in a given area. Saltz and Cohen (2023) do not specify the role of biodiversity, however. We fill in that crucial gap by explaining that the midlevel principles refer to structural and functional biodiversity. The principles prioritized are those that will contribute the most to naturalness, depending on the biodiversity attributes and management options in a given area. In this scheme, biodiversity represents the lower tier, case\u2010specific metrics for assessing naturalness. However, because biodiversity can only be quantified by proxies that cannot be projected onto a unified scale, <jats:italic>biodiversity<\/jats:italic> acts as an umbrella term for the measures that are the metrics for assessing naturalness. As such, biodiversity is a salient parameter to be measured for maximizing naturalness in conservation and is analogous\u00a0to measures of homeostasis for safeguarding health in medicine.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/cobi.70072","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,1]],"date-time":"2025-06-01T02:21:41Z","timestamp":1748744501000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["On the normative roles of biodiversity and naturalness in conservation"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"39","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7437-0472","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David","family":"Saltz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environment and Energy Research Ben Gurion University of the Negev  Midreshet Ben\u2010Gurion Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shlomo","family":"Cohen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Philosophy Ben\u2010Gurion University of the Negev  Beer Sheva Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_6_2_1","first-page":"173","volume-title":"Defense of an evolutionary concept of health: Nature, norms, and human biology","author":"Ananth M.","year":"2008"},{"key":"e_1_2_6_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1523-1739.1994.08020600.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_6_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1523-1739.2000.98362.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_6_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3197\/096327120X15752810324048"},{"key":"e_1_2_6_6_1","volume-title":"Principles of biomedical ethics","author":"Beauchamp T. 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