2. This presentation is drawn from an International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s 1996 Species Survival Commission Study, and also from....

3. The WR 2000-2001 report, produced by the World Resources Institute, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Bank, with over 175 scientists contributing

4. Biological Diversity The Variety of Species and the Genetic Diversity within them: the Key to the Vitality of Life

5. Relative Abundance of Species

7. Conservation and Biological Diversity, p. 23, “Known Species by Size”

8. Biodiversity Decline - An Overview

9. Biodiversity Loss -- Greatest Environmental Threat? n Nearly 400 biologists in a recent poll think so. –Seven of 10 said they believed a "mass extinction" was already underway –An equal number fear that up to one-fifth of all living species could disappear within 30 years.

10. Mammals n 25% of all the world's wild mammals are threatened with extinction – –Habitat loss and degradation are primarily responsible.

13. African Elephants

15. Primates n Closest cousins to humans (chimps, e.g., 98.5% of same dna) 325 species, of these, 130 endangered, including all Orangutans, chimpanzees, and most gorillas. 325 species, of these, 130 endangered, including all Orangutans, chimpanzees, and most gorillas. –with subspecies included, 608 distinct populations

16. Gorillas and Chimpanzees “critically endangered” (Nature, 2003) n Due to hunting + now ebola. n Popluations plumitted by ½ in Gabon and Republic of Congo between 1983+2000; these 2 countries have 80% of world’s gorillas and most of its chimps. rate of extermination is increasing. rate of extermination is increasing. n Princeton’s Walsh: “If we don’t do something radical, gorillas and chimpanzees will be effectively extinct from western equatorial Africa within the next ten years.”

17. Miss Waldron's red colobus ~ disappeared in 20 th century, declared extinct September 2000

18. Golden Bamboo Leumr (Madagascar)

19. Sumatran orangutan (Indonesia)

20. Cross River Gorilla (Nigeria and Cameroon, West Africa; about 150 remain in small, isolated populations)

21. Yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Andes,Peru)

22. Plants n 1 in 8 plant species is threatened with extinction. n In the United States it is 1 in 3. –90% of plants on endangered list are native only to the U.S. n Main causes: –habitat loss due to agriculture, logging, development and –exotic species invasions drive out native species

23. Semaphore Cactus

25. Trees n Logging and conversion have shrunk the world’s forests by as much as half. n 9 percent of the world’s tree species are at risk of extinction n World Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life, sept 2000 World Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life World Resources 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems: The Fraying Web of Life

26. Dembaya rodriguesiana Extinct in the wild. This species is unique to Rodrigues Island and once included male and female trees. The one remaining female tree was blown down in a cyclone in 1984. The male, pictured here, died in 1994. Cuttings of both these trees have been taken.

27. Hyophorbe amariculls One remaining in the wild. This palm is the only known plant of its species, which is unique to the island of Mauritius. Although it produces both male and female flowers, no viable fruit has been produced, and efforts to grow it in the laboratory have failed.

28. Buckeye Tree - Old Growth - Eastern United States

30. Plant diversity declining ~ fewer seed varieties cultivated n In the USA: –80% fewer seed varieties sold, compared to a century ago. –29% of plant species (4,669) endangered n Globally –30,000 plant species endangered n Genetic losses permanent –A pest-resistant gene found in a seed from Turkey was nearly extinct. n Worldwatch, 1999

33. Reptiles n Jamaican Iguana, thought extinct, numbers about 100 animals

34. Birds n n 25% already extinct n Birds are probably suffering the greatest declines currently n Vitousek, P. M., J. L. Mooney, and J. M. Melillo. July 25, 1997. Human Domination of Ecosystems. Science 277(5325): 494-9

35. Dusky Seaside Sparrow Extinct

37. California Condor - A huge vulture that declined from habitat loss and hunting until the few remaining birds were captured. Now there are a few dozen of the birds in Arizona and California. - Millions of dollars have been spent in an effort to bring them back from the brink of extinction. Some captive bred birds were reintroduced to the wild. - But in 2000 the reintroduction broke into disarray, as most of the reintroduced birds were re-captured due to high mortality rates. (They kept eating animals with lead shot in their bodies, or consuming other human-produced poisons, such as radiator fluid). Long-term survival of these birds is doubtful.

38. Spotted Owl & Habitat

39. Wilson’s Warbler Willow Fly- Catcher SW United States Green King- Fisher

40. Endangered Marine Life

41. Green Sea Turtle

42. Manatees

43. Andronomous Fish declining, e.g., Pacific Salmon is extinct from much of its original range Yet, Summer 2000: The Clinton administration refused to breach a series of dams in the upper Columbia River basin, even though government scientists concluded breaching was the best hope for wild salmon.

44. Atlantic Salmon also declining n The most critical breeding-age fish estimated at 2.5-5 million (originally) n 800,000 (1975) n 80,000 (1998) n Cross-breeding with less hearty domesticated salmon is suspected

45. Endangered Freshwater Ecosystems & Organisms

46. Dams, Channels and water diversions largely responsible n Twenty percent of the world’s freshwater species are extinct or in peril n At least 10,000 freshwater fish species are threatened globally. n They have fragmented nearly 60 percent of the world’s largest rivers, seriously degrading them. n World Resources 2000-2001

47. Dam devastation n In 1950: 5,270 large dams n Today: there are 36,500 large dams n Since Egypt's Aswan Dam completed in 1970, number of fish species harvested on the Nile has dropped by two thirds n Salmon are extinct in much of the United States due to dam building, and are widely imperiled elsewhere

48. Channeling Death n Channelized waterways in 1900 = almost 9,000 n Today = nearly 500,000 n Result: extinction of many species and dramatic declines in many others.

49. Other insults threatening freshwater ecosystems n Industrial discharges and agricultural and urban runoff n Competition from nonnative species displace and drives native fish toward extinction. n Overfishing, –e.g., is currently driving various sturgeon species toward extinction in the Caspian Sea and its tributaries. n Is the Lake Winnebago Sturgeon next?

50. Yet more insults n Water diversions –for agriculture and urban water supplies >> all native fish species in the lower Colorado River basin are either endangered or extinct n Siltation –a major factor in the decline of endemic fishes globally n Wetland conversion –Half of the world’s wetlands destroyed in the last century. n World Resources 2000-2001

51. Amphibian - Decline n Frogs, toads, and salamanders going extinct and declining rapidly n Primary cause: Destruction of wetlands.

52. Declines are also occurring in apparently undisturbed habitats (1) Gastric brooding frogs (2 species), native to Australia, disappeared in the early 1980s. (2) The red-legged frog is no longer present in entire counties and valleys on the North American Pacific coast, where it was once abundant and common. (3) The golden toad of Costa Rica was last seen in 1989.

53. Golden Toads Costa Rica (picture taken in 1989)

54. Amphibian - Deformities Since 1995, reports of malformed amphibians have increased. Suspects: n skin funguses kill larvae and adult amphibians. n Non-native predators, such as voracious bullfrogs and trout, that kill native amphibian species.

55. Amphibian - Deformities EPA 2003: ‘Smoking Gun’ study finds atrazine, a common pesticide, responsible for sexual abnormalities in frogs (producing company’s scientists dispute the conclusions; and lead scientist resigned, complaining they tried to prevent the dissemination of the findings; a UF professor was implicated by the NY Times in the suppression effort. Atrazine is banned in 7 European, but not in North America. n Other pollutants, including herbicides, insecticides and crop fertilizers remain suspects too.

58. Biodiversity Loss is also about declining genetic variety Declining numbers fosters genetic “bottlenecks” which reduce genetic variety. Reduced genetic variety increases the vulnerability of species to disease by eliminating genetically resistant members.Reduced genetic variety increases the vulnerability of species to disease by eliminating genetically resistant members.

59. The bottleneck effect

60. Main threats to Species n Habitat destruction by logging and mining, for agricultural or human settlements and transportation n Invasive Species introductions –Which eat or compete against/displace native species –Which reduce or eliminate food sources for native species

61. Endangered Ecosystem Types Not only species are at risk -- So are entire ecosystems

62. North America’s Ecosystems Of North America’s 116 large Ecoregions n 13 have biodiversity as great as in the Everglades n 32 are rated “globally outstanding” n BUT 30 have shrunk 98% and are “critically endangered.” n n Source: "A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America”, World Wildlife Fund

63. Endangered ecoregions n Midwest’s tallgrass prairies and oak savannas –have been almost entirely destroyed n Southeastern pine forests (N. Florida) –Once supported one of the richest assemblages of forest-floor plants on earth, as well as now-endangered animals such as the red cockaded woodpecker and gopher tortoise. –Merely 2 percent of these forests remain n Southern California Sage Scrub Ecosystems –These ecosystems, largely destroyed by intensive development, represent one of only five habitat groups on earth with “Mediterranean” climates. –Although these five habitat groups occupy only fragments of earth's surface, these unique habitats -- hot and dry in summer, cool and wet in winter -- they retain 20 percent of earth’s plant species!

64. Endangered and Threatened Species in Florida

65. HawksbillAtlantic LoggerheadAtlantic Green American Alligator American Crocodile

66. Florida Panther Key Deer Florida Black Bear West Indian Manatee

67. Peregrine Falcon Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Snail Kite Bald Eagle Crested Caracara Wood Stork Florida Scrub Jay

68. 10 Million Years: period needed for recovery from extinction episodes Whether episode is massive or minorWhether episode is massive or minor We may have already, or soon will have, destroyed enough species that recovery will require millions of years.We may have already, or soon will have, destroyed enough species that recovery will require millions of years. 10 million years is 20 times longer than we (Homo sapiens) have existed and longer than our species may persist.10 million years is 20 times longer than we (Homo sapiens) have existed and longer than our species may persist. From March 2000 study in NatureFrom March 2000 study in Nature

73. Lemur

77. Wisconsin Species at Risk