Introduction to Biodiversity Friday, January 22 nd, 2016

Biodiversity 101  Renewable resource—nature’s insurance policy against disaster!  Species Diversity: the number and distribution of species in a given community  Genetic Diversity: genetic variability among individuals within each species  Ecological Diversity: the variety of different ecosystems  Functional Diversity: ecosystem services such as matter cycling, pollination, waste recycling, pest control, purification, etc. Needed for the survival of species and communities

Biodiversity provides Ecosystem Services  Species help determine the services ecosystems can provide  Ecosystem Services are the processes by which the environment produces resources that we often take for granted such as clean water, timber, and habitat for fisheries, and pollination of native and agricultural plants

Conservation Biology- Multidisciplinary science that deals with the crisis of diversity and how to maintain the earth’s ecosystems.

To measure diversity… 5  Richness (number of species)  Evenness (relative abundance)

Biodiversity Hotspots

Endangered and Threatened Species: Ecological Smoke Alarms Threatened/vulnerable species: still abundant in its natural range but is likely to become endangered in the near future. Example: Sea Lion Endangered species: so few individual survivors that it could soon become extinct. Example: Leopard

SPECIES EXTINCTION  Scientists use measurements and models to estimate extinction rates.  The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) publishes an annual Red List, listing the world’s threatened species.  The 2015 Red List contains 23,250 species at risk for extinction.

HABITAT LOSS, DEGRADATION, AND FRAGMENTATION  Conservation biologists summarize the most important causes of premature extinction as “HIPPO”:  Habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation  Invasive species  Population growth  Pollution  Overharvest/Overexploitation

Pollution  Each year pesticides:  Kill about 1/5 th of the U.S. honeybee colonies.  67 million birds.  million fish.  Threaten 1/5 th of the U.S.’s endangered and threatened species. Example of biomagnification of DDT in an aquatic food chain. Figure 11-15

OVEREXPLOITATION  Some protected species are killed for their valuable parts or are sold live to collectors.  Killing predators and pests that bother us or cause economic losses threatens some species with premature extinction.  Legal and illegal trade in wildlife species used as pets or for decorative purposes threatens some species with extinction.

ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION Restoration: trying to return to a condition as similar as possible to original state. Rehabilitation: attempting to turn a degraded ecosystem back to being functional. Replacement: replacing a degraded ecosystem with another type of ecosystem. Creating artificial ecosystems: such as artificial wetlands for flood reduction and sewage treatment.

 Leaving the animal where it lives but protecting it.  Ex. Elephants; make laws that prevent poaching and have people to enforce it.  Ex. Marine turtles are protected- escape nets must be used on all fishing nets so the turtles can get out and not drown. In situ vs. ex situ:

 Taking the animal out of its habitat & protecting it.  Ex. Zoo’s  2 types:  egg pulling -collecting wild eggs laid by critically endangered bird species and then hatching them in zoos or research centers  captive breeding, wild individuals of a critically endangered species are captured for breeding in captivity, with the aim of reintroducing the offspring into the wild. In situ vs. ex situ:

Fig. 11-8a, p. 230 Range 100 years ago Indian Tiger Range today (about 2,300 left)

Fig. 11-8b, p. 230 Range in 1700 Black Rhino Range today (about 3,600 left)

Fig. 11-8c, p. 230 Probable range 1600 African Elephant Range today

WHAT CAN WE DO? Eight Priorities for Protecting Biodiversity 1.Take immediate action to preserve world’s biological hot spots. 2.Keep intact remaining old growth. 3.Complete mapping of world’s biodiversity for inventory and decision making. 4.Determine world’s marine hot spots. 5.Concentrate on protecting and restoring lake and river systems (most threatened ecosystems).

6.Ensure that the full range of the earths ecosystems are included in global conservation strategy. 7.Make conservation profitable. 8.Initiate ecological restoration products to heal some of the damage done and increase share of earth’s land and water allotted to the rest of nature.