Conservation Biology Chapter 55 BCOR 12 6 March, 2009

Conservation biology is the study and protection of biological diversity

-- Vermont Biodiversity Project “The diversity of life in all its forms and at all levels of organization, with all of its interactions” -- Vermont Biodiversity Project Genes Species Communities Ecosystems And what is biological diversity? It is the diversity of life in all its forms, from the genetic level to the ecosystem level.

Loss of Species Diversity Extinction rates are 1000 times higher than at any time in the past 100,000 years, and may climb much higher if trends continue

Is this a crisis? The Center for Plant Conservation estimates that 200 of the 20,000 known plant species in the U. S. have become extinct since records have been kept, and another 730 are endangered or threatened. The International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) reports that 13% of the known 9,040 bird species are threatened with extinction. That is 1,183 species!

Threats to biodiversity habitat destruction introduced species overexploitation food chain disruption

Habitat Destruction Sandplain Forests in Vermont: Sandplain remnant Sandplain Forests in Vermont: 4.5% (650 acres of a former 15,000) remains Balance is now housing, urban areas, parks, and cemeteries

Habitat Destruction World Resources Institute

Introduced species Brown snake - Accidentally introduced to Guam after WWII. Since then, 12 species of birds and 6 species of lizards on which the snakes prey have been driven to extinction.

Over-exploitation Goldenseal Threatened by overcollecting

The dodo, extinct since 1681 as a result of over- hunting

Disruption of food chains

Conservation at the Population and Species Level Fairy Slipper Orchid Calypso bulbosa

Legislation: United States Endangered Species Act of 1973: 370 plants listed (3 occur in Vermont) Vermont Endangered Species Act of 1981: 153 plants listed

Biology: Small populations - the extinction vortex

Minimum viable population size (MVP) Minimum viable population size is the minimum number of individuals sufficient to perpetuate a population.

The recovery of the prairie chicken from the extinction vortex.

Conservation at the Landscape Level

A landscape is a regional assemblage of interacting ecosystems

Biodiversity hot spots - areas with exceptional concentrations of endemic species and a large number of threatened or endangered species Most biodiversity hotspots are located in tropical areas and/or on islands.

Reserve Design Nature Reserves are considered successful if: They contain viable populations of all native species They allow for movement of plants and animals across the landscape They contain the full diversity of communities and ecosystems They encompass all climatic zones

A Biodiversity Reserve System Working Farms Stewardship Lands Natural Areas Reserves Connections Let me put the idea of ecological reserves in context here. The terms “ecological reserve” and “core area” are used interchangably here to mean areas where natural ecological processes are dominant, and where human use is minimal – usually nothing more than passive, non-mechanized recreation. Ecological reserves can do only part of the job of conserving biodiversity. Well managed forests have always played a huge role in conservation, and they will surely continue to do so. In addition, more intensively used lands, like farms and urban areas, can contribute to the conservation of biodiversity as well. The zoned approach shown here is a conceptual idea, common in the conservation biology literature, of how ecological reserves can interact with these other kinds of uses. Note that the idea of corridors is essential to this model. ONE THING I WOULD LIKE TO STRESS HERE IS THAT THERE ARE NO SACRIFICE ZONES. ALL LAND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY.

Hope for Tomorrow: a love for wild nature Caila on Plum Island, MA Costa Rican children in a forest reserve

Biophilia is ‘the innate tendency [of human beings] to focus on life and lifelike process. To an extent still undervalued in philosophy and religion, our existence depends on this propensity, our spirit is woven from it, hopes rise on its currents.’ Dr. E. O. Wilson

Good luck on the exam!