raven5e ppt ch17

							Chapter 17
  Preserving
    Earth’s
  Biological
   Diversity

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nat
ure/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
Nests                           Maintains
eventually                      smaller fish
become small                    populations by
islands of trees                eating gar



                               Digs underwater
Gator trails clear             holes used by
out aquatic                    other aquatic
vegetation                     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
        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      Numerous
   rate of extinction    species disappear
   over millions of      over geologically
   years                 short time frame.
Endangered and Extinct Species
Endangered and extinct species




                           Confirmed
                           observation in
                           Arkansas in
                           April 2005
Endangered and Extinct Species
Endangered and Threatened Species

Could become    Population
extinct soon.   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 Tiburon mariposa lily
• Requiring large territories California condor
• Living on islands Hawaii ‘O’ o
• Low reproductive success Blue whale
• Specialized breeding areas Green sea turtle
• Specialized feeding habits Giant panda
Endangered and Extinct Species
Common problem: habitat fragmentation
 Endangered and Extinct Species
        -Most Impacted areas
        -Hawaii and other island habitats
        -Tropical rain forests

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/the-dragon-chronicles/video-komodo-
   dragon-chases-rom/4520/
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 Species
Case-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/vi41383
  36537/




    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 Biology
Protecting 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 Act
Through 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