Biological Wealth

Goods and services provided by biodiversity.

~$38 Trillion per year

Examples of Goods and Services

Gas, climate, and water regulation Water supply Erosion control Soil formation Pollination

Biological Wealth = $38 Trillion/Year

Biological control Food production Recreation Raw materials Nutrient cycling Waste treatment

Two Kinds of Value

Instrumental: beneficial to humans Sources for agriculture, forestry, aquaculture,

and animal husbandry Recreational, aesthetic, and scientific value Sources of medicine

Intrinsic: value for its own sake

Source for Agriculture: Wild or Cultivated?

Highly adaptable to changing environments

Have numerous traits for resistance Lack genetic vigor

Source for Agriculture: Wild or Cultivated?

High degree of genetic diversity Represents the genetic bank Need highly controlled environmental

conditions High degree of genetic diversity Need highly controlled environmental

conditions

Sources for Medicine: Vincristine

Sources of Medicine

Vincristine from rosy periwinkle cures leukemia. Capoten from the venom of the Brazilian viper

controls high blood pressure. Taxol from the bark of the pacific yew used to

treat ovarian, breast, and small-cell cancers.

Recreational, Aesthetic, and Scientific Value

Ecotourism: largest foreign exchange-generating enterprise in many developing countries

$104 billion spent on wildlife-related recreation

$31 billion spent to observe, feed, or photograph wildlife

Intrinsic Value

Value for Their Own Sake. Why? Philosophical/Moral issue. Not a scientific issue.

Saving Wild Species

Game animals in the United States Acts protecting endangered species

Past Wildlife Management Problems

Restoring the numbers of many game animals, e.g., deer, elk, turkey

Passing laws to control the collection and commercial exploitation of wildlife

Poaching and over hunting

Contemporary Wildlife Management Problems Road-killed animals Population explosion of urban wildlife Lack of natural predators Wildlife as vectors for certain diseases Pet predation by coyotes Changed societal attitudes towards animals

Acts Protecting Endangered Species

Lacey Act: forbids interstate commerce of illegally killed wildlife

Endangered Species Act (ESA): protects endangered and threatened species

Species at Risk: United States

Total endangered U.S. species = 987 (388 animals, 599 plants)

Threatened U.S. species = 276 (129 animals, 147 plants)

The Status of U.S. Species

Causes of Animal Extinctions

Reasons for Biodiversity Decline

Habitat alterations Conversions Fragmentation Simplification

Reasons for Biodiversity Decline

Pollution Examples

Acid Rain Caused by combustion of fossil fuels 10% of lakes in eastern US affected

DDT DDT used to kill insect pests Biological amplification causes high levels in secondary

and tertiary consumers Causes fragile shells in predatory birds Decline in Bald Eagle, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon etc…

Reasons for Biodiversity Decline

Introduction of exotic species, e.g., Starling, House Sparrow, Oriental Bittersweet, Multiflora Rose etc…

Reasons for Biodiversity Decline: Human Population Growth

Reasons for Biodiversity Decline: Overuse

Examples Harvest of 50 million songbirds for food

– Southern Europe Trafficking in wildlife and products derived

from wild species – $10 billion/year 90% decline in rhinos 1.6 tons of tiger bones = 340 tigers Parrot smuggling: 40 of 330 species face extinction

What steps should we take to reduce biodiversity decline?

Birds of Prey

Bald Eagle Considered threatened by 1921 Extinct in North East by 1937 First use of DDT – 1943 to kill lice in Europe

and in US army Extensive use in nature started ~1955, peaked

in 1962

Biological Amplification

DDT is fat soluble Cannot be flushed out of body Accumulates in tissues

Organisms high on the food chain most effected