Transcript Slide 1

The preservation of biodiversity is not just a job for governments. International and non-governmental
organizations, the private sector and each and every individual have a role to play in changing
entrenched outlooks and ending destructive patterns of behaviour - Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General
2003 International Day of Biological Diversity
Biodiversity in the Amazon
Rainforest
By: Katie Julian, Tara Gallagher, and Jessica Darga
The Amazon is a canary in a coal mine for the Earth Dan Nepstadt, Ecologist (October 2005)
Hypothesis:
We believe that anthropogenic impacts will
pose a greater threat to biodiversity than
natural impacts.
Natural Impacts
• Environmental changes that impact the
health, habitat, variance, and vitality of the
species who dwell in the rainforest.
Human Impacts
• Impacts that directly or indirectly effect the
health, habitat, variance, and vitality of the
species who dwell in the rainforest.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bitbrush.com/vine.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bitbrush.com/weeds.html&h=226&w=400&sz=10&tbnid=dZE1nIG49ljlM:&tbnh=67&tbnw=120&hl=en&start=8&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2Bvine%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D
What We Wish to Learn:
• What is the current stance of biodiversity in the rainforest?
• Why is species diversity is important to conserve within the
rainforest?
• What are the threats to biodiversity in the Amazon basin?
• Which of these threats, human or natural, poses a greater threat to
biodiversity?
• What will happen if these threats are not curbed?
• What can we do to mitigate these threats? Can we change our path
of destruction?
Why is it important to know whether natural
or anthropogenic impacts are more
influential?
• Influences plan of action
• Mitigation efforts
• Because you live here and what effects
animal and plant biodiversity also effects
mankind
• These are not isolated trends, the planet
as a whole is also affected
Where do we stand?
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Hot spot
Endemic/ Endangered species
Domino effect
8.3% of Amazonian Rainforest ecosystems are under enforced
protection
“An estimated 20,000 square miles of the Amazon rainforest is
destroyed every year (about the size of West Virginia). At this rate,
the Amazon would be completely gone in 50 years.”
Loss of undiscovered medicinal plants and species
Drastic increase in deforestation since 1992
“Brazil's deforestation rate has increased 36% in the period of 199194 in the light of increased logging, subsistence activities, and
agricultural projects."
Endemic Species
• 30,000 endemic plant species found no
where else!
• 173 Mammals
• 69 Primates
• 260 Birds
• 216 Reptiles
• 364 Amphibians
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1255000/images/_1256231_lion1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/sci/tech/1256231.stm&h=197&w
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Natural Threats
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Natural threats have effected the Amazon Rainforests
since the beginning of its existence but studies show
they are far less damaging then human impacts on the
region. Natural threats occur at random and can actually
benefit the rainforest. By rainforest regeneration,
biodiversity levels increase and can exceed their original
levels.
Fire
Drought
Tropical Storms
Evolution and Natural Extinction
Milankovitch cycles
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0802.htm
Fire and Drought
• Fires tend to rid the Rainforest of its weaker vegetation
on the ground level, discounting the canopy species.
• They can be initiated by lightning
And are partly instigated through droughts
• Drought is brought on by a reduction of humidity and
rainfall in the rainforest
• Increase in disease
• El Niño- unusual sunny summers, wet alternating
seasons
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0802.htm
Tropical Storms
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El Niño
Tree fall and surrounding trees
Gaps
Unusually damaging storms
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Evolution and Natural Extinction
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Natural Selection
Survival of the fittest
“... The evolution of species must largely
be caused by intrinsic biological features
of each group of species."
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“Species split at very different rates,
and their extinction or transformation is
mostly determined by the ecology and
biology of each species… some species
survive and multiply, while others remain
static or become extinct."
-- Professor Mallet
http://pda.physorg.com/lofi-news-species-amazonevolution_9284.html
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Biology plays larger role then external
factors- variable rates
Evolutionary process
-climate change
-predation
-competition
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Farside_Natural_Selection_at_work.gif&img
refurl=http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Natural_Selection_at_Work.html&h=437&w=330&sz=31&tbnid=c2GMT
Ofg77X0eM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=92&hl=en&start=1&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnatural%2Bselection%2Bthe%2Bfar
%2Bside%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D
Milankovitch Cycles
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Eccentricity
Change of axis tilt
Precession
Glaciers and ice ages
CLIMATE
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so.uri.edu/~rutherfo/milankovitch.html&h=711&w=553&sz=11&tbnid=17vS85lR63t0YM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=107&hl=en&st
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Anthropogenic Threats:
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Deforestation
• CO2 emissions
Fragmentation
Bush meat trade
Exotic pet trade
Poaching
Non-native species
Pollution
•Anthropogenic Impacts = More
Threatening
Accelerated rate of change due to:
• population growth
• industrialization
– fossil fuel emissions
– pollution
Population Growth
Exacerbates Threats
Evidence
• Natural threats to biodiversity are slower and more
gradual than anthropogenic threats, allowing biodiversity
to adapt or evolve
• Anthropogenic threats occur at an accelerated rate;
biodiversity cannot adjust quickly enough to persevere
this rate of change
• Natural threats are cyclical and balancing over long
periods of time
• Anthropogenic threats are exponential and immediately
disruptive
Why should we conserve the rainforest?
• Medicinal values
• Cultural identity
• Biodiversity decreases the spread of
disease
• Maintains natural cycles
- Nitrogen cycle
- Water cycle
• Biological productivity
• Aids in regulating climate
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RESPONSIBILTY
“ I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs-he was very upset as he shouted and puffed--
What's that THING you've made out of my Truffula tuft?”
- The Lorax by Dr. Suess