biodiversity and conservation
TRANSCRIPT
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, OU
Biodiversity and Conservation
Haroon Hairan
8/1/2014
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UNIT-I
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life. This can refer to genetic variation, species variation, or ecosystem variation within an area, biome, or planet. Terrestrial biodiversity tends to be highest at low latitudes near the equator, which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest and in mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time but will be likely to slow in the future.
Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions. One estimate is that <1%–3% of the species that have existed on Earth are extant.
Since life began on Earth, five major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoiceon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion—a period during which the majority of multi cellular phyla first appeared. The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses classified as mass extinction events. In the Carboniferous, rainforest collapse led to a great loss of plant and animal life.] The Permian–Triassic extinction event, 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years. The most recent, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, occurred 65 million years ago and has often attracted more attention than others because it resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The period since the emergence of humans has displayed an ongoing biodiversity reduction and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity. Named the Holocene extinction, the reduction is caused primarily by human impacts, particularly habitat destruction. Conversely, biodiversity impacts human health in a number of ways, both positively and negatively.
The United Nations designated 2011–2020 as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity.
Definitions
"Biodiversity" is most commonly used to replace the more clearly defined and long established terms, species diversity and species richness. Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region". An advantage of this definition is that it seems to describe most circumstances and presents a unified view of the traditional three levels at which biological variety has been identified:
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species diversity
ecosystem diversity
genetic diversity
In 2003 Professor Anthony Campbell at Cardiff University, UK and the Darwin Centre, Pembrokeshire, defined a fourth level: Molecular Diversity.
This multilevel construct is consistent with Dasmann and Lovejoy. An explicit definition consistent with this interpretation was first given in a paper by Bruce A. Wilcox commissioned by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) for the 1982 World National Parks Conference. Wilcox's definition was "Biological diversity is the variety of life forms...at all levels of biological systems (i.e., molecular, organismic, population, species and ecosystem)..." The 1992 United Nations Earth Summit defined "biological diversity" as "the variability among living organisms from all sources, including, 'inter alia', terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems". This definition is used in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.
One textbook's definition is "variation of life at all levels of biological organization".
Genetically biodiversity can be defined as the diversity of alleles, genes, and organisms. They study processes such as mutation and gene transfer that drive evolution.
Measuring diversity at one level in a group of organisms may not precisely correspond to diversity at other levels. However, tetrapod (terrestrial vertebrates) taxonomic and ecological diversity shows a very close correlation
Distribution
Biodiversity is not evenly distributed, rather it varies greatly across the globe as well as within regions. Among other factors, the diversity of all living things (biota) depends on temperature, precipitation, altitude, soils, geography and the presence of other species. The study of the spatial distribution of organisms, species, and ecosystems, is the science of biogeography.
Diversity consistently measures higher in the tropics and in other localized regions such as the Cape Floristic Region and lower in polar region generally. Rain forests that have had wet climates for a long time, such as Yasuni National Park in Ecuador, have particularly high biodiversity.
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Terrestrial biodiversity is up to 25 times greater than ocean biodiversity. Although a recent discovered method put the total number of species on Earth at 8.7 million of which 2.1 million were estimated to live in the ocean, however this estimate seems to under-represent diversity of microorganisms.
Latitudinal gradients
Generally, there is an increase in biodiversity from the poles to the tropics. Thus localities at lower latitudes have more species than localities at higher latitudes. This is often referred to as the latitudinal gradient in species diversity. Several ecological mechanisms may contribute to the gradient, but the ultimate factor behind many of them is the greater mean temperature at the equator compared to that of the poles.
Even though terrestrial biodiversity declines from the equator to the poles, some studies claim that this characteristic is unverified in aquatic ecosystems, especially in marine ecosystems. The latitudinal distribution of parasites does not follow this rule.
Hotspots
A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species that is under threat from humans. The term hotspot was introduced in 1988 by Dr. Sabina Virk. While hotspots are spread all over the world, the majority are forest areas and most are located in the tropics.
Brazil's Atlantic Forest is considered one such hotspot, containing roughly 20,000 plant species, 1,350 vertebrates, and millions of insects, about half of which occur nowhere else. The island of Madagascar, particularly the unique Madagascar dry deciduous forests and lowland rainforests, possess a high ratio of endemism. Since the island separated from mainland Africa 66 million years ago, many species and ecosystems have evolved independently. Indonesia's 17,000 islands cover 735,355 square miles (1,904,560 km2) contain 10% of the world's flowering plants, 12% of mammals and 17% of reptiles, amphibians and birds—along with nearly 240 million people. Many regions of high biodiversity and/or endemism arise from specialized habitats which require unusual adaptations, for example alpine environments in high mountains, or Northern European peat bogs.
Accurately measuring differences in biodiversity can be difficult. Selection bias amongst researchers may contribute to biased empirical research for modern estimates of biodiversity. In 1768 Rev. Gilbert White succinctly observed of his Selborne, Hampshire "all nature is so full, that that district produces the most variety which is the most examined.
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Evolution and History
Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution. The origin of life has not been definitely established by science, however some evidence suggests that life may already have been well-established only a few hundred million years after the formation of the Earth. Until approximately 600 million years ago, all life consisted of archaea, bacteria, protozoans and similar single-celled organisms.
The history of biodiversity during the Phanerozoic (the last 540 million years), starts with rapid growth during the Cambrian explosion—a period during which nearly every phylum of multicellular organisms first appeared. Over the next 400 million years or so, invertebrate diversity showed little overall trend, and vertebrate diversity shows an overall exponential trend. This dramatic rise in diversity was marked by periodic, massive losses of diversity classified as mass extinction events. A significant loss occurred when rainforests collapsed in the carboniferous. The worst was the Permo-Triassic extinction, 251 million years ago. Vertebrates took 30 million years to recover from this event.
The fossil record suggests that the last few million years featured the greatest biodiversity in history. However, not all scientists support this view, since there is uncertainty as to how strongly the fossil record is biased by the greater availability and preservation of recent geologic sections. Some scientists believe that corrected for sampling artifacts, modern biodiversity may not be much different from biodiversity 300 million years ago. Where as others consider the fossil record reasonably reflective of the diversification of life. Estimates of the present global macroscopic species diversity vary from 2 million to 100 million, with a best estimate of somewhere near 9 million, the vast majority arthropods. Diversity appears to increase continually in the absence of natural selection.
Evolutionary diversification
The existence of a "global carrying capacity", limiting the amount of life that can live at once, is debated, as is the question of whether such a limit would also cap the number of species. While record of life in the sea shows a logistic pattern of growth, life on land (insects, plants and tetrapods) shows an exponential rise in diversity. As one author states, "Tetrapods have not yet invaded 64 per cent of potentially habitable modes, and it could be that without human influence the ecological and taxonomic diversity of tetrapods would continue to increase in an exponential fashion until most or all of the available ecospace is filled."
On the other hand, changes through the Phanerozoic correlate much better with the hyperbolic model (widely used in population biology,demography and macrosociology, as well as fossil biodiversity) than with exponential and logistic models. The latter models
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imply that changes in diversity are guided by a first-order positive feedback (more ancestors, more descendants) and/or a negative feedback arising from resource limitation. Hyperbolic model implies a second-order positive feedback. The hyperbolic pattern of the world population growth arises from a second-order positive feedback between the population size and the rate of technological growth. The hyperbolic character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by a feedback between diversity and community structure complexity. The similarity between the curves of biodiversity and human population probably comes from the fact that both are derived from the interference of the hyperbolic trend with cyclical andstochastic dynamics.
Most biologists agree however that the period since human emergence is part of a new mass extinction, named the Holocene extinction event, caused primarily by the impact humans are having on the environment. It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years.
New species are regularly discovered (on average between 5–10,000 new species each year, most of them insects) and many, though discovered, are not yet classified (estimates are that nearly 90% of all arthropods are not yet classified). Most of the terrestrial diversity is found in tropical forests and in general, land has more species than the ocean; some 8.7 million species may exists on Earth, of which some 2.1 million live in the ocean
Biodiversity and human health
Biodiversity's relevance to human health is becoming an international political issue, as scientific evidence builds on the global health implications of biodiversity loss. This issue is closely linked with the issue of climate change, as many of the anticipated health risks of climate change are associated with changes in biodiversity (e.g. changes in populations and distribution of disease vectors, scarcity of fresh water, impacts on agricultural biodiversity and food resources etc.) This is because the species most likely to disappear are those that buffer against infectious disease transmission, while surviving species tend to be the ones that increase disease transmission, such as that of West Nile Virus, Lyme disease and Hantavirus, according to a study done co-authored by Felicia Keesing, an ecologist at Bard College, and Drew Harvell, associate director for Environment of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (ACSF) at Cornell University.
The growing demand and lack of drinkable water on the planet presents an additional challenge to the future of human health. Partly, the problem lies in the success of water suppliers to increase supplies, and failure of groups promoting preservation of water resources. While the distribution of clean water increases, in some parts of the world it remains unequal. According to 2008 World Population Data Sheet, only 62% of least developed countries are able to access clean water
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Some of the health issues influenced by biodiversity include dietary health and nutrition security, infectious disease, medical science and medicinal resources, social and psychological health. Biodiversity is also known to have an important role in reducing disaster risk, and in post-disaster relief and recovery efforts.
Biodiversity provides critical support for drug discovery and the availability of medicinal resources. A significant proportion of drugs are derived, directly or indirectly, from biological sources: at least 50% of the pharmaceutical compounds on the US market are derived from plants, animals, andmicro-organisms, while about 80% of the world population depends on medicines from nature (used in either modern or traditional medical practice) for primary healthcare. Only a tiny fraction of wild species has been investigated for medical potential. Biodiversity has been critical to advances throughout the field of bionics. Evidence from market analysis and biodiversity science indicates that the decline in output from the pharmaceutical sector since the mid-1980s can be attributed to a move away from natural product exploration ("bioprospecting") in favor of genomics and synthetic chemistry, indeed claims about the value of undiscovered pharmaceuticals may not provide enough incentive for companies in free markets to search for them because of the high cost of development; meanwhile, natural products have a long history of supporting significant economic and health innovation. Marine ecosystems are particularly important, although inappropriate bioprospecting can increase biodiversity loss, as well as violating the laws of the communities and states from which the resources are taken.
Biodiversity, business and industry
Many industrial materials derive directly from biological sources. These include building materials, fibers, dyes, rubber and oil. Biodiversity is also important to the security of resources such as water, timber, paper, fiber, and food. As a result, biodiversity loss is a significant risk factor in business development and a threat to long term economic sustainability.
Biodiversity, leisure, cultural and aesthetic value
Biodiversity enriches leisure activities such as hiking, birdwatching or natural history study. Biodiversity inspires musicians, painters, sculptors, writers and other artists. Many cultures view themselves as an integral part of the natural world which requires them to respect other living organisms.
Popular activities such as gardening, fish keeping and specimen collecting strongly depend on biodiversity. The number of species involved in such pursuits is in the tens of thousands, though the majority does not enter commerce.
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The relationships between the original natural areas of these often exotic animals and plants and commercial collectors, suppliers, breeders, propagators and those who promote their understanding and enjoyment are complex and poorly understood. The general public responds well to exposure to rare and unusual organisms, reflecting their inherent value.
Philosophically it could be argued that biodiversity has intrinsic aesthetic and spiritual value to mankind in and of itself. This idea can be used as a counterweight to the notion that tropical forests and other ecological realms are only worthy of conservation because of the services they provide.
Levels of BiodiversityScientists speak of three levels of biodiversity: a. Species diversity b. Genetic diversity c. Ecosystem diversity.
In effect, these levels cannot be separated. Each is important, interacting with and influencing the others. A change at one level can cause changes at the other levels
Species Diversity
In all shape and size (tiny organisms to huge one): includes bacteria, protozoan, fungi, flowering plants, ants, beetles, butterflies, birds, reptiles and large animals.
Each species is a group of organisms with unique characteristics. An individual of a species can reproduce successfully, creating a viable offspring, only with another member of the same species. Still learning how many species exist and how they relate to each other and to their physical environment. Cannot predict the precise ripple effects that the loss of one species will have on others and on ecosystems.
Keystone species: Plays critical role in ecosystems they inhabit Affect the abundance and health of many other species. Their loss from ecosystems directly endangers the success of
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Biodiversity Status of the World
• Bacteria - 25,000 species• Virus - 6,000 species• Fungi - 70,000 species• Plants - 320,000 species• Invertebrates - 400,000 species (excluding insects)• Insects > 1000,000 species (approximately 360,000 of which are beetles)• Mammals 4,900 species• Birds 9,800 species• Amphibians and reptiles 13,000• Fish 28,000 species
other species. Scientists estimate between 10 to 30 million species on Earth. Only about 1.75 million have been named and catalogued.
Most of insects, fungi and microscopic creatures remain unidentified. Their existence is a mystery.
Genetic Diversity
Every individual inherits genes from its parents and passes on to the next generation. Biodiversity is more than the variety of species. Genetic diversity everywhere (songs, feather colors, taste and texture). Genetic variation is extremely important to the survival of species. Genetic variability, responsible for these different traits, interact with local environmental conditions to determine the extent to which populations can adapt to environmental changes and survive exposure to new diseases.
Isolated populations in small patches of habitat cut off from the surrounding environment tend to have less genetic variation than populations in large, intact ecosystems. Therefore, those isolated populations are more susceptible to extinction.
Ecosystem Diversity
Populations and non-living environmental components- such as water or minerals surrounding them interact dynamically to form an ecosystem. It includes: predators consuming prey, pollinators selecting flowers and species responding to physical processes such as heavy rain. Plant and Animal communities make up many kinds of ecosystems (forest, wetlands, rangelands, mountains, deserts, terrestrial ecosystems). Species are not evenly distributed.
UN. Biodiversity Planning Support Programme is a multi-donor initiative implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme. Established to strengthen national capacity to prepare and implement National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) in compliance with Article 6 of the Convention.
United Nations Environment Program. World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Biodiversity and climate change programs...
Consultative Process Towards an International Mechanism Of Scientific Expertise on Biodiversity. Finding ways and means to put biodiversity in the priorities list of the world issues agenda. Materials and documents on the consultative process. United Nations Environment Program.
UNEP's Convention on Biological Diversity. Climate Change Adaptation Database. Integrating Biodiversity into Climate Change Adaptation Planning- Guidance on the
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Integration of Biodiversity within Adaptation Planning supports Parties as they continue to integrate climate change impacts and response activities through their implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Lots of info here.
2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership brings together a host of international organizations working at the forefront of biodiversity indicator development to assess progress towards the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 2010 Target.
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was called for by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000, the objective of the MA was to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and the scientific basis for action needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of those systems and their contribution to human well-being.
Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The panel will be set up by 2011 to review research on biodiversity loss-as an international science-policy platform to enable emerging scientific knowledge to be translated into specific policy action at the appropriate levels. It will identify and prioritise key scientific information for policymakers.
World Wildlife Fund Biodiversity Support Program. Promoting conservation of the world's biological diversity. The publications on this Web site are from over a decade of work by the Biodiversity Support Program.
Center for Biodiversity and Conservation of the American Museum of Natural History’s mission is to mitigate critical threats to global biological and cultural diversity. Studying biodiversity— has been a fundamental activity of the American Museum of Natural History,in 1993, the Museum created the interdisciplinary Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.
Biodiversity Hotspots. Conservation International's site. The science and information on the 34 biodiversity hotspots.
Defenders of Wildlife- Biodiversity Partnership is dedicated to promoting and supporting regional and statewide strategies to conserve biodiversity.
E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation's mission is to preserve biological diversity in the living environment by inventing and implementing business and educational strategies in the service of conservation.
Conservation- Government/UN Sites:
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United Nations Environment Programme. World Conservation Monitoring Center.
Plant Conservation Alliance, of the Bureau of Land Management is a consortium of ten federal government Member agencies and over 225 non-federal Cooperators representing various disciplines within the conservation field. PCA Members and Cooperators work collectively to solve the problems of native plant extinction and native habitat restoration, ensuring the preservation of our ecosystem.
UN's Convention on Biological Diversity's objectives are the conservation of biological diversity along with the sustainable use of its components while ensuring that it is used for the benefit of all. UNEP.
Commission for Environmental Cooperation enhances collaboration among Canada, Mexico and the United States in furthering the conservation and sustainablity of North American biodiversity.
Conservation International. Aims to protect life on Earth and to demonstrate that human societies will thrive when in balance with nature. Works with governments, nonprofit organizations, universities, businesses, and local communities in priority regions to strengthen conservation efforts.
Nature Conservancy, founded in 1951: with more than 1 million members, protected more than 117 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide — and operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally.
Society for Conservation Biology is an international professional organization dedicated to promoting the scientific study of the phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biological diversity. Publishes the Conservation Biology Journal and Conservation Magazine.
World Wildlife Fund. The largest multinational conservation organization in the world, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally.
Earth Island Institute, "a non-profit, develops and supports projects that counteract threats to the biological and cultural diversity that sustain the environment. Through education and activism, these projects promote the conservation, preservation, and restoration of the Earth."
Fauna & Flora International was founded in 1903, it has been instrumental in establishing much of today’s global and local conservation infrastructure, including
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organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, IUCN - The World Conservation Union, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora and conservation instruments such as the Red List of endangered species. A distinctive feature of Fauna & Flora International is their focus on working with local communities to help them develop the capacity to conserve their own biodiversity whilst also improving their well being - long into the future.
CBD
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals:
1. conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity);2. sustainable use of its components; and
3. fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources
In other words, its objective is to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. It is often seen as the key document regardingsustainable development.
The Convention was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993.
2010 was the International Year of Biodiversity. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is the focal point for the International Year of Biodiversity. At the 2010 10th Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October in Nagoya, Japan, the Nagoya Protocol was adopted.[1] On 22 December 2010, the UN declared the period from 2011 to 2020 as the UN-Decade on Biodiversity. They, hence, followed a recommendation of the CBD signatories during COP10 atNagoya in October 2010.
The convention recognized for the first time in international law that the conservation of biological diversity is "a common concern of humankind" and is an integral part of the development process. The agreement covers all ecosystems, species, and genetic resources. It links traditional conservation efforts to the economic goal of using biological resources sustainably. It sets principles for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, notably those destined for commercial use. It also covers the rapidly expanding field of biotechnology through its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, addressing technology development and transfer, benefit-sharing and biosafety issues. Importantly, the Convention is legally binding; countries that join it ('Parties') are obliged to implement its provisions.
The convention reminds decision-makers that natural resources are not infinite and sets out a philosophy of sustainable use. While past conservation efforts were aimed at
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protecting particular species and habitats, the Convention recognizes that ecosystems, species and genes must be used for the benefit of humans. However, this should be done in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity.
The convention also offers decision-makers guidance based on the precautionary principle that where there is a threat of significant reduction or loss of biological diversity, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to avoid or minimize such a threat. The Convention acknowledges that substantial investments are required to conserve biological diversity. It argues, however, that conservation will bring us significant environmental, economic and social benefits in return.
The Convention on Biological Diversity of 2010 would ban some forms of geoengineering.
Issues under the Convention
Some of the many issues dealt with under the convention include:
• Measures and incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.
• Regulated access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge, including Prior Informed Consent of the party providing resources.
• Sharing, in a fair and equitable way, the results of research and development and the benefits arising from the commercial and other utilization of genetic resources with the Contracting Party providing such resources (governments and/or local communities that provided the traditional knowledge or biodiversity resources utilized).
• Access to and transfer of technology, including biotechnology, to the governments and/or local communities that provided traditional knowledge and/or biodiversity resources.
• Technical and scientific cooperation.
• Coordination of a global directory of taxonomic expertise (Global Taxonomy Initiative).
• Impact assessment.
• Education and public awareness.
• Provision of financial resources.
• National reporting on efforts to implement treaty commitments.
CITES
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CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals. It was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The convention was opened for signature in 1973, and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild, and it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 35,000 speciesof animals and plants. In order to ensure that the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was not violated, the Secretariat of GATT was consulted during the drafting process.
CITES is one of the largest and oldest conservation and sustainable use agreements in existence. Participation is voluntary, and countries that have Funding for the activities of the Secretariat and Conference of the Parties (CoP) meetings comes from a Trust Fund derived from Party contributions. Trust Fund money is not available to Parties to improve implementation or compliance. These activities, and all those outside Secretariat activities (training, species specific programmes such as Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants - MIKE) must find external funding, mostly from donor countries and regional organizations such as the European Union.
Although the Convention itself does not provide for arbitration or dispute in the case of noncompliance, 36 years of CITES in practice has resulted in several strategies to deal with infractions by Parties. The Secretariat, when informed of an infraction by a Party, will notify all other parties. The Secretariat will give the Party time to respond to the allegations and may provide technical assistance to prevent further infractions. Other actions the Convention itself does not provide for but that derive from subsequent COP resolutions may be taken against the offending Party. These include:
• Mandatory confirmation of all permits by the Secretariat• Suspension of cooperation from the Secretariat
• A formal warning
• A visit by the Secretariat to verify capacity
• Recommendations to all Parties to suspend CITES related trade with the offending party
• Dictation of corrective measures to be taken by the offending Party before the Secretariat will resume cooperation or recommend resumption of trade
Bilateral sanctions have been imposed on the basis of national legislation (e.g. the USA used certification under the Pelly Amendment to get Japan to revoke its reservation to hawksbill turtle products in 1991, thus reducing the volume of its exports).
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Infractions may include negligence with respect to permit issuing, excessive trade, lax enforcement, and failing to produce annual reports (the most common).
Originally, CITES addressed depletion resulting from demand for luxury goods such as furs in Western countries, but with the rising wealth of Asia, particularly in China, the focus changed to products demanded there, particularly those used for luxury goods such as ivory or shark fins or for superstitious purposes such as rhinoceros horn. As of 2013 the demand was massive and had expanded to include thousands of species previously considered unremarkable and in no danger of extinction such as manta rays or pangolins
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; in French: Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature, UICN) is an international organizationdedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges".[1] The organization publishes the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which assesses the conservation status of species.
IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects globally and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy. IUCN is the world's oldest and largest global environmental network—a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. IUCN's work is supported by more than 1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. The Union's headquarters are located in Gland, Switzerland, near Geneva.
IUCN's stated vision is "a just world that values and conserves nature". Its mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable"
History
IUCN began when the first Director General of UNESCO, Sir Julian Huxley, sponsored a congress to establish a new environmental institution to help serve this purpose.
At that first congress (held at Fontainebleau, France), on 5 October 1948, 18 governments, 7 international organizations, and 107 national nature conservation organizations all agreed to form the institution and signed a "constitutive act" creating an International Union for the Protection of Nature.
From this beginning, the overriding strategy and policy of the institution has been to explore and promote mutually beneficial conservation arrangements that suit those promoting development as well as assisting people and nations to better preserve their flora and fauna.[4] When approached in 1978 by primatologist Richard Wrangham to contribute funds to the new Digit Fund to prevent further poaching of mountain gorillas near Dian Fossey's Karisoke Research Station in Rwanda, the International Union
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for Conservation of Nature declined to provide funds to the cause. Instead, IUCN supported opening the Virunga Volcanoes to tourism as a way to encourage the Rwandan government to preserve the gorillas.
At all times, the institution (in all its forms) has heavily emphasized as a key operating principle the strong need to cater to and address the needs of local nations, communities and peoples, so that those nations, communities and peoples can take ownership of future, long term conservation goals and objectives in their local areas:
“ Protected areas and threatened species could most effectively be safeguarded if local people considered it in their own interest to do so. Working with rather than against local people became a major working principle for IUCN. ”
IUCN's World Conservation Strategy (1980) was founded upon this kind of principle, and clearly announced the IUCN's ambitions to more effectively enter into dialogue with the promoters of human development. The strategy was internationally applauded by many and served to secure IUCN funds from several donors who did not themselves feel they could open up effective dialogue in the world's developing countries, nor that United Nations organizations and international banks would effectively engage in such dialogue.
With the pre-eminence of the concept of sustainable development, IUCN has expanded into many of the nations around the world, making available the services of a large pool of mainly voluntary specialists, providing local level advice and conservation services, and expanding its networks of Committees and regional advisory bodies into increasing numbers of countries.
Timeline
Some key dates in the growth and development of this organization include:
• 1956: Name very soon changed from International Union for the Preservation of Nature (IUPN) to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
• 1956: IUCN creates the IYF= "International Youth Federation for the Study and Conservation of Nature", which creates in 1983 YEE=Youth Environment Europe
• 1959: UNESCO decides to create an international list of Nature Parks and equivalent reserves, and the United Nations Secretary General asks the IUCN to prepare this list
• 1961: After more than a decade of funding difficulties, eminent science and business personalities (including Sir Julian Huxley) decide to set up a complementary fund (the World Wildlife Fund) to focus on fund raising, public relations, and increasing public support for nature conservation
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• 1969: IUCN obtains a grant from the Ford Foundation which enables it to boost, substantially, its international secretariat.
• 1972: UNESCO adopts the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the IUCN is invited to provide technical evaluations and monitoring
• 1974: IUCN is involved in obtaining the agreement of its members to sign a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), whose secretariat was originally lodged with the IUCN
• 1975: The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) comes into force, and its secretariat is administered from the IUCN's headquarters
• 1980: IUCN (together with the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Wide Fund for Nature) collaborate with UNESCO to publish a World Conservation Strategy
• 1982: Following IUCN preparation and efforts, the United Nations General Assembly adopts the World Charter for Nature
• 1990: Began using the name World Conservation Union as the official name, while continuing using IUCN as its abbreviation. This name change proved to be short-lived.
• 1993: IUCN (together with United Nations Environment Programme and the World Wide Fund for Nature) publishes Caring for the Earth
• 2001: Establishment of the IUCN Business and Biodiversity Programme
• 2008: Stopped using World Conservation Union as its official name and reverted its name back to International Union for Conservation of Nature
• 2008: More than 6,600 leaders from government, the public sector, non-governmental organizations, business, UN agencies and social organizations attended IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona,
Biogeographic Classification of India
Biogeographic classification of India is the division of India according to biogeographic characteristics. Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species (biology), organisms, and ecosystems in geographicspace and through geological time. The biogeographic zones of India are as follows:
1. Himalayan zone.18
2. Desert zone.
3. Semiarid zone.
4. Western ghat zone.
5. Deccan plateau zone.
6. Gangetic plain zone.
7. North east zone.
8. Coastal zone.
9. Islands present near the shore line.
10. Trans Himalyan zone.
Biogeography is the study of the biosphere and of human effects on plants and animals. According to a recent classification done by the Wild-Life Institute of India, the country has ten biogeographic zones:
1. Trans-Himalayan Region
The Himalayan ranges immediately north of the Great Himalayan range are called the Trans- Himalayas. The Trans-Himalayan region with its sparse vegetation has the richest wild sheep and goat community in the world. The snow leopard is found here, as is the migratory black-necked crane.
2. Himalayas
The Himalayas consist of the youngest and loftiest mountain chains in the world. The Himalayas have attained a unique personality owing to their high altitude, steep gradient and rich temperate flora.
The forests are very dense with extensive growth of grass and evergreen tall trees. Oak, chestnut, conifer, ash, pine, deodar are abundant in Himalayas. There is no vegetation above the snowline. Several interesting animals live in the Himalayan ranges. Chief species include wild sheep, mountain goats, ibex, shrew, and tapir. Panda and snow leopard are also found here.
3. Semi-Arid Areas
Adjoining the desert are the semi-arid areas, a transitional zone between the desert and the denser forests of the Western Ghats. The natural vegetation is thorn forest. This region is characterized by discontinuous vegetation cover with open areas of bare soil and soil-water deficit throughout the year.
Thorny scrubs, grasses and some bamboos are present in some regions. A few species of xerophytic herbs and some ephemeral herbs are found in this semi-arid tract. Birds, jackals, leopards, eagles, snakes, fox, buffaloes are found in this region.
4. Western Ghats
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The mountains along the west coast of peninsular India are the Western Ghats, which constitute one of the unique biological regions of the world. The Western Ghats extend from the southern tip of the peninsula (8°N) northwards about 1600 km to the mouth of the river Tapti (21°N).
The mountains rise to average altitudes between 900 and 1500 m above sea level, intercepting monsoon winds from the southwest and creating a rain shadow in the region to their East.
The varied climate and diverse topography create a wide array of habitats that support unique sets of plant and animal species. Apart from biological diversity, the region boasts of high levels of cultural diversity, as many indigenous people inhabit its forests.
The Western Ghats are amongst the 25 biodiversity hot-spots recognized globally. These hills are known for their high levels of endemism expressed at both higher and lower taxonomic levels. Most of the Western Ghat endemic plants are associated with evergreen forests.
The region also shares several plant species with Sri Lanka. The higher altitude forests were, if at all, sparsely populated with tribal people. Rice cultivation in the fertile valley proceeded gardens of early commercial crops like areca nut and pepper. The original vegetation of the ill-drained valley bottoms with sluggish streams in elevations below 100m would be often a special formation, the Myristica swamp.
Expansion of traditional agriculture and the spread of particularly rubber, tea, coffee and forest tree plantations would have wiped out large pockets of primary forests in valleys. The Western Ghats are well known for harboring 14 endemic species of caecilians (i.e., legless amphibians) out of 15 recorded from the region so far.
5. North-West Desert Regions
This region consists of parts of Rajasthan, Kutch, Delhi and parts of Gujarat. The climate is characterised by very hot and dry summer and cold winter. Rainfall is less than 70 cms. The plants are mostly xerophytic. Babul, Kikar, wild palm grows in areas of moderate rainfall. Indian Bustard, a highly endangered bird is found here. Camels, wild asses, foxes, and snakes are found in hot and arid deserts.
6. Deccan Plateau
Beyond the Ghats is Deccan Plateau, a semi-arid region lying in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats. This is the largest unit of the Peninsular Plateau of India. The highlands of the plateau are covered with different types of forests, which provide a large variety of forest products.
7. Gangetic Plain
In the North is the Gangetic plain extending up to the Himalayan foothills. This is the largest unit of the Great Plain of India. Ganga is the main river after whose name this plain is
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named. The a gradational Great Plains cover about 72.4mha area with the Ganga and the Brahmaputra forming the main drainage axes in the major portion.
The thickness in the alluvial sediments varies considerably with its maximum in the Ganga plains. The physiogeographic scenery varies greatly from arid and semi-arid landscapes of the Rajasthan Plains to the humid and per-humid landscapes of the Delta and Assam valley in the east.
Topographic uniformity, except in the arid Western Rajasthan is a common feature throughout these plains. The plain supports some of the highest population densities depending upon purely agro-based economy in some of these areas. The trees belonging to these forests are teak, sal, shisham, mahua, khair etc.
8. North-East India
North-east India is one of the richest flora regions in the country. It has several species of orchids, bamboos, ferns and other plants. Here the wild relatives of cultivated plants such as banana, mango, citrus and pepper can be found.
9. Islands
The two groups of islands, i.e., the Arabian Sea islands and Bay Islands differ significantly in origin and physical characteristics. The Arabian Sea Islands (Laccadive, Minicoy, etc.) are the foundered remnants of the old land mass and subsequent coral formations. On the other hand, the Bay Islands lay only about 220 km.
Away from the nearest point on the main land mass and extend about 590 km. With a maximum width of 58 km the island forests of Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea have some of the best-preserved evergreen forests of India. Some of the islands are fringed with coral reefs. Many of them are covered with thick forests and some are highly dissected.
10. Coasts
India has a coastline extending over 5,500 km. The Indian coasts vary in their characteristics and structures. The west coast is narrow except around the Gulf of Canbary and the Gulf of Kutch. In the extreme south, however, it is somewhat wider along the south Sahyadri.
The backwaters are the characteristic features of this coast. The east coast plains, in contrast are broader due to depositional activities of the east-flowing rivers owing to the change in their base levels.
Extensive deltas of the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri are the characteristic features of this coast. Mangrove vegetation is characteristic of estuarine tracts along the coast for instance, at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.
Larger parts of the coastal plains are covered by fertile soils on which different crops are grown. Rice is the main crop of these areas. Coconut trees grow all along the coast.
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THE VALUES OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
Introduction
Some will argue that conservation can and should be based on economics. One view is that supply and demand determines resource use and prevents over-exploitation. As resources are depleted and supply lessens, price rises. Once a resource becomes very scarce, it is no longer profitable to harvest. The strong view is that markets prevent over-exploitation. A less strong view is that rising prices at least give an early warning of resource depletion.
With the growing realization that species are being lost and ecosystems degraded, other economic arguments have gained credence. One argument is that the economic value of yet-undiscovered resources (new medicines, new foods) is the best reason to save biodiversity. Another view is based on calculating the full value of all ecosystem goods and services as a way to demonstrate how much actual value nature provides.
Some Weaknesses of Economic Analyses
On the other hand, an economic analysis may
fail to give sufficient weight to long-term benefits have difficulty managing common property lack approaches for assessing the costs of damage to natural systems and functions such as water or air pollution (externalities) lack approaches to assessing the values of natural processes such as watershed protection or amelioration of climate (ecosystem goods and services) ignore the aesthetic, ethical, cultural and scientific parts of the economic equation
Classification of Values of Biological Resources
Before considering each of these, we will first examine a useful framework of different categories of valuation of natural resources.
DIRECT VALUES
Consumptive Use Value refers to non-market value of resources such as firewood, game meat, etc. Such resources are consumed directly, without passing through a market. They usually are not calculated (but often can be approximated). A study in Malaysia estimated that wild pigs harvested by hunters had a value equivalent to $100 million annually. In Zaire, 75% of animal protein comes from wild sources. In a number of poor countries, firewood and dung are primary energy sources. As these become scarce, women spend most of their day simply collecting fuel wood.
Productive Use Value refers to the commercial value of products that are commercially harvested for exchange in formal markets, such as game meat, timber, fish, ivory, medicinal plants. They are included in national income accounts like the GNP. Estimates are usually
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made at the production end (sale of timber by the timber harvester to the sawmill), rather than the eventual value of the furniture and houses built from the timber. In developing countries, the commercial value of natural resources usually is a much greater fraction of the national economy than is the case in developed countries.
Much attention has focused recently around alternative uses of the rain forest. Usually, this is the search for valued non-wood products that can be harvested sustainably (fruits such as Brasil nuts, and latex from rubber-tapping).
INDIRECT VALUES
Non-consumptive Use Value refers to all of the "functions" or "services" of natural systems, as well as scientific research, bird-watching, etc. They rarely are included in any national accounting. Table 1 below lists some important ecosystem goods and services.
Option Value refers to the value of retaining options available for the future, such as yet-undiscovered new crops and medicines.
Existence Value refers to the value of ethical feelings for the existence of nature. Many of us attach value to the existence of a species or habitat that we are unlikely ever to see -- mountain gorillas, the deep rainforests of Amazonia, the highlands of Madagascar. This may include the satisfaction of knowing that certain species exist in the wild, or an ethical dimension of responsibility to nature, or future generations, or other peoples. WWF receives donations of $100 million a year on this basis, and it is by no means the only or biggest recipient of such donations.
Ecosystems Goods and Services
1. BacteriaCycling of nutrients and gases; Organic carbon conversion in food chains; Drugs and antibiotics; Agriculture and biotechnology
2. PlantsCycling of nutrients and gases (atmospheric O2, CO2); Photosynthetic energy; Water cycle, prevention of soil erosion; Food, clothing, shelter and medicine; 50% of world's nutrition comes from 3 plants (rice, maize, wheat); 80% from total of 20 plant species (of 250,000)
3. AnimalsSoil fertility (nematodes, collembola, mites, annelids); Regulation of pest populations; Plant pollination; Food Ecological economics attempts to compute the (non-consumptive use) value of ecosystem goods and services. While highly speculative, estimates are trillions of dollars. As a specific example, Pimentel and others estimate the costs of soil erosion at $44 billion annually. Loss of topsoil threatens sustainability of crop production.
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Future and Present ValueDiscounting is a widely used economic tool that may act against wise use of natural resources. It is similar to an interest rate.
Given a choice, people prefer to receive $1 today rather than $1 a year from now. Today's dollar can buy something, or earn interest in a bank. Economists capture this time-preference with a decision-making tool called the discount rate. It is used to determine the present value of future costs and benefits, to help us choose among various options. But by expressing all options in monetary units, and weighing future benefits much less heavily than present benefits, this approach can make sustainable, long-term use of natural resources uneconomic.
For example, if the rate of interest is 10%, one dollar one year from now is worth only 91 cents, because one can invest 91 cents today and it will be worth one dollar next year. By the same method, one dollar ten years from now is worth 39 cents today, two decades hence is worth 15 cents today. Any resource -- a tropical forest, the world's population of Minke whales -- has so little discounted value that it makes better economic sense to liquidate the resource and invest the money elsewhere -- perhaps in Amazon.com (the book seller, not the forest).
Net Present Value is a tool for calculating the benefit-cost ratio of a long-term project, using the discount rate to adjust for the lesser importance of both future costs and future benefits.
Sum (Bt - Ct)NPV = ___________
(1 + d)t
Ct = costs in year t Bt = benefits in year t d = annual discount rate ( ~ interest rate)
An example shows that as the discount rate increases, long-term returns become unimportant relative to short-term returns.
Externalities are "hidden" costs that are not included in calculations of profitability. If a pulp mill pollutes a river, its profitability may be substantial or non-existent depending on whether costs of pollution abatement are excluded or included.
Common property management
Economic forces acting without restraint may result in destruction of a resource. Many fisheries have been harvested to the point of collapse. This problem may be aggravated for "commons" resources -- those which belong to everyone and no-one, like the fish of the open ocean, and the climate of the earth.
Food Value
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Biodiversity provides high variety of food: crops, livestock, forestry, and fish, which are important food source of human species. A wide range of species provides many thousands of food products, such as, fruits,vegetables, nuts, meat, and food additives in form of food colourings, flavourings and preseratives, through agriculture and from the harvest of natural populations. Although about 80 percent of humans' food supply comes from just 20 kinds of plants, humans use at least 40,000 species. Many people depend on these species for food, shelter, and clothing. Earth's surviving biodiversity provides resources for increasing the range of food and other products suitable for human use, although the present extinction rate shrinks that potential.
Medicinal Value
Biodiversity provides critical support for drug discovery and the availability of medicinal resources. A significant proportion of drugs are derived, directly or indirectly, from biological sources: at least 50% of the pharmaceutical compounds on the US market are derived from plants, animals, andmicro-organisms, while about 80% of the world population depends on medicines from nature (used in either modern or traditional medical practice) for primary healthcare. Only a tiny fraction of wild species has been investigated for medical potential. Biodiversity has been critical to advances throughout the field of bionics. Evidence from market analysis and biodiversity science indicates that the decline in output from the pharmaceutical sector since the mid-1980s can be attributed to a move away from natural product exploration ("bioprospecting") in favor of genomics and synthetic chemistry, indeed claims about the value of undiscovered pharmaceuticals may not provide enough incentive for companies in free markets to search for them because of the high cost of development; meanwhile, natural products have a long history of supporting significant economic and health innovation. Marine ecosystems are particularly important, although inappropriate bioprospecting can increase biodiversity loss, as well as violating the laws of the communities and states from which the resources are taken.
1. Introduction
Natural products are produced by a wide range of different organisms. Microorganisms, plants, marine species, and animals employ such compounds for several purposes such as building blocks, coenzymes and cofactors, host-defense against microbial infection and predators, protection of ecological niches, communication between and within species, pigments, cellular signaling, gene expression, and homeostasis maintenance. Currently, many key therapeutic classes of drugs in use are derived from natural products, such as the antimalarial drug artemisinin, several anticancer agents, the lipid-lowering statins and immunosuppressors used to prevent the rejection of tissue grafts (Harvey, 2010).
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Since ancient times, natural products represent the main source of compounds employed in drug discovery and development. Still now, nature provides the mankind with a diversity of small bioactive compounds, opening promising avenues for the treatment of a great variety of diseases. Indeed, through millions of years, natural products have evolved to encompass a broad spectrum of chemical and functional diversity that enables them to target of a nearly limitless number of biological macromolecules in a highly selective manner. In contrast, synthetic molecules generated by combinatorial chemistry show lower chemical diversity and selective action than their natural counterparts. Because of these characteristics, natural products, mostly plant secondary metabolites, have seen great success as therapeutic agents. In fact, about 50% of the drugs introduced in the market during the last 20 years were derived directly or indirectly from bioactive compounds. Interestingly, of the approximately 1,200 new medicines approved by the FDA in the 25-year period up to 2006, only around one-third of the small molecules were completely synthetic in origin, with the remaining being natural products, direct derivatives of natural products or synthetic compounds inspired by a natural product lead (Vuorelaa et al., 2004; Newman & Cragg, 2009; Harvey, 2010). Besides the known diversity of bioactive compounds, it is certain that a great number of novel nature-based molecular structural models, with novel biological activities, remain to be discovered. It is currently estimated that approximately 420,000 plant species exist in nature; the majority of which still unknown (Vuorelaa et al., 2004). In addition, less than 1%of microbes known by humans can be cultivable in laboratory conditions. In fact, the therapeutic potential of metabolism-derived microbial products is largely not explored, besides the astonishing number of different microorganisms that inhabit the Earth. Interestingly, despite our reduced knowledge of the microbial diversity, more than 20,000 secondary metabolites derived from microorganisms have already been described, while only a small percentage of these have been carried forward as natural product drugs (Knight et al., 2003). Marine organisms also represent a significant source of bioactive molecules, much of which in phase II, phase III and at the commercialization stage of new drug development (Galeano et al., 2011). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide and responsible for around 7 million deaths per year, a number estimated to reach 11 million until 2030. However, chemotherapy, the major therapeutic approach for cancer treatment, has to deal with important constrains such as lack of aqueous solubility and selectivity of antineoplastic drugs and the innate or acquired emergence of multidrug resistance by cancer cells. Consequently, there is an overwhelming demand for the discovery of novel chemo preventive compounds and to the development of new, more potent and effective, anticancer drugs. In this scenario, natural products represent the most valuable source of bioactive compounds able to inhibit cancer and serve as leads and scaffolds for the development of more efficacious drugs. Indeed, historically, natural products have been the most significant source of drugs and drug leads. Currently, around 74% of the available anticancer compounds are natural products or natural product-
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derived (Tan et al., 2006). With this perspective, in this chapter, we outline the historical importance and future perspectives of terrestrial and marine-sourced anticancer agents in oncology, and discuss the impact of novel biodiversity sources, such as venoms and toxins from several animal species, in anticancer drug development. In addition, some general aspects of chemical modifications done in natural products core with the aim to improve their activity and/or effectiveness are described.
2. Plants as a valuable source of anticancer drugs
Natural products with interesting biological activities and complex chemical structures with diverse functional groups result from the phenomenon of biodiversity, which means the richness in variety of organisms in the ecosphere (McChesney et al., 2007). These complex molecules evolve from a natural source of combinatorial chemistry, directed to select specific products with biological advantage. As a consequence of this natural selection, molecules able to interact specifically with biological targets arise, thus providing increased survival to the organisms that generated them. From a historical point of view, natural products have long been used as the mainstay of anticancer pharmacology. From Podophyllum peltatum, which provided the podophyllotoxins in the early 1950s, to the Pacific yew Taxus brevifolia, from which emerged the most significant anticancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol® Indeed, since the development of the vinca alkaloids, vinblastine and vincristine, and the isolation of podophyllotoxins, from which derived the semisynthetic derivatives, etoposide and teniposide, plant-derived agents have consolidated their place in the chemotherapy armamentarium of anticancer drugs, remaining largely prescribed today and having decades of success in the clinical set (Cragg & Newman, 2005; Newman & Cragg, 2007; Bailly, 2009), plants have been a seemingly unimaginable source of effective new drugs.
Drug discovery from medicinal plants is an interdisciplinary and multi-stage process characterized by the collection and identification of plant species with known biological activities or randomly collected for screening purposes, extract preparation and biological screening for pharmacological properties in relevant experimental models, isolation and characterization of active compounds, and screening assays directed toward molecular targets (Balunas & Kinghorn, 2005). Several strategies have been used to identify new compounds for drug discovery, of which natural products, and particularly medicinal plants, are still considered an important source of new drugs. Moreover, compounds with new biological activities can afford important drug leads in the development of new generations of drugs with specific and selective activities against novel molecular targets (Balunas & Kinghorn, 2005; Bailly, 2009). During the glory decades, several classes of plant-derived cytotoxic drugs have entered into clinical trials and some are in clinical use, such as camptothecin, isolated from Camptotheca acuminate, the precursor of the topotecan and irinotecan, homoharingtonine, isolated from the Chinese tree Cephalotaxus
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harringtonia,flavopiridol, a synthetic flavonoid structurally based in the natural product rohitukine,isolated from Dysoxylum binectariferum, combretastatin from the South African “bushwillow” Combretum caffrum, vinorelbine, the major semi-synthetic tubulin-binding vinca alkaloid and the taxanes (Cragg & Newman, 2005; Bailly, 2009).The naphthoquinones, mainly lapachol and β-lapachone, are another class of anticancer agents that has been received most attention. While lapachol failed in clinical trials due to their toxicity, β-lapachone provides significant activity against tumor cell lines from different histological origins, including leukemia, breast, prostate and several multidrug resistant (MDR) cell lines. In addition to these effects, its ability to inhibit the enzyme Cdc25, a dual-specificity phosphatase that promotes cell cycle progression and has been postulated to be an oncogene, renewed interest in this family of compounds (Ravelo et al., 2004; Karlsson-Rosenthal & Millar, 2006). Sesquiterpene lactones encompass a class of terpenoids derived mainly from Asteraceae, but also found in Umbelliferae and Magnoliaciae, which have the ability to selectively target tumor and cancer stem cells. Artemisinin from Artemisia annua L, thapsigargin from Thapsia (Apiaceae) and parthenolide from Tanacetum parthenum and their synthetic derivatives are the most promising drugs of this family for cancer treatment (Ghantous et al., 2010). Studies indicate that their selectivity against tumor cells is achieved by different mechanisms, including modulation of specific signaling pathways, induction of oxidative stress, and epigenetic, antiangiogenic and antimetastatic activities. For instance, thapsigargin has been shown to inhibit the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium ATPase (SERCA) pump, thus increasing intracellular Ca2+ levels, which ultimately lead to ER stress and cell death (Christensen et al., 2009; Winther et al., 2010).
Biodiversity and human health
Biodiversity's relevance to human health is becoming an international political issue, as scientific evidence builds on the global health implications of biodiversity loss. This issue is closely linked with the issue of climate change, as many of the anticipated health risks of climate change are associated with changes in biodiversity (e.g. changes in populations and distribution of disease vectors, scarcity of fresh water, impacts on agricultural biodiversity and food resources etc.) This is because the species most likely to disappear are those that buffer against infectious disease transmission, while surviving species tend to be the ones that increase disease transmission, such as that of West Nile Virus, Lyme disease and Hantavirus, according to a study done co-authored by Felicia Keesing, an ecologist at Bard College, and Drew Harvell, associate director for Environment of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (ACSF) at Cornell University.
The growing demand and lack of drinkable water on the planet presents an additional challenge to the future of human health. Partly, the problem lies in the success of water suppliers to increase supplies, and failure of groups promoting preservation of water resources. While the distribution of clean water increases, in some parts of the world it
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remains unequal. According to 2008 World Population Data Sheet, only 62% of least developed countries are able to access clean water
Some of the health issues influenced by biodiversity include dietary health and nutrition security, infectious disease, medical science and medicinal resources, social and psychological health. Biodiversity is also known to have an important role in reducing disaster risk, and in post-disaster relief and recovery efforts.
Biodiversity provides critical support for drug discovery and the availability of medicinal resources. A significant proportion of drugs are derived, directly or indirectly, from biological sources: at least 50% of the pharmaceutical compounds on the US market are derived from plants, animals, andmicro-organisms, while about 80% of the world population depends on medicines from nature (used in either modern or traditional medical practice) for primary healthcare. Only a tiny fraction of wild species has been investigated for medical potential. Biodiversity has been critical to advances throughout the field of bionics. Evidence from market analysis and biodiversity science indicates that the decline in output from the pharmaceutical sector since the mid-1980s can be attributed to a move away from natural product exploration ("bioprospecting") in favor of genomics and synthetic chemistry, indeed claims about the value of undiscovered pharmaceuticals may not provide enough incentive for companies in free markets to search for them because of the high cost of development; meanwhile, natural products have a long history of supporting significant economic and health innovation. Marine ecosystems are particularly important, although inappropriate bioprospecting can increase biodiversity loss, as well as violating the laws of the communities and states from which the resources are taken.
Biodiversity, business and industry
Many industrial materials derive directly from biological sources. These include building materials, fibers, dyes, rubber and oil. Biodiversity is also important to the security of resources such as water, timber, paper, fiber, and food. As a result, biodiversity loss is a significant risk factor in business development and a threat to long term economic sustainability.
Biodiversity, leisure, cultural and aesthetic value
Biodiversity enriches leisure activities such as hiking, birdwatching or natural history study. Biodiversity inspires musicians, painters, sculptors, writers and other artists. Many cultures view themselves as an integral part of the natural world which requires them to respect other living organisms.
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Popular activities such as gardening, fish keeping and specimen collecting strongly depend on biodiversity. The number of species involved in such pursuits is in the tens of thousands, though the majority does not enter commerce.
The relationships between the original natural areas of these often exotic animals and plants and commercial collectors, suppliers, breeders, propagators and those who promote their understanding and enjoyment are complex and poorly understood. The general public responds well to exposure to rare and unusual organisms, reflecting their inherent value.
Philosophically it could be argued that biodiversity has intrinsic aesthetic and spiritual value to mankind in and of itself. This idea can be used as a counterweight to the notion that tropical forests and other ecological realms are only worthy of conservation because of the services they provide.
UNIT-II
Keystone species
A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance. Such species are described as playing a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and helping to determine the types and numbers of various other species in the community.
The role that a keystone species plays in its ecosystem is analogous to the role of a keystone in an arch. While the keystone is under the least pressure of any of the stones in an arch, the arch still collapses without it. Similarly, an ecosystem may experience a dramatic shift if a keystone species is removed, even though that species was a small part of the ecosystem by measures of biomass or productivity. It became a popular concept in conservation biology. Although the concept is valued as a descriptor for particularly strong inter-species interactions, and it has allowed easier communication between ecologists and conservation policy-makers, it has been criticized for oversimplifying complex ecological systems.
History
The concept of the keystone species was introduced in 1969 by Robert T. Paine, a professor of zoology at the University of Washington. Paine developed the concept to explain his observations and experiments on the relationship between intertidal invertebrates. In his 1966 paper, Food Web Complexity and Species Diversity, Paine described such a system in Makah Bay in Washington. In his follow-up 1969 paper, Paine proposed the keystone species concept, using Pisaster ochraceus, a species of starfish, and Mytilus californianus, a
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species of mussel, as a primary example. The concept became popular in conservation, and was deployed in a range of contexts and mobilized to engender support for conservation.
Examples
Given that there are many historical definitions of the keystone species concept, and without a consensus on its exact definition, a list of examples best illustrates the concept of keystone species.
A classic keystone species is a small predator that prevents a particular herbivorous species from eliminating dominant plant species. Since the prey numbers are low, the keystone predator numbers can be even lower and still be effective. Yet without the predators, the herbivorous prey would explode in numbers, wipe out the dominant plants, and dramatically alter the character of the ecosystem. The exact scenario changes in each example, but the central idea remains that through a chain of interactions, a non-abundant species has an out-sized impact on ecosystem functions.
One example is the herbivourous weevil Euhrychiopsis lecontei and its suggested keystone effects on aquatic plant species diversity by foraging on nuisance Eurasian Watermilfoil.
Predators
As was described by Dr. Robert Paine in his classic 1966 paper, some sea stars (e.g., Pisaster ochraceus) may prey on sea urchins, mussels, and other shellfish that have no other natural predators. If the sea star is removed from the ecosystem, the mussel population explodes uncontrollably, driving out most other species, while the urchin population annihilates coral reefs.
Similarly, sea otters protect kelp forests from damage by sea urchins. Kelp "roots", called holdfasts, are merely anchors, and do not perform similar roles to the roots of terrestrial plants, which form large networks that acquire nutrients from the soil. In the absence of sea otters, sea urchins are released from predation pressure, increasing in abundance. Sea urchins rapidly consume near shore kelp, severing the structures at the base. Where sea otters are present, sea urchins tend to be small and limited to crevices. Large near shore kelp forests proliferate and serve as important habitat for a number of other species. Kelp also increases the productivity of the near shore ecosystem through the addition of large quantities of secondary production.
These creatures need not be apex predators. Sea stars are prey for sharks, rays, and sea anemones. Sea otters are prey for orca.
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The jaguar, whose numbers in Central and South America have been classified as Near Threatened, acts as a keystone predator by its widely varied diet, helping to balance the mammalian jungle ecosystem with its consumption of 87 different species of prey.
Mutualists
Keystone mutualists are organisms that participate in mutually beneficial interactions, the loss of which would have a profound impact upon the ecosystem as a whole. For example, in the Avon Wheat belt region of Western Australia, there is a period of each year when Banksia prionotes (Acorn Banksia) is the sole source of nectar for honeyeaters, which play an important role in pollination of numerous plant species. Therefore the loss of this one species of tree would probably cause the honeyeater population to collapse, with profound implications for the entire ecosystem. Another example is frugivores such as the cassowary, which spreads the seeds of many different trees, and some will not grow unless they have been through a cassowary.
Engineers
Although the terms 'keystone' and 'engineer' are used interchangeably, the latter is better understood as a subset of keystone species. In North America, the prairie dog is an ecosystem engineer. Prairie dog burrows provide the nesting areas for Mountain Plovers and Burrowing Owls. Prairie dog tunnel systems also help channel rainwater into the water table to prevent runoff and erosion, and can also serve to change the composition of the soil in a region by increasing aeration and reversing soil compaction that can be a result of cattle grazing. Prairie dogs also trim the vegetation around their colonies, perhaps to remove any cover for predators. Even grazing species such as Plains bison, pronghorn, and Mule deer have shown a proclivity for grazing on the same land used by prairie dogs. It is believed that they prefer the vegetative conditions after prairie dogs have foraged through the area.
Another well known ecosystem engineer, or keystone species, is the beaver, which transforms its territory from a stream to a pond or swamp. Beavers affect the environment first altering the edges of riparian areas by cutting down older trees to use for their dams. This allows younger trees to take their place. Beaver dams alter the riparian area they are established in. Depending on topography, soils, and many factors, these dams change the riparian edges of streams and rivers into wetlands, meadows, or riverine forests. These dams have shown to be beneficial to myriad species including amphibians, salmon, and song birds.
In the African savanna, the larger herbivores, especially the elephants, shape their environment. The elephants destroy trees, making room for the grass species. Without these animals, much of the savannah would turn into woodland.
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Umbrella Species
Umbrella species are species selected for making conservation related decisions, typically because protecting these species indirectly protects the many other species that make up the ecological community of its habitat. Species conservation can be subjective because it is hard to determine the status of many species. With millions of species of concern, the identification of selected keystone species, flagship species or umbrella species makes conservation decisions easier. Umbrella species can be used to help select the locations of potential reserves, find the minimum size of these conservation areas or reserves, and to determine the composition, structure and processes of ecosystems.
Definition
Two commonly used definitions:
• A: "A wide-ranging species whose requirements include those of many other species"
• B: A species with large area requirements for which protection of the species offers protection to other species that share the same habitat.
Other descriptions include:
• A: "The protection of umbrella species automatically extends protection to other species. i.e. spotted owl and old growth trees"
• B: "Traditional umbrella species, relatively large-bodied and wide-ranging species of higher vertebrates
Use in Land use Management
The use of umbrella species as a conservation tool is highly debated. The term was first used by Wilcox (1984) who defined an umbrella species as one whose minimum area requirements are at least as comprehensive of the rest of the community for which protection is sought though the establishment and management of a protected area.
Some scientists have found that the umbrella effect provides a simpler way to manage ecological communities. Others feel that a combination of other tools establish better land management reserves to help protect more species than just using umbrella species alone. Individual invertebrate species can be good umbrella species because they can protect older, unique ecosystems. There have been cases where umbrella species have protected a large amount of area which has been beneficial to surrounding species such as the northern spotted owl.
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Currently research is being done on land management decisions based on using umbrella species to protect habitat of specific species as well as other organisms in the area. Dunk, Zielinski and Welsh (2006) reported that the reserves in Northern California (Klamath-Siskiyou forests), set aside for the northern spotted owl, also protect mollusks and salamanders within that habitat. According to their conclusions, the reserves set aside for the northern spotted owl “serve as a reasonable coarse-filter umbrella species for the taxa [they] evaluated,” which were the mollusks and salamanders.
Examples of Umbrella Species
1. Northern spotted owls and old growth forest: ex. Molluscs and salamanders are within the protective boundaries of the northern spotted owl.
2. Bay checker spot butterfly and grasslands
3. Tigers in India and elsewhere. Project Tiger was launched to save the tiger and thereby its habitat and other species within it.
Flagship Species
The concept of flagship species is a concept with its genesis in the field of conservation biology. The flagship species concept holds that by raising the profile of a particular species, it can successfully leverage more support for biodiversity conservation at large in a particular context.
Definitions
Several definitions have been advanced for the flagship species concept although the concept has for some time been immersed in confusion even in the academic literature. Most of the latest definitions do however focus on the strategic and socio-economical character of the concept, with a recent publication establishing a clear link with the marketing field.
• “a species used as the focus of a broader conservation marketing campaign based on its possession of one or more traits that appeal to the target audience.”
• species that have the ability to capture the imagination of the public and induce people to support conservation action and/or to donate funds
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• popular, charismatic species that serve as symbols and rallying points to stimulate conservation awareness and action
The term flagship is linked to the metaphor of representation. In its popular usage, flagships are viewed as ambassadors or icons for a conservation project or movement.
However, more recently, work in the field of microbiology has started to use the concept of flagship species is a distinct way. This work relates to the biogeography of micro-organisms and uses particular species as indicators of endemism since "eyecatching “flagships” with conspicuous size and/or morphology are the best distribution indicators"
Examples
Examples of flagship species include the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris), the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), the Golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia), the African elephant (Loxodonta sp.) and Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).
Flagship species can represent an environmental feature (e.g. a species or ecosystem), cause (e.g. climate change or ocean acidification), organization (e.g. NGO or government department) or geographic region (e.g. state or protected area)
History
The flagship species concept appears to have become popular around the mid 1980s within the debate on how to prioritise species for conservation. The first widely available references to use the flagship concept applied it to both neotropical primates and African elephants and rhinos, in the typical mammal centric approach that still dominates how the concept is used today
The use of the concept has been largely dominated by large bodied species, especially mammals, although species from other taxonomic groups have occasionally been used
Flagship and Conflict
A major challenge for the deployment of several flagship species in non-Western contexts is that they may come into conflict with local communities, thereby jeopardizing well-intended conservation actions. This has been termed 'flagship mutiny' and is exemplified by the Asian elephant in countries where there is human-elephant conflict.
Other Types of Conservation Flagship
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Conservation flagships can also appear at broader levels, for example as ecosystems (such as coral reefs or rainforests or protected areas (Serengeti or Yellowstone). A number of recent initiatives has developed new conservation flagships based on conservation values of particular areas or species. Examples of these are the EDGE project run by the Zoological Society of London and the Hotspots run by Conservation International.
Biodiversity loss and Humans
Current extinction rates are up to 100 times greater than natural, background extinction rates, because of the effect of humans on other organisms and ecosystems. We impact the world around us in many ways, some of which are more destructive than others. Here are some of the ways in which humans are causing other life forms to go extinct: Overfishing
Overhunting Habitat Destruction & Conversion
Habitat destruction occurs whenever humans change a landscape and alter the ecosystem that resides there. This occurs whenever a forest is cut down for pasture or a wetland is filled in to build a parking lot. Tropical rainforests are at high risk for this, as they are frequently cut down to create cropland and pasture for cattle.
Invasive Species Introductions
Introduction of invasive species can do irreparable damage to an ecosystem that is not prepared to cope with the intruders. A foreign plant might be able to out-compete all others in a given environment, driving out the other species and replacing them with a monoculture. Humans introduce microbes and soil particles relatively easily and unknowingly when they travel, and we have also introduced foreign species as pest controls at times.
Climate Change
Biodiversity is threatened by climate change largely because of loss of habitat. As sea levels and temperatures rise, plants and animals, just like humans, will be forced to relocate, to leave the places where they live and move into new areas. This graphic illustrates the effects of climate change on one type of habitat, mountains, as temperature and precipitation increase:
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See UNEP/GRID Arendal Maps and Graphics Library, Climate Change Impact on Mountain Vegetation Zones
As the climate warms, the various habitat zones move up the mountain, and along the way species and ecosystems are invariably lost. The most vulnerable species are those that can only survive in a narrow zone of climate, such as within a certain temperature or precipitation range. If individuals cannot move quickly enough to stay within their required climate zone, they will perish.
This graphic shows the numbers of threatened and endangered animal species in Africa. The group of
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bars on the far left shows totals for all of Africa’s different categories of animals (mammals, birds, reptiles, etc.), and the other four sets of bars are broken down by region within Africa. This shows the current status of threatened and endangered animals in Africa; climate change will only make this worse.Closer to home, a March 19, 2007 article in the Washington Post described one likely effect of climate change on a familiar bird: the Baltimore Oriole. The state bird of Maryland will likely be driven out of that state within a century, as climate change shifts its range north and towards Philadelphia.
Ecological Extinction
Ecological extinction is defined as “the reduction of a species to such low abundance that, although it is still present in the community, it no longer interacts significantly with other species.”
Ecological extinction stands out because it is the interaction ecology of a species that is important for conservation work. They state that “unless the species interacts significantly with other species in the community (e.g. it is an important predator, competitor, symbiont, mutualist, or prey) its loss may result in little to no adjustment to the abundance and population structure of other species.”
This view stems from the neutral model of communities that assumes there is little to no interaction within species unless otherwise proven.
Estes, Duggins, and Rathburn (1989) recognize two other distinct types of extinction.
Global extinction is defined as “the ubiquitous disappearance of a species."
Local extinction is characterized by “the disappearance of a species from part of its natural range.”
Keystone Species
Robert Paine (1969) first came up with the concept of a keystone species while studying the effects of the predatory sea star Pisaster ochraceus, on the abundance of the herbivorous gastropod, Tegula funebralis. This study took place in the rocky intertidal habitat off the coast of Washington; Paine removed all Pisaster in 8m x 10m plots weekly while noting the response of Tegula for two years. He found that removing the top predator, in this case being Pisaster, reduced species number in the treatment plots. Paine defined the concept of a keystone species as a species that has a disproportionate effect on the community structure of an environment in relation to its total biomass. This keystone species effect forms the basis for the concept of ecological extinction.
Examples
Estes et al. (1978) evaluated the potential role of the sea otter as the keystone predator in near-shore kelp forests. They compared the Rat and Near islands in the Aleutian islands to
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test if “sea otter predation controls epibenthic invertebrate populations (specifically sea urchins), and in turn releases the vegetation association from intense grazing”. Estes and his colleagues found that different size structures and densities of sea urchins were correlated with the presence of sea otter populations, and because they are the principal prey of this keystone predator, the sea otters were most likely the main determinants of the differences in sea urchin populations. With high sea otter densities the herbivory of sea urchins in these kelp forests was severely limited, and this made competition between algal species the main determinant in survival. However, when sea otters were absent, herbivory of the sea urchins was greatly intensified to the point of decimation of the kelp forest community. This loss of heterogeneity serves as a loss of habitat for both fish and eagle populations that depend on the richly productive kelp forest environment. Historical over harvesting of sea otter furs has severely restricted their once wide-ranging habitat, and only today are scientists starting to see the implications of these local extinctions. Conservation work needs to focus on finding the density threshold that render the sea otters an effective population. It must then continue and artificially repopulate the historical range of the sea otter in order to allow kelp forest communities to re-establish.
The California spiny lobster, or Panulirus interruptus, is another example of a keystone predator that has a distinct role in maintaining species diversity in its habitat. Robles (1987) demonstrated experimentally that the exclusion of spiny lobsters from the intertidal zone habitats led to the competitive dominance of mussels (Mytilus edulis and M. californianus). This results shows another example of how the ecological extinction of a keystone predator can reduce species diversity in an ecosystem. Unfortunately, the threshold of ecological extinction has long passed due to over fishing now that many local extinctions of the California spiny lobster are common.
Jackson et al. (2001) took a much needed historical perspective on the role of ecological extinction caused by overfishing of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. Commercial oyster fishing had not affected the bay ecosystem until mechanical dredges for harvesting were utilized in the 1870s. The bay today is plagued by eutrophication due to algal blooms, and the resulting water is highly hypoxic. These algal blooms have competitively excluded any other species from surviving, including the rich diversity in faunal life that once flourished such as dolphins, manatees, river otters, sea turtles, alligators, sharks, and rays. This example highlights the top-down loss of diversity commercial fishing has on marine ecosystems by removing the keystone species of the environment
Invasive Species
Novaro et al. (2000) assessed the potential ecological extinction of guanacos (Lama guanocoe) and lesser rheas (Pterocnemia pennata) as a prey source for native omnivores
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and predators in the Argentine Patagonia. These native species are being replaced by introduced species such as the European rabbit, red deer, and domestic cattle; the cumulative damage from the increased herbivory by introduced species has also served to accelerate destruction of the already dwindling Argentine pampas and steppe habitats. This was the first study to take into account a large number of diverse predators, ranging from skunks to pumas, as well as conduct their survey in non-protected areas that represent the majority of southern South America. Novaro and his colleagues found that the entire assemblage of native carnivores relied primarily on introduced species as a prey base. They also suggested that the lesser rhea and guanaco had already passed their ecological effective density as a prey species, and thus were ecological extinct. It is possible that the niches of introduced species as herbivores too closely mirrored those of the natives, and thus competition was the primary cause of ecological extinction. The effect of introduction of new competitors, such as the red deer and rabbit, also served to alter the vegetation in the habitat, which could have further pronounced the intensity of competition. Guanacos and rheas have been classified as a low risk for global extinction, but this simplistic view of their demography doesn’t take into account that they have already become functionally extinct in the Argentine Patagonia. Novaro and his colleagues suggest "this loss could have strong effects on plant-animal interactions, nutrient dynamics, and disturbance regimes ..." this is a prime example of how current conservation policy has already failed to protect the intended species because of its lack of a functionally sound definition for extinction.
Seed dispersal mechanisms play a fundamental role in the regeneration and continuation of community structure, and a recent study by Christian (2001) demonstrated a shift in the composition of the plant community in the South African shrublands following an invasion by the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). Ants disperse up to 30% of the flora in the shrublands and are vital to the survival of fynbos plants because they bury the large seeds away from the dangers of predation and fire damage. It is also crucial for seeds to be buried, because nearly all seed germination takes place in the first season after a fire. Argentine ants, a recent invader, do not disperse even small seeds. Christian tested whether the invasion of the Argentine ant differentially effected small and large-seeded fauna. He found that post-fire recruitment of large-seeded flora was reduced disproportionately for large seeds in sites already invaded by Argentine ants. These initial low large-seed density recruitments will eventually lead the domination of small-seeded fauna in invaded habitats. The consequences of this change in community structure highlight the struggle for dispersal of large-seeded flora that have potential reverberations around the world because ants are major ecological seed dispersers throughout the globe.
Climate Change40
Climate change has produced numerous shifts in the distributions and abundances of species. Thomas et al. (2004) went on to assess the extinction risk due to these shifts over a broad range of global habitats. Their predictive model using midline estimates for climate warming over the next 50 years suggests that 15-37% of species will be “committed to extinction” be 2050. Although the average global temperature has risen .6°C, individual populations and habitats will only respond to their local changes in climate. Root et al. (2002) suggests that local changes in climate may account for density changes in regions, shifts in phenology (timing) of events, changes in morphology (biology) (such as body size), and shifts in genetic frequencies. They found that there have been an average phenological shift of 5.1 days earlier in the spring for a broad range of over a thousand compiled studies. This shift was also, as predicted, more pronounced in the upper latitudes that have concurrently had the largest shift in local average temperatures.
While the loss of habitat, loss of pollinator mutualisms, and the effect of introduced species all have distinct pressures on native populations, these effects must be looked underneath a synergistic and not an independent framework. Climate change has the potential to exacerbate all of these processes. Nehring (1999) found a total of 16 non-indigenous thermophilic phytoplankton established in habitats northwards of their normal range in the North Sea. He likened these changes in range of more southerly phytoplankton to climatic shifts in ocean temperature. All of these effects have additive effects to the stress on populations within an environment, and with the additionally fragile and more complete definition of ecological extinction must be taken into account into preventative conservation measures
Impacts of Conservation Policy
Conservation policy has historically lagged behind current science all over the world, but at this critical juncture politicians must make the effort to catch up before massive extinctions occur on our planet. For example, the pinnacle of American conservation policy, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, fails to acknowledge any benefit for protecting highly interactive species that may help maintain overall species diversity. Policy must first assess whether the species in question is considered highly interactive by asking the questions “does the absence or loss of this species, either directly or indirectly, incur a loss of overall diversity, effect the reproduction or recruitment of other species, lead to a change in habitat structure, lead to a change in productivity or nutrient dynamics between ecosystems, change important ecological processes, or reduce the resilience of the ecosystem to disturbances?”. After these multitudes of questions are addressed to define an interactive species, an ecologically effective density threshold must be estimated in order to maintain this interaction ecology. This process holds many of the same variables
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contained within viable population estimates, and thus should not be difficult to incorporate into policy. To avoid mass extinction on a global scale unlike anyone has seen before, scientists must understand all of the mechanisms driving the process. It is now that the governments of the world must act in order to prevent this catastrophe of the loss of biodiversity from progressing further and wasting all of the time and money spent on previous conservation efforts.
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List), founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit.
The IUCN Red List is set upon precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. The aim is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to try to reduce species extinction. According to IUCN (1996), the formally stated goals of the Red List are (1) to provide scientifically based information on the status of species and subspecies at a global level, (2) to draw attention to the magnitude and importance of threatened biodiversity, (3) to influence national and international policy and decision-making, and (4) to provide information to guide actions to conserve biological diversity.
Major species assessors include BirdLife International, the Institute of Zoology (the research division of the Zoological Society of London), the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, and many Specialist Groups within the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC). Collectively, assessments by these organizations and groups account for nearly half the species on the Red List.
The IUCN aims to have the category of every species re-evaluated every five years if possible, or at least every ten years. This is done in a peer reviewed manner through IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Specialist Groups, which are Red List Authorities responsible for a species, group of species or specific geographic area, or in the case of BirdLife International, an entire class (Aves).
History
1964 Red List of Threatened Plants
The 1964 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants used the older pre-criteria Red List assessment system. Plants listed may not, therefore, appear in the current Red List. IUCN advise that is best to check both the online Red List and the 1997 plants Red List publication.
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2006 release
The 2006 Red List, released on 4 May 2006 evaluated 40,168 species as a whole, plus an additional 2,160 subspecies, varieties, aquatic stocks, and subpopulations.
2007 release
On 12 September 2007, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) released the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In this release, they have raised their classification of both the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) from Endangered to Critically Endangered, which is the last category before Extinct in the Wild, due to Ebola virus and poaching, along with other factors. Russ Mittermeier, chief of Swiss-based IUCN's Primate Specialist Group, stated that 16,306 species are endangered with extinction, 188 more than in 2006 (total of 41,415 species on the Red List). The Red List includes the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) in the Critically Endangered category and the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) in the endangered category.
2008 release
The 2008 Red List was released on 6 October 2008, at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, and "has confirmed an extinction crisis, with almost one in four [mammals] at risk of disappearing forever". The study shows at least 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth are known to be threatened with extinction, and 836 are listed as Data Deficient.
2012 release
The Red List of 2012 was released 19 July 2012 at Rio+20 Earth Summit; nearly 2,000 species were added, with 4 species to the extinct list, 2 to the rediscovered list. The IUCN assessed a total of 63,837 species which revealed 19,817 are threatened with extinction. With 3,947 described as "critically endangered" and 5,766 as "endangered", while more than 10,000 species are listed as "vulnerable". At threat are 41% of amphibian species, 33% of reef-building corals, 30% of conifers, 25% of mammals, and 13% of birds. The IUCN Red List has listed 132 species of plants and animals from India as "Critically Endangered"
Categories
Species are classified by the IUCN Red List into nine groups, set through criteria such as rate of decline, population size, area of geographic distribution, and degree of population and distribution fragmentation.
• Extinct (EX) – No known individuals remaining.
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• Extinct in the wild (EW) – Known only to survive in captivity, or as a naturalized population outside its historic range.
• Critically endangered (CR) – Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
• Endangered (EN) – High risk of extinction in the wild.
• Vulnerable (VU) – High risk of endangerment in the wild.
• Near threatened (NT) – Likely to become endangered in the near future.
• Least concern (LC) – Lowest risk. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.
• Data deficient (DD) – Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of extinction.
• Not evaluated (NE) – Has not yet been evaluated against the criteria.
When discussing the IUCN Red List, the official term "threatened" is a grouping of three categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable.
1994 categories and criteria
The older 1994 has only a single "Lower Risk" category which contained three subcategories:
• Conservation Dependent (LR/cd)
• Near Threatened (LR/nt)
• Least Concern (LR/lc)
In the 2001 system Near Threatened and Least Concern have now become their own categories, while Conservation Dependent is no longer used and has been merged into Near Threatened.
Possibly extinct
The tag of "possibly extinct" (PE) is used by Birdlife International, the Red List Authority for birds for the IUCN Red List. BirdLife International has recommended PE become an official tag for Critically Endangered species, and this has now been adopted, along with a "Possibly Extinct in the Wild" tag for species with populations surviving in captivity but likely to be extinct in the wild (e.g. Spix's Macaw).
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Criticism
In 1997, the IUCN Red List came under criticism on the grounds of secrecy (or at least poor documentation) surrounding the sources of data.
These allegations have led to efforts by the IUCN to improve its documentation and data quality, and to include peer reviews of taxa on the Red List. The list is also open to petitions against its classifications, on the basis of documentation or criteria. A Nature editorial defended the Red List's relevance in October 2008.
It has been suggested that the IUCN Red List and similar works are prone to misuse by governments and other groups that draw possibly inappropriate conclusions on the state of the environment or to effect exploitation of natural resources.
UNIT-IV
Conservation
Conservation is the protection, preservation, management, or restoration of wildlife and natural resources such as forests and water. Through the conservation of biodiversity the survival of many species and habitats which are threatened due to human activities can be ensured. Other reasons for conserving biodiversity include securing valuable Natural Resources for future generations and protecting the well being of eco-system functions
Services Provided by Biodiversity
Services provided by biodiversity can be broadly categorised into three areas:• Nutrient cycling: The movement of elements such as nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorous between different forms as they pass through the food chain. The elements cycle between gas forms and compounds which are found in the soil and living organisms. For example the nitrogen cycle; this is heavily reliant on bacteria and involves the formation of nitrates (needed for making proteins which are the functional molecules in all organisms) from atmospheric nitrogen and then the breakdown of nitrogen compounds to nitrogen gas. The nitrogen cycle is an important part of soil formation and soil fertility.• Primary production: The capturing of energy from the sun by plants and using this to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds. This provides food for all other species on the planet. This is part of the carbon cycle which is being unbalanced by the release of carbon dioxide by the burning of fossil fuels.
• Maintaining the dynamic balance of nature’s complex systems: Habitats and all their constituent parts play an important role in regulating local and global climate patterns, soil formation, water purification and nutrient cycling and many other regulatory functions which help maintain the planet in a state which is self sustaining. Removing forests can
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have a dramatic effect on rain fall patterns and temperatures over large areas. Plants also play a key role in the water cycle which helps filter water and remove impurities.
These overarching services provide us with a wide range of Products including:• Provision of all food• Pharmaceutical goods• Building materials• Fuel: wood, fuel crops, fossil fuels (created from breakdown biologically diverse matter over millions of years)• Genetic resources for medicines, foods and other products
Some more specific services which we all rely on include:• Purification of air and water• Detoxification and decomposition of wastes• Stabilisation and moderation of the Earth’s climate• Moderation of floods, droughts and temperature extremes and creation of drainage systems• Generation and renewal of soil fertility, prevention of soil erosion, nutrient cycling• Pollination of plants that provide products and services• Control of pests and diseases• Capacity to regenerate and recover after damage (both from human and natural causes)
Cultural and Social Services provided by biodiversity include:• A healthy living environment• Resources for recreation• Educational resources• Aesthetical value• Spiritual meaning• Artistic inspiration
Much of the usage of the term ‘biodiversity’ is value laden. Consequently, it is important to recognise that there is rather more to the term than a formal definition in the Convention of Biological Diversity. This should always be borne in mind when interpreting what is being said about biodiversity, particularly now that the term has become a familiar feature of news programmes and papers, and importance is attached to it by environmental groups, political decision-makers, economists and ordinary citizens alike. Many users assume everyone shares the same intuitive definition, but this is not necessarily the case.
Which areas to conserve?
Hotspots of biodiversity
A popular approach for selecting priority areas has been to select hotspots of diversity. Since it is not possible to conserve all biodiversity due to lack of resources and the need to use land for human activities, areas are prioritised to those which are most in need of
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conservation. ‘Hotspot’ a term used to define regions of high conservation priority combining high richness, high endemism and high threat.
Threatened Species
Over the last 200 years many species have become extinct and the extinction rate is on the increase due to the influence of human activity. The status of species has been assessed on a global scale by the World Conservation Union. Taxa that are facing a high risk of global extinction are catalogued and highlighted in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Threatened Habitats
Habitat destruction comes in many forms from clear felling of forests to simple changes in farming practices that change the overall surrounding habitat. If a habitat is degraded or disappears a species may also become threatened. The UK is in danger of losing diverse habitats ranging from lowland calcareous grassland to mudflats and wet woodland. The UK BAPhas specific Habitat Action Plans in place in order to try and mange and conserve these precious places. Many of these areas lie within SSSIs which are designated prioritised areas of conservation.
Flagship and keystone species
Conservation efforts are often focused on a single species. This is usually for two reasons.1) Some species are key to the functioning of a habitat and their loss would lead to greater than average change in other species populations or ecosystem processes. These are known as keystone species.2) Humans will find the idea of conserving one species more appealing than conserving others. For example it would be easier to persuade people that it is necessary to conserve tigers that it is to persuade people to conserve the Zayante band-winged grasshopper. Using a flagship species such as a tiger will attract more resources for conservation which can be used to conserve areas of habitat.
Complementarity
Complementarity is a method used to select areas for conservation. These methods are used to find areas that in sum total have the highest representation of diversity. For example using complementarity methods, areas could be selected that would contain the most species between them but not necessarily be the most species rich areas individually and take into account pressures of development.
Distinguishing higher from lower priority areas for urgent conservation is the purpose of such area-selection methods. However, an acceptance of priorities must recognise that this idea also implies that some areas will be given lower priority. This is not to say that they have no conservation values rather that in relation to agreed goals the actions are not as urgent.
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Integrating conservation and development
Conservation cannot be conducted in isolation from humans and for conservation to be successful and sustainable there needs to be local community involvement. In the UK most biodiversity is found in countryside which is farmed. It is therefore necessary to integrate conservation into farming practices. In other areas of the world livelihood and development priorities of local communities must be taken into account if the conservation measures are to be sustainable.
Community-Based Natural Resource Management is a process through which grass roots institutions are involved in the decision making and have rights to manage and control their environment. CBNRM Net (Community-Based Natural Resource Management Network) is a website that provides useful networking tools so that people can exchange experiences, manage relevant knowledge, and support learning across countries and cultures and in this way achieve better results. IIED have set up a Biodiversity and Livelihoods Group which aims through sustainable management of biodiversity to improve the livelihoods of the poor. BLG researches, analyses and implements new projects and strategies around the world.A good example this type of integration is being shown by an Earthwatch project in Africa. The project helped create a wildlife reserve that was initiated by the Wechiau and Tokali local communities. The Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary now generates income for the local communities via eco-tourism which helps conserve and protect hippos and other sanctuary wildlife at the same time
The Main International and UK Designations for Conservation
In order to protect different areas across the world sites are designated for conservation. Different designations of protection are given to sites depending on what the site contains and it’s priorities for conservation and management. The IUCN definition of a protected area is as follows:
An area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means
IUCN Protected Area Management Categories
Category Management Area Mainly managed for:
1a1b
Strict Nature ReserveWilderness Area ScienceWilderness protection
2 National Park Ecosystem protection and
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recreation
3 Natural MonumentConservation of specific natural features
4 Habitat/speciesConservation through management intervention
5Protected Landscape/Seascape
Landscape/seascape conservation and recreation
6Managed Resource Protected Area
Sustainable use of natural ecosystems
UK designation
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s) – designated under National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (NP&AC), Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) and CRoW Act.
Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI’s) (Northern Ireland) – Environment (NI) Order
Nature Conservation Order – WCA
Special Nature Conservation Order – habitats regulations
Marine nature reserves – WCA
Areas of Special Protection for Birds – WCA
Bird Sanctuaries – Protection of Birds Act
National Parks – NP&AC
Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) – NP&AC
National Scenic Areas (Scotland) – NP&AC
Environmentally sensitive Areas - Agriculture Act
Natural Heritage Areas – Natural heritage (Scotland) Act
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Limestone Pavement Orders – WCA
Nature Conservation review sites – Listed in the Nature Conservation review
Geological conservation review (GCR) sites
Local Nature reserves – NP&AC
International
Ramsar sites – designated under the Convention on Wetlands of international Importance.
Biosphere reserves – designated under the UNESCO Man and The biosphere Programme
Biogenetic reserves – designated under the Berne Convention
World Heritage sites – designated under the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
European sites and candidate European sites – Includes Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s) - designated under the Habitats Directive. Special Protected Areas (SPA’s) designated under the Wild Birds Directive.
European Diploma sites – designated by Council of Europe
Protected Areas
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organisations involved. The term "protected area" also includes Marine Protected Areas, the boundaries of which will include some area of ocean, and Transboundary Protected Areas that overlap multiple countries which remove the borders inside the area for conservation and economic purposes. There are over 161,000 protected areas in the world (as of October 2010) with more added daily, representing
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between 10 and 15 percent of the world's land surface area. By contrast, only 1.17% of the world's oceans is included in the world's ~6,800 Marine Protected Areas.
Protected areas are essential for biodiversity conservation. They are the cornerstones of virtually all national and international conservation strategies. They are areas set aside to maintain functioning natural ecosystems, to act as refuges for species and to maintain ecological processes that cannot survive in most intensely managed landscapes and seascapes. Protected areas act as benchmarks against which we understand human interactions with the natural world. Today they are often the only hope we have of stopping many threatened or endangered species from becoming extinct.
Generally, protected areas are understood to be those in which human occupation or at least the exploitation of resources is limited. The definition that has been widely accepted across regional and global frameworks has been provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its categorisation guidelines for protected areas. The definition is as follows:
"A clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values."
Protection of Natural Resources
Protected areas are designated with the objective of conserving biodiversity and providing an indicator for that conservation's progress, but the extent to which they defend resources and ecosystem dynamics from degradation are slightly more complex. Protected areas will usually encompass several other zones that have been deemed important for particular conservation uses, such as Important Bird Areas (IBA) and Endemic Bird Areas (EBA), Centres of Plant Diversity (CBD), Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCA), Alliance for Zero Extinction Sites (AZE) and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) among others. Likewise, a protected area or an entire network of protected areas may lie within a larger geographic zone that is recognised as a terrestrial or marine ecoregions (see, Global 200), or a crisis ecoregions for example.
Subsequently, the range of natural resources that any one protected area may guard is vast. Many will be allocated primarily for species conservation whether it be flora or fauna or the relationship between them, but protected areas are similarly important for conserving sites of (indigenous) cultural importance and considerable reserves of natural resources such as;
• Carbon Stocks: Carbon emissions from deforestation account for an estimated 20% of global carbon emissions, so in protecting the worlds carbon stocks greenhouse gas emissions are reduced and longterm land cover change is prevented, which is an effective strategy in the struggle against global warming. Of all global terrestrial carbon stock, 15.2% is contained within protected areas. Protected areas in South America hold 27% of the world's carbon stock, which is the highest percentage of any country in both absolute terms and as a proportion of the total stock.
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• Rainforests: 18.8% of the world's forest is covered by protected areas and sixteen of the twenty forest types have 10% or more protected area coverage. Of the 670 ecoregions with forest cover, 54% have 10% or more of their forest cover protected under IUCN Categories I – VI.
• Mountains: Nationally designated protected areas cover 14.3% of the world’s mountain areas, and these mountainous protected areas made up 32.5% of the world’s total terrestrial protected area coverage in 2009. Mountain protected area coverage has increased globally by 21% since 1990 and out of the 198 countries with mountain areas, 43.9% still have less than 10% of their mountain areas protected.
Annual updates on each of these analyses are made in order to make comparisons to the Millennium Development Goals and several other fields of analysis are expected to be introduced in the monitoring of protected areas management effectiveness, such as freshwater and marine or coastal studies which are currently underway, and islands and drylands which are currently in planning.
IUCN Protected Area Management Categories
Through its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the IUCN has developed six Protected Area Management Categories that define protected areas according to their management objectives, which are internationally recognised by various national governments and the United Nations.[13] The categories provide international standards for defining protected areas and encourage conservation planning according to their management aims.[14]
IUCN Protected Area Management Categories:
• Category Ia — Strict Nature Reserve• Category Ib — Wilderness Area
• Category II — National Park
• Category III — Natural Monument or Feature
• Category IV — Habitat/Species Management Area
• Category V — Protected Landscape/Seascape
• Category VI – Protected Area with sustainable use of natural resources
Challenges
How to manage areas protected for conservation brings up a range of challenges[4] - whether it be regarding the local population, specific ecosystems or the design of the reserve itself - and because of the many unpredicatable elements in ecology issues, each protected area requires a case-specific set of guidelines.
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Enforcing protected area boundaries is a costly and labour-heavy endeavour, particularly if the allocation of a new protected region places new restrictions on the use of resources by the native people which may lead to their subsequent displacement.[22] This has troubled relationships between conservationists and rural communities in many protected regions and is often why many Wildlife Reserves and National Parks face the human threat of poaching for the illegal bushmeat or trophy trades, which are resorted to as an alternative form of substinence.
There is increasing and justifiable pressure to take proper account of human needs when setting up protected areas and these sometimes have to be “traded off” against conservation needs. Whereas in the past governments often made decisions about protected areas and informed local people afterwards, today the emphasis is shifting towards greater discussions with stakeholders and joint decisions about how such lands should be set aside and managed. Such negotiations are never easy but usually produce stronger and longer-lasting results for both conservation and people.
In some countries, protected areas can be assigned without the infrastructure and networking needed to substitute consumable resources and subtantiatively protect the area from development or misuse. The soliciting of protected areas may require regulation to the level of meeting demands for food, feed, livestock and fuel, and the legal enforcement of not only the protected area itself but also 'buffer zones' surrounding it, which may help to resist destabilisation.
Effectiveness
One of the main concerns regarding protected areas on land and sea is their effectiveness at preventing the ongoing loss of biodiversity. There are multiple case studies indicating the positive effects of protected areas on terrestrial and marine species. However, those cases do not represent the majority of protected areas. Several limitations that may preclude their success include: their small size and large isolation to each other (both of these factors influence the maintenance of species), their limited role at preventing the large plethora of factors affecting biodiversity (e.g. climate change, invasive species, pollution), their large cost and their increasing conflict with human demands for nature's goods and services.
National Park
A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea: the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride.[1] Furthermore, an international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and its World Commission on Protected Areas, has defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas. While ideas for this type of national park had been suggested previously, the United States established the first such one, Yellowstone National Park, in 1872. The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park, which was established in 1974. According to the IUCN, there were 6,555 national parks worldwide in 2006 that meet its criteria. IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park.
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National parks are almost always open to visitors. Most national parks provide outdoor recreation and camping opportunities as well as classes designed to educate the public on the importance of conservation and the natural wonders of the land in which the national park is located.
In 1969 the IUCN declared a national park to be a relatively large area with the following defining characteristics:
• One or several ecosystems not materially altered by human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geomorphological sites and habitats are of special scientific, educational, and recreational interest or which contain a natural landscape of great beauty;
• Highest competent authority of the country has taken steps to prevent or eliminate exploitation or occupation as soon as possible in the whole area and to effectively enforce the respect of ecological, geomorphological, or aesthetic features which have led to its establishment; and
• Visitors are allowed to enter, under special conditions, for inspirational, educative, cultural, and recreative purposes.
In 1971 these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. These include:
• Minimum size of 1,000 hectares within zones in which protection of nature takes precedence
• Statutory legal protection
• Budget and staff sufficient to provide sufficient effective protection
• Prohibition of exploitation of natural resources (including the development of dams) qualified by such activities as sport, fishing, the need for management, facilities, etc.
While national parks are generally understood to be administered by national governments (hence the name), in Australia national parks are run by state governments and predate the Federation of Australia; similarly, national parks in the Netherlands are administered by the provinces.[5] In many countries, including Indonesia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, national parks do not adhere to the IUCN definition, while some areas which adhere to the IUCN definition are not designated as national parks.
World Network of Biosphere Reserves
The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves covers internationally designated protected areas, each known as biosphere reserves, that are meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature (e.g. encourage sustainable development)
Mission
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To ensure environmental, economic and social (including cultural and spiritual) sustainability through:
• the development and coordination of a worldwide network of places acting as demonstration areas and learning sites with the aim of maintaining and developing ecological and cultural diversity, and securing ecosystem services for human well-being;
• the development and integration of knowledge, including science, to advance our understanding of interactions between people and the rest of nature;
• building global capacity for the management of complex socio-ecological systems, particularly through encouraging greater dialogue at the science-policy interface; environmental education; and multi-media outreach to the wider community.
The Network
As of 2013 total membership has reached 621 biosphere reserves, including 12 trans boundary sites, in 117 countries occurring in all regions of the world. This already takes into account some biosphere reserves that have been withdrawn or revised through the years, as the program’s focus has shifted from simple protection of nature to areas displaying close interaction between man and environment.
UNESCO Region Number ofBiosphere Reserves
Number ofCountries
Africa 64 28
Arab States 271 11
Asia and the Pacific 124 23
Europe and North America 289 34
Latin America and the Caribbean 117 21
Biosphere Reserves of India
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The Indian government has established 18 Biosphere Reserves in India, (categories roughly corresponding to IUCN Category V Protected areas), which protect larger areas of natural habitat (than a National Park or Animal Sanctuary), and often include one or more National Parks and/or preserves, along buffer zones that are open to some economic uses. Protection is granted not only to the flora and fauna of the protected region, but also to the human communities who inhabit these regions, and their ways of life. Animals are protected and saved here.
Objective
The objective of Biosphere Reserve are conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem and association of environment with development.
Sacred grove
A sacred grove or sacred woods are any grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves were most prominent in the Ancient Near Eastand prehistoric Europe, but feature in various cultures throughout the world.
They were important features of the mythological landscape and cult practice of Celtic, Baltic, Germanic, ancient Greek, Near Eastern, Roman, and Slavic polytheism, and were also used in India, Japan, and West Africa. Examples of sacred groves include the Greco-Roman temenos, the Norse hörgr, and the Celtic nemeton, which was largely but not exclusively associated with Druidic practice. During the Northern Crusades, there was a common practice of building churches on the sites of sacred groves.
Ancient holy trees still exist in the English countryside and are mentioned often in folklore and fairytales.
Ghana
Sacred groves are also present in Ghana. One of Ghana's most famous sacred groves - the Buoyem Sacred Grove - and numerous other sacred groves are present in the Techiman Municipal District and nearby districts of the Brong Ahafo Region. They provide a refuge for wildlife which has been exterminated in nearby areas, and one grove most notably houses 20,000 fruit bats in underground caves.[10] The capital of the historical Ghana Empire, contained a sacred grove called al-gâba (Ar. "the forest") for performing religious rites of the Soninke people. Other sacred groves in Ghana include sacred groves along the coastalsavannahs of Ghana.[11] Many sacred groves in Ghana are now under federal protection - like the Anweam Sacred Grove in the Esukawkaw Forest Reserve [12] Other well-known sacred groves in Ghana include theMalshegu Sacred Grove in Northern Ghana - one of the last remaining closed canopy forests in the savannah regions,[13] and the Jachie sacred grove.
India
In India, sacred groves are scattered all over the country, and do not enjoy protection via federal legislation. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves. Each grove is associated with a presiding deity, and the grove are referred to by different names in different parts of India. They were maintained by local communities with hunting and logging strictly prohibited within these patches. While most of these sacred deities are
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associated with local Hindu gods, sacred groves of Islamic and Buddhist origins are also known. Sacred groves occur in a variety of places - from scrub forests in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan maintained by the Bishnois, to rain forests in the Kerala Western Ghats. Himachal Pradesh in the North and Kerala in the South are specifically known for their large numbers of sacred groves. The Kodavas of Karnataka maintained over 1000 sacred groves in Kodagu alone.
Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. Experts believe that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000. Threats to the groves include urbanization, over-exploitation of resources, and environmental destruction from Hindu religious practices. While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu gods, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples.
Ritualistic dances and dramatizations based on the local deities that protect the groves are called Theyyam in Kerala and Nagmandalam, among other names, in Karnataka. There are sacred groves in Ernakulam region in a place named Mangatoor in Kerala. Sacred groves are being destroyed as a part of urbanization.The family "Nalukettil Puthenpurayil" still protects sacred groves.
Japan
Sacred groves in Japan are typically associated with Shinto shrines, and are located all over Japan. They have existed since ancient times and shrines are often built in the midst of preexisting groves. TheCryptomeria tree is venerated in Shinto practice, and considered sacred.
Among the sacred groves associated with such jinjas or Shinto shrines is the 20-hectare wooded area associated with Atsuta Shrine (Atsuta-jingū?) at Atsuta-ku, Nagoya. The 1500-hectare forest associated with Kashima Shrine was declared a "protected area" in 1953.[17] Today it is part of the Kashima Wildlife Preservation Area. The woods include over 800 kinds of trees and varied animal and plant life.[18]
Tadasu no Mori is a general term for a wooded area associated with the Kamo Shrine, which is a Shinto sanctuary near the banks of the Kamo River in northeast Kyoto.[19] The ambit of today's forest encompasses approximately 12.4 hectares, which are preserved as a national historical site. The Kamigamo Shrine and the Shimogamo Shrine, along with other Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities), have been designated World Heritage Sites since 1994.
Okinawa
The Utaki sacred sites (often with associated burial grounds) on Okinawa are based on Ryukyuan religion, and usually are associated with toun or kami-asagi - regions dedicated to the gods where people are forbidden to go. Sacred groves are often present in such places, as also in Gusukus - fortified areas which contain sacred sites within them. The Seifa-utaki was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Sitedesignated in 2003. It consists of a triangular cavern formed by gigantic rocks, and contains a sacred grove with rare, indigenous trees like the Kubanoki (a kind of palm) and
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the yabunikkei or Cinnamomumjaponicum (a form of wild cinnamon). Direct access to the grove is forbidden.
Thailand
Sacred groves, mostly connected to Thai folk belief, are known to have existed in Thailand since medieval times. Recently, new areas are being marked off as sacred as an environmental movement.
Malaysia
Much of the ways of the ancient inhabitants of Malaysia have largely been forgotten, mostly due to the taboos among the local populace on putting certain esoteric knowledge down in ink, thus only passed down through examples and word of mouth from mother to daughter and father to son. However, much can be observed by the ways and habits of the natives of Malaysia which include 18 tribes of Orang Asli (Malay for Natural People) and the Malays, who are often regarded as the 19th tribe.
There is a practice of tree planting around houses to the extent that the walls and wooden structures are allowed to give way to the roots of creeping plants, purposely sown at the bases of these structures. With increased migration towards the larger cities, these houses are abandoned and allowed to return to nature. As most traditional Orang Asli and Malay houses are made of only wood, bamboo, rattan and woven palm leaves (being built without using a single nail), the remains of those houses crumble easily into its surrounding.
Besides that, a practice of creating arches of vine and creeping flowering plants so that each time one were to enter the gates of the house, one has to bow, as if implying or imitating respect upon entry to a sacred grove which were practiced by their ancestors. Such practices are even performed by those who have migrated into the cities who prefer to live in houses on the ground, rather than in high rise apartments. A garden of fruit trees surrounded by larger trees are planted around the houses to provide shade and an illusion of being at 'home' as well as to provide sustenance (in the form of fruits and seeds) to squirrels, foxes, insects and birds. Commonly, a cat, or in most instances, many cats are kept to patrol the gardens and guard from harmful spirits as well as against rats which were believed to carry unclean spirits and diseases.
However, one of the most striking example of the tree reverence among them can be seen in the graveyards which are considered as holy ground, on which no stone structure can be built upon. The whole area are covered by large and tall trees, so much foliage that the scorching tropical sun is reduced to a dim shadow as temperatures drop to a comfortable cool. Malay folklore relates that the trees whisper prayers to the creator in absolution of the past transgression of the ground's once human inhabitants. The trees are also allowed to take root into the graves where the grave keepers (penjaga kubur in Malay) slowly remove gravestones (which used to be made from wood) as they are ejected from the grounds onto the surface. There is also a ritual of planting small tree sapling on fresh graves by family members who will then water it and tend to it periodically. Petals from fresh red and pink roses are also brought upon visitation to be scattered on the graves and a ritual of pouring rose water upon the soils are also performed.
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The Malays regard visiting the graves from between sunset to sunrise as a taboo as it is believed that as sunrise is the beginning of day to mankind, sunset is perceived as the beginning of day to those who dwell in the grave area. Burials are almost always postponed until the next day except in certain cases where it is allowed, provided that additional rules are observed, such as, women and children are not allowed at the night time burial ceremony.
An ancient ritual of renaming the deceased as she or he is laid into the earth is also practiced. The Orang Asli and Malay (see Malaysian names) naming system has a living name and a spirit name, which is given during the ritual of burial. This name is known as nama arwah (spirit name). The living name is usually the given name plus the word 'anak' which means 'son/daughter of' or 'bin' and 'binti' which mean 'son of' or 'daughter of' respectively; followed by the name of the father. When a person dies, the father's name is replaced with his or her mother's name and this is made known during the reading of burial sentences.
Nigeria
The concept of sacred groves is present in Nigerian mythology as well. The Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, containing dense forests, is located just outside of the city of Osogbo, and is regarded as one of the last virgin high forests in Nigeria. It is dedicated to the fertility goddess in Yoruba mythology, and is dotted with shrines and sculptures. OloyeSuzanne Wenger, an Austrian artist, helped revive the grove. The grove was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005.
United States of America
The Bohemian Grove, located at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, is a sacred grove belonging to a private San Francisco-based men's art club known as theBohemian Club. In mid-July each year, Bohemian Grove hosts a two-week, three-weekend encampment of some of the most powerful men in the world, where they perform symbolic rituals, such as Cremation of Care.
Ex-situ conservation
Ex-situ conservation means literally, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species of plant or animal outside its natural habitat; for example, by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location, which may be a wild area or within the care of humans. While ex-situ conservation comprises some of the oldest and best known conservation methods, it also involves newer, sometimes controversial laboratory methods.
Colony Relocation
The best method of maximizing a species chance of survival (when ex-situ methods are required) is by relocating part of the population to a less threatened location. It is extremely difficult to mimic the environment of the original colony location given the large
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number of variables defining the original colony (microclimate, soils, symbiotic species, absence of severe predation, etc.). It is also technically challenging to uproot (in the case of plants) or trap (in the case of animals) the required organisms without undue harm.
An example of colony relocation in the wild is the case of the endangered Santa Cruz Tarweed, a new colony of which was discovered during a mid-1980s survey at the site of a proposed shopping center in westernContra Costa County in California. Once the city of Pinole had decided to approve the shopping center, the city relied on a relocation plan developed by Earth Metrics scientists to remove the entire colony to a nearby location immediately east of Interstate Highway 80 within the Caltrans right-of-way.
Human Care Methods
Zoos and botanical gardens are the most conventional methods of ex-situ conservation, all of which house whole, protected specimens for breeding and reintroduction into the wild when necessary and possible. These facilities provide not only housing and care for specimens of endangered species, but also have an educational value. They inform the public of the threatened status of endangered species and of those factors which cause the threat, with the hope of creating public interest in stopping and reversing those factors which jeopardize a species' survival in the first place. They are the most publicly visited ex-situ conservation sites, with the WZCS (World Zoo Conservation Strategy) estimating that the 1100 organized zoos in the world receive more than 600 million visitors annually.
Endangered plants may also be preserved in part through seedbanks or germplasm banks. The term seedbank sometimes refers to a cryogenic laboratory facility in which the seeds of certain species can be preserved for up to a century or more without losing their fertility. It can also be used to refer to a special type of arboretum where seeds are harvested and the crop is rotated. For plants that cannot be preserved in seedbanks, the only other option for preserving germplasm is in-vitro storage, where cuttings of plants are kept under strict conditions in glass tubes and vessels.
Endangered animal species are preserved using similar techniques. The genetic information needed in the future to reproduce endangered animal species can be preserved ingenebanks, which consist of cryogenic facilities used to store living sperm, eggs, or embryos. The Zoological Society of San Diego has established a "Frozen zoo" to store such samples using modern cryopreservation techniques from more than 355 species, including mammals, reptiles, and birds.
A potential technique for aiding in reproduction of endangered species is interspecific pregnancy, implanting embryos of an endangered species into the womb of a female of a related species, carrying it to term. It has been carried out for the Spanish Ibex.
Showy Indian clover, Trifolium amoenum, is an example of a species that was thought to be extinct, but was rediscovered in 1993 by Peter Connors in the form of a single plant at a site in western Sonoma County. Connors harvested seeds and grew specimens of this critically endangered species in a controlled environment.
The Wollemi Pine is another example of a plant that is being preserved via ex-situ conservation, as they are being grown in nurseries to be sold to the general public.
Drawbacks60
Ex-situ conservation, while helpful in humankind's efforts to sustain and protect our environment, is rarely enough to save a species from extinction. It is to be used as a last resort, or as a supplement to in-situ conservation because it cannot recreate the habitat as a whole: the entire genetic variation of a species, its symbiotic counterparts, or those elements which, over time, might help a species adapt to its changing surroundings. Instead, ex-situ conservation removes the species from its natural ecological contexts, preserving it under semi-isolated conditions whereby natural evolution and adaptation processes are either temporarily halted or altered by introducing the specimen to an unnatural habitat. In the case of cryogenicstorage methods, the preserved specimen's adaptation processes are frozen altogether. The downside to this is that, when re-released, the species may lack the genetic adaptations and mutations which would allow it to thrive in its ever-changing natural habitat.
Furthermore, ex-situ conservation techniques are often costly, with cryogenic storage being economically infeasible in most cases since species stored in this manner cannot provide a profit but instead slowly drain the financial resources of the government or organization determined to operate them. Seedbanks are ineffective for certain plant genera with recalcitrant seeds that do not remain fertile for long periods of time. Diseases and pests foreign to the species, to which the species has no natural defense, may also cripple crops of protected plants in ex-situ plantations and in animals living in ex-situ breeding grounds. These factors, combined with the specific environmental needs of many species, some of which are nearly impossible to recreate by man, make ex-situ conservation impossible for a great number of the world's endangered flora and fauna.
Botanical Garden
A botanical garden (or botanic garden)[nb 1] is a garden dedicated to the collection, cultivation and display of a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names. It may contain specialist plant collections such as cacti and succulent plants, herb gardens, plants from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be greenhouses, shadehouses, again with special collections such as tropical plants, alpine plants, or other exotic plants. Visitor services at a botanical garden might include tours, educational displays, art exhibitions, book rooms, open-air theatrical and musical performances, and other entertainment.
Botanical gardens are often run by universities or other scientific research organizations, and often have associated herbaria and research programmes in plant taxonomy or some other aspect of botanical science. In principle, their role is to maintain documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display, and education, although this will depend on the resources available and the special interests pursued at each particular garden.
The origin of modern botanical gardens can be traced to European medieval medicinal gardens known as physic gardens, the first of these being founded during the Italian Renaissance in the 16th century. This early concern with medicinal plants changed in the 17th century to an interest in the new plant imports from explorations outside Europe as botany gradually established its independence from medicine. In the 18th century, systems
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of nomenclature and classification were devised by botanists working in the herbaria and universities associated with the gardens, these systems often being displayed in the gardens as educational "order beds". With the rapid rise of European imperialism in the late 18th century, botanic gardens were established in the tropics, and economic botany became a focus with the hub at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London.
Over the years, botanical gardens, as cultural and scientific organisations, have responded to the interests of botany and horticulture. Nowadays, most botanical gardens display a mix of the themes mentioned and more; having a strong connection with the general public, there is the opportunity to provide visitors with information relating to the environmental issues being faced at the start of the 21st century, especially those relating to plant conservation and sustainability.
Definitions
The role of major botanical gardens worldwide has been considered so broadly similar as to fall within textbook definitions. The following definition was produced by staff of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium of Cornell University in 1976. It covers in some detail the many functions and activities generally associated with botanical gardens:[1]
A botanical garden is a controlled and staffed institution for the maintenance of a living collection of plants under scientific management for purposes of education and research, together with such libraries, herbaria, laboratories, and museums as are essential to its particular undertakings. Each botanical garden naturally develops its own special fields of interests depending on its personnel, location, extent, available funds, and the terms of its charter. It may include greenhouses, test grounds, an herbarium, an arboretum, and other departments. It maintains a scientific as well as a plant-growing staff, and publication is one of its major modes of expression.
This broad outline is then expanded:
The botanic garden maybe an independent institution, a governmental operation, or affiliated to a college or university. If a department of an educational institution, it may be related to a teaching program. In any case, it exists for scientific ends and is not to be restricted or diverted by other demands. It is not merely a landscaped or ornamental garden, although it may be artistic, nor is it an experiment station or yet a park with labels on the plants. The essential element is the intention of the enterprise, which is the acquisition and dissemination of botanical knowledge.
A contemporary botanic garden is a strictly protected natural urban green area, where a managing organization creates landscaped gardens and holds documented collections of living plants and/or preserved plant accessions containing functional units of heredity of actual or potential value for purposes such as scientific research, education, public display, conservation, sustainable use, tourism and recreational activities, production of marketable plant-based products and services for improvement of human well-being.
The "New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening" (1999) points out that among the various kinds of organisations now known as botanical gardens are many public gardens with little scientific activity, and it cites a more abbreviated definition that was published by the World Wildlife Fund and IUCN when launching the ’’Botanic Gardens
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Conservation Strategy’’ in 1989: "A botanic garden is a garden containing scientifically ordered and maintained collections of plants, usually documented and labelled, and open to the public for the purposes of recreation, education and research." This has been further reduced by Botanic Gardens Conservation International to the following definition which "encompasses the spirit of a true botanic garden": "A botanic garden is an institution holding documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education."
The botanical gardens network
Worldwide, there are now about 1800 botanical gardens and arboreta in about 150 countries (mostly in temperate regions) of which about 550 are in Europe (150 of which are in Russia), 200 in North America,[5] and an increasing number in East Asia. These gardens attract about 150 million visitors a year, so it is hardly surprising that many people gained their first exciting introduction to the wonders of the plant world in a botanical garden.
Historically, botanical gardens exchanged plants through the publication of seed lists (these were called Latin: Indices Seminae in the 18th century). This was a means of transferring both plants and information between botanical gardens. This system continues today, although the possibility of genetic piracy and the transmission of invasive species has received greater attention in recent times.
The International Association of Botanic Gardens was formed in 1954 as a worldwide organisation affiliated to the International Union of Biological Sciences. More recently, coordination has also been provided by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), which has the mission "To mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet".[9] BGCI has over 700 members – mostly botanic gardens – in 118 countries, and strongly supports theGlobal Strategy for Plant Conservation by producing a range resources and publications, and by organizing international conferences and conservation programs.
Communication also happens regionally. In the United States, there is the American Public Gardens Association (formerly the American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta), and in Australasia there is the Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ).
Zoo Park
Zoo Park is a public park on Independence Avenue in downtown Windhoek, Namibia. It is also a focal point of social life in the city. The current park is landscaped and features a pond, children's playground and open-air theatre.
History
Pre-history
The remains of an elephant from between 5,000 and 20,000 years ago were uncovered in 1961, making the elephant kill there one of the earliest known such events in human history.
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Colonial
The area then known as Schutztruppe Memorial was designated by the German colonial authorities in what was then German South West Africa in 1897. It was created to honor the German soldiers who died in the war against Namaqua leader Hendrik Witbooi. The land was transferred to local control in 1911, when it was expanded. Cafe Zoo, which is still in operation, opened in 1916 after the coming of South African military control. From 1960 to 1963, the park was reshaped to accommodate the widening of modern Independence Avenue and Fidel Castro St. (then Kaiser Strasse and Peter Műeller Strasse). In 1967, the park was renamed in honor of Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of Apartheid. In February 1989, with independence and majority rule just 13 months away, the park was renamed to its current title.
Independence
In August 2006, a suggestion by the group Africa wise Namibia suggested the park be renamed in honor of Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey.
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