Conservation of Biodiversity

• Biodiversity of world is rapidly declining • Decline of biodiversity – result of human activities • Our history of conserving biodiversity:

• Protecting habitats as national parks, national monuments, national forests, and wilderness areas

• 2006-2009 –215 million acres of marine habitats around the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and other US Pacific islands • Area of great biodiversity, but diversity has been declining

• Protected area solution?

• Marine reserves – newer idea • But worldwide – Russia, UK, Australia, Canada, Belize

• Extinction- when there are no longer any of the species in the world • Earth has had 5 major extinctions

in past 500 million years

• Currently experiencing 6th major extinction • Losing ~50,000 species per year • Great species loss in a very short

time period • First since humans have been on

planet

• Conserve genetic diversity important - increases species survival Inbreeding depression – when individuals with similar genotypes, generally relatives, breed with each other

• Examples: • Cheetahs – natural process • Panther (aka mountain lion, cougar) – human induced process

• Genetic diversity being lost due to artificial selection as well

• Categories: • Extinct – no known species exist today • Endangered – serious risk of becoming extinct • Threatened – species with a high risk of extinction in the future • Near-threatened – species that are likely to become threatened in the

future • Least concern – species are widespread and abundant

• Problems with evaluating status of plant and animal species:

• Extremely small (localized) range • Requiring a large territory • Living on an island • Having a low reproductive success • Small population size • Low reproductive rates • Requiring specialized breeding areas • Having specialized feeding habitats

• H- Habitat Loss • I- Invasive Species • P- Pollution • C- Climate Change • O- Overharvested

• The greatest cause of decline and extinction for most species • Most habitat loss is due to human

development – removing natural habitats and replacing them with homes, industries, agricultural fields, shopping malls and roads

• Effects of habitat loss contributing to species decline:

• Areas of concern:

• Alien species (exotic species) – species that live outside their historical range

• Invasive species- when alien species spread rapidly across large areas • Ex- Kudzu Vine, Zebra

Mussel, Silver It’s even happening in Clinton!

• Pond Mussel Invasion in Clinton, NJ

• Threats to biodiversity can come from toxic contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, acids, and oil spills • Others:

• Concern is how climate change will affect temperature and precipitation around the world, and how this will impact biodiversity • Will talk more about in Ch 19

• When individuals of a species are removed at a rate faster than the population can replace them • Via hunting, fishing, poaching, commercial

harvest, efforts to control #s • Ex- dodo, American bison, passenger pigeon

• One of the earliest laws in the U.S. to control the trade of wildlife • First passed in 1900

• Prohibited the transport of illegally harvested game animals, primarily birds and mammals, across state lines

• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

• Developed in 1973 – control the international trade of threatened plants and animals

• Today…

• The IUCN keeps a list of threatened species, known as the Red List

• Each country has its own way to monitor and regulate the import and export of animals on the list • Does not stop illegal trade though!

• 2 approaches to conserving biodiversity: • Single-species approach – focuses

efforts on one species at a time • May include bringing individuals into

captivity and attempting to reestablish in wild at a later date

• Ecosystem approach – recognizes benefit of preserving particular regions of the world • Especially biodiversity hotspots • Factors taken into consideration:

• 1972 • Prohibits the killing of all marine mammals in the U.S. and

prohibits the import or export of any marine mammal body parts

• First passed in 1973, amended several times since • Authorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine which

species can be listed as threatened or endangered and prohibits the harming of these species

• Controversy!

• 1992 – nations came together and made a treaty to protect biodiversity

• The treaty had three objectives: • Conserve biodiversity • Sustainably use biodiversity • Equitably share the benefits that emerge from the commercial use of

genetic resources such as pharmaceutical drugs

• 2002 – strategic plan to achieve a substantial reduction in worldwide rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 • 2010 – convention determined goal not met:

• As previously noted: When designing and managing protected areas we must consider how close to another area they should be, how large the area is, and the amount of edge habitat the area contains.

• Edge habitat - the area where two different communities come together, typically forming an abrupt transition. • Ex. A grassy field meeting a forest • Must be taken into account when using an ecosystem approach

• Protected areas consisting of zones that vary in the amount of permissible human impact • Image:

• Central core • Buffer zone • Transition area

• 564 biosphere reserves worldwide • 47 in US – most well known

is Beg Bend National Park in TX

• Involves: (overview) • Protecting habitats • Restoring damaged or destroyed habitats • Zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens • Seed banks

• Restoration ecology • Study of the historical condition of a human-damaged ecosystem • Goal is to return it to its former state

• Benefits • Creates biological habitats • Regeneration of soil damaged by agriculture or mining

• Disadvantages • Expensive • Take a long time to restore an area

Left: (1935) Early stages of prairie restoration

Right: (current day) restored prairie

• Save organisms from extinction • Artificial insemination • Embryo transfer • Surrogate mothers (right)

• Goal is to reintroduce organisms back to their natural habitat • Problems?

Bongo Calf and its surrogate mother, a female eland

• Stored seeds are safe from habitat destruction, climate warming, etc.

• Can use seed banks to reintroduce extinct plant species

• Some seeds cannot be stored