Preserving Earth’s

Biological Diversity

Chapter 17

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/american-eagle/video-full-episode/4349/

Biological Diversity

Biodiversity

Species Richness

Genetic Diversity

Biological Diversity

Biodiversity

Species Richness

Genetic Diversity

Ecosystem Diversity

There are approximately 4,500 species of mammals, 5,500 of amphibians, 8,000 reptiles, 10,000 birds and 30,000 marine species currently recognized by science, and that doesn’t include the untold numbers of invertebrates, bacteria and smaller beings (it is believed that there are 15000-20000 species of butterfly).

A parrot snake opens its brightly colored mouth to frighten potential predators. The parrot snake’s range extends from southern Mexico to parts of Argentina.

On average, 2 new species of fish are found every week, and it is thought that the jungles of the world contain many more amphibians and reptiles than have yet been named. Even now we still get a few new bird species discovered every year, and, amazingly, new species of mammal are still found occasionally.

Recent finds include a new Genus of monkey in Tanzania, a new parrot and forest mouse on a small Philippine island, a 'hairy' lobster (This was a whole new family, not species), a new snake in Vietnam, 5 new frogs and a new newt in Laos, a new stingray in Thailand, a new monkey in India, an unusual spitting spider in Madagascar that lives in family groups, and new sharks off Mexico and Indonesia. Borneo is a hotspot for new discoveries; from 1994-2004 361 new species were found there: 260 insects, 50 plants, 30 fish, 7 frogs, 6 lizards, 5 crabs, 2 snakes and a toad.

Biological Diversity

Why We Need Organisms

• Ecosystem Services and Species Richness

Maintains smaller fish populations by eating gar

Digs underwater holes used by other aquatic organisms

Gator trails clear out aquatic vegetation

Nests eventually become small islands of trees

Biological Diversity

Why We Need Organisms

• Ecosystem Services and Species Richness

• Genetic Reserves• Scientific Importance of Genetic Diversity• Medicinal, Agricultural, and Industrial Importance of Organisms

Biological Diversity

Why We Need Organisms

• Ecosystem Services and Species Richness

• Genetic Reserves• Scientific Importance of Genetic Diversity• Medicinal, Agricultural, and Industrial Importance of Organisms• Aesthetic, Ethical, and Spiritual Value of Organisms

Endangered and Extinct Species

Background Extinction vs. Mass Extinction

Continuous, slow rate of extinction over millions of years

Numerous species disappear over geologically short time frame.

Endangered and Extinct SpeciesEndangered and extinct species

Confirmed observation in Arkansas in April 2005

Endangered and Extinct Species

Endangered and Threatened Species

Could become extinct soon.

Population declining very fast.

Spectacled Bear

February 11, 2009—The largest cat in the Americas is alive and well in the heart of Mexico, scientists say. Three photographs of a male jaguar and exactly 132 poop samples (including the one above, released February 10) are the first known evidence of the predator since the early 1900s.

Endangered and Extinct Species

Characteristics of Endangered Species

• Extremely small range

• Requiring large territories

• Living on islands

• Low reproductive success

• Specialized breeding areas

• Specialized feeding habits

Tiburon mariposa lily

California condor

Hawaii ‘O’ o

Blue whale

Green sea turtle

Giant panda

Endangered and Extinct Species

Common problem: habitat fragmentation

Endangered and Extinct Species

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/the-dragon-chronicles/video-komodo-dragon-chases-rom/4520/

-Most Impacted areas-Hawaii and other island habitats-Tropical rain forests

Endangered and Extinct Species

Earth’s Biodiversity Hotspots

Endangered and Extinct Species

Human Causes of Species Endangerment

#1 cause: Habitat Destruction, Fragmentation, and Degradation

Endangered and Extinct Species

Human Causes of Species Endangerment

Invasive

Species

Endangered and Extinct Species

Human Causes of Species Endangerment

Pollution

• Acid rain

• Ozone depletion (leading to increased UV radiation

• Climate change due to CO2 increases

Endangered and Extinct Species

Human Causes of Species Endangerment

Overexploitation

Endangered and Extinct SpeciesCase-in-Point: Disappearing Frogs•In the US, 38% of amphibian

species are declining

•No single factor has been

determined•Many deformities have been observed

Conservation Biology

http://us.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4138336537/

Diane Fossey

Birds of Thialand

http://tourismthailand.org/amazingcontest/th/videos/vdo-contest-detail.php?VdoID=620

Confronting the hostile and suspicious villagers, Pilai Poonswad was characteristically blunt: ‘Your children will dig up your bones and curse them for what you have done to the forests,’ she told them. There was a tense heartbeat of silence as the assistant headman arose. ‘That is true,’ he said. ‘There are times when I’d like to curse my own parents for what they have done to the forest.’

 

With these few, potent words spoken in February 1994, men who had been plundering the fast-vanishing rainforest of southern Thailand of its birdlife and rich natural resources began their metamorphosis into gamekeepers, forest wardens and ecotourism guides – and a model of social economy in which modern humans live in harmony with ancient forests was born.

Costa Rica 

Costa Rica is a trailblazer when it comes to protecting the natural world. As early as the 1980s, Costa Rica recognized the critical role of forests in providing carbon storage, fresh water, clean air, medicines, soil, and watershed protection. Not to mention food, shelter, and products for communities.

At the time, the country's landscape looked like a moth-eaten sweater, more holes than forest due to agressive land clearing for coffee production and cattle raising.  At its worst, only 21 percent of the legendary lush jungles remained. Then Costa Rica got creative and started providing economic incentives to people and companies that conserved natural resources

The plan worked. Costa Rica has rebounded. Today, tropical forest again covers more than half of the country and fuel an economy principally based on ecotourism. The water is getting cleaner. The air is getting fresher.

In the past 20 years, illegal logging in Costa Rica has decreased from 82 percent to 15 percent, and forest fires have decreased by 40 percent. The government’s visionary policy of paying farmers not to clear land, but to manage it and to conserve vital ecosystem services was a critical component to the country’s successful rescue of forests

Costa Rica's Debt-for-Nature Swap 

Under the U.S. Tropical Forest Conservation Act, the United States agreed to forgive $26 million of Costa Rica’s debt in return for the Central American nation’s commitment to redirect that money toward conservation inside its borders. The U.S. government appropriated $12.6 million for the effort. Both Conservation International (CI) and The Nature Conservancy each gave $1.26 million to the debt purchase at a discounted rate.

Revenues from the park were shared with the community in the surrounding region to win their support for protecting the migrating herds.

Despite wildlife numbers falling by a half in Kenya over the last 30 years, Amboseli herds grew.Since 1984 elephant populations have experienced a 22% increase and wildlife numbers overall have increased by 34%. The novel step in community-based conservation taken in Amboseli was soon adopted as national policy in Kenya.http://www.africanmeccasafaris.com/kenya/safaris/videos/videoamboseli.asp

Rising population levels, farming, land subdivision, and poverty pose an even greater threat to wildlife and the regions’ national parks, including Amboseli, Tsavo West, Chyulu and Kilimanjaro. The replacement of highland and swamp pastures by farms is robbing wildlife of vital drought pasture. Crop raiding and livestock predation is rising. Farmers and herders are growing intolerant of their losses and the cost of supporting wildlife. Lions and hyenas are being poisoned in reprisal. And, as traditional tolerance and uses of wildlife have weakened, meat poaching has become a threat to giraffe, eland and other animals for the first time.

The search for the Ivory-billed woodpecker goes on.27/06/2006 00:00:00 Following the possible rediscovery of the Ivory-billed woodpecker, the holy grail of American birding, in 2004, and a proposed funding of over $2m to help with the search, no further traces have been found. All winter over 100 researchers and volunteers spent many thousands of hours searching the Arkansas "Big Woods", and although there were several possible sightings, none could be confirmed.

It is proposed that next year the search continues in other southern US states and possibly Cuba.

The bird historically has preferred expansive areas of mature riverine or swamp forests with embedded patches of large dead and dying trees. Because of the scarcity of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, much remains to be learned about this bird. Scientists do know, however, that its diet is largely dependent upon wood-boring beetle larvae found in recently dead and dying trees, although it is known to feed on other arthropods and vegetation during certain times of the year. A judge in the US has ordered a halt to a US army engineering scheme that would have taken billions of gallons of water from the swamps where the Ivory-billed woodpecker is thought to be clinging on. More. $10,000 reward for Ivory-Billed woodpecker proof. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads a biologist from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission or The Nature Conservancy to an ivory-billed woodpecker nest, roost cavity or feeding site in Arkansas. Get your Binocs out!

Conservation BiologyProtecting Habitats

Conservation Biology

Restoring Damaged or Destroyed Habitats

Beginning of prairie restoration in 1935

Conservation Biology

Restoring Damaged or Destroyed Habitats

Same area in 2004

Conservation Biology

Zoos, Aquaria, Botanical Gardens, and Seed Banks

Conservation Biology

Zoos, Aquaria, Botanical Gardens, and Seed Banks

Ultimate goal is to reintroduce endangered species back to their natural habitats

Mexican Gray Wolf California Condor

Conservation Biology

Zoos, Aquaria, Botanical Gardens, and Seed Banks

Establishing seed banks

Conservation Biology

Conservation Organizations

Many work with state & federal agencies and private landowners to promote conservation.

Endangered Species ActThrough federal action and by encouraging the establishment of state

programs, the 1973 Endangered Species Act provided for the conservation of ecosystems upon which threatened and endangered species of fish, wildlife, and plants depend. The Act:

authorizes the determination and listing of species as endangered and threatened;

prohibits unauthorized taking, possession, sale, and transport of endangered species;

provides authority to acquire land for the conservation of listed species, using land and water conservation funds;

authorizes establishment of cooperative agreements and grants-in-aid to States that establish and maintain active and adequate programs for endangered and threatened wildlife and plants;

authorizes the assessment of civil and criminal penalties for violating the Act or regulations; and

authorizes the payment of rewards to anyone furnishing information leading to arrest and conviction for any violation of the Act or any regulation issued thereunder.

Conservation Policies and Laws

Endangered Species Act

Conservation Policies and Laws

Endangered Species

Act

Conservation Policies and Laws

Habitat Conservation Plans

• 1982 amendment to ESA

• Landowner allowed to set aside land for endangered species, but develop other land with those species

Conservation Policies and Laws

International Conservation Policies and Laws

Most important: CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna)

Private Organizations that take matters into their own hands

FBI: Eco-Terrorism Remains No. 1 Domestic Terror Threat

Wildlife Management

Differs from conservation biology in that wildlife managers focus more often on common organisms

and manage those species primarily for human benefits

Wildlife Management

Management of Migratory Animals

Example of artic snow geese impact

Wildlife Management

Management of Aquatic Organisms

• Freshwater fisheries primarily managed by state fishing regulations

• Ocean fisheries commonly viewed as common property

this has lead many species close to commercial extinction

What Can We Do About Declining Biological Diversity?

• Increase Public Awareness

• Support Research in Conservation Biology

• Support the Establishment of an International System of Parks

• Control Pollution

• Provide Economic Incentives to Landowners and Other Local People