Transcript Biodiversity

BIODIVERSITY
CP Environmental Science-2010
DEFINITIONS BENEFITS
THREATS
BIODIVERSITY PROTECTION
What is Biodiversity
• Species diversity
• Genetic biodiversity
• Ecological and ecosystem
diversity
How Many Species
• Over 2 million known
• Numbers may up to 50 million, maybe 30
million insects
• Inverts 70%of known & may be 90% of
existing species
• Most in tropics
Benefits of Biodiversity
• Food– especially genetic “bank” to improve domestic
crops
– many potentially valuable food plants
• Drugs and medicine - studying native
cultures
• Ecological benefits
• Aesthetic and cultural benefits
Natural Extinction
• Evolutionary time: most species extinct-99%
• Through evolution - “genes” may remain from
evolutionary predecessors
• Mass extinction: end of dinosaur age and end
or Permian period (over 1/2 of all animals)
• In “normal times”: perhaps one species per
decade in undisturbed ecosystem
Human Caused Extinction
• Much accelerated rate of extinction
• Hundreds or even thousands of species,
subspecies, or varieties to become extinct
• Estimates are at more than 20,000 species
per year, but may be many more thousands
of not even identified species
Extinction
is
Forever
Figure 22-6
Page 563
Passenger
pigeon
Great auk
Dodo
Dusky seaside
sparrow
Aepyornis
(Madagascar)
Class Activity
Introduction to Endangered Species What Is Happening to These Animals?
• Effects of PA cutting forests in 1800s
• Persecution of predators - animals
extirpated
• Introduced species
• Lost or damaged habitats
– some details on wetlands - what happens to
them?
• What agencies in PA deal with End. Spp?
- Introduction
Classification meanings
Class Activity
• List and define the different classifications
• List several examples of each
• Endangered species in P
– PA Game Commission
– PA Fish Commission
Threats to Biodiversity
Habitat Loss
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Number one cause
Especially wetlands, coastal
Tropical forest – great diversity
Includes filling, pollution, even ozone depletion!
Pollution– DDT, PCBs,
– Lead poisons
• Global Climate Change – N.G.video the polar bear
Threats of Biodiversity
Direct Killing and Persecution
• Commercial Products and Live specimens
– Furs, hides, horns, pets
• Predator and pest control
– 1995: Animal Damage Control Program:
– $24 M to kill 700,000 birds and animals
• Hunting and fishing-overharvesting
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making a renewable resource unstainable
American passenger pigeon
Great whales
Buffalo
Many island species
DO NOT POST TO INTERNET
Figure 22-23
Page 584
Threats of Biodiversity
Introduced Species
• Exotic species introduction
– Plants: Purple loosestrife, honeysuckle,
multifloral rose
– Zebra mussels
– Feral animals - cats and dogs
• Diseases-American chestnut blight, Dutch
elm disease
• Insects
Purple looselife
European starling
African honeybee
(“Killer bee”)
Marine toad
Water hyacinth
Japanese beetle
Figure 22-17 (1)
Page 576
Nutria
Salt cedar
(Tamarisk)
Hydrilla
European wild boar
(Feral pig)
Figure 22-17 (2)
Page 576
Sea lamprey
(attached to lake trout)
Argentina fire ant
Brown tree snake
Eurasian muffle
Common pigeon
(Rock dove)
Formosan termite
Zebra mussel
Asian long-horned
beetle
Asian tiger mosquito
Gypsy moth larvae
Type of Nonnative Organism
Crop disease
Annual Losses and Damages
$23.5 billion
Crop weeds
$23.4 billion
Rats
$19 billion
Feral cats and outdoor pet cats
$17 billion
Crop insects
Livestock diseases
Forest insects and diseases
$14 billion
$9 billion
$4.8 billion
Zebra mussels
$3 billion
Common pigeon
$1.1 billion
Formosan termite
$1.1 billion
Fishes
$1.1 billion
Asian clam
$1.1 billion
Feral pigs
$0.8 billion
Starlings
$0.8 billion
Fire ant
$0.6 billion
Figure 22-16
Page 575
Protecting Biodiversity
• Hunting and fishing laws
• Endangered Species Act-1973
– State laws
• International laws
– CITES
– Ban on whaling
• Habitat protection- parks and refugees
• Zoos and botanical preserves
• Captive breeding and release programs
Endangered Species Act - 1973
• Classifications
– Endangered
– Threatened
– Vulnerable
• Regulates
– Taking in any form
– Habitat protection
– Harassment or interference during breeding
ESA - Numbers and
Classification
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1530 endangered & threatened species
500 candidate species
Vertebrates: 91%
Hundreds of species “warranted but
precluded” from protection - just no staff or
dollars
Zoos, Botanical Gardens, Captive
Breeding
• Purposes: preservation and public
education - or another expression of
human dominance?
• Exposure of people to wild animals
• Who do we protect - only the humanly
defined beautiful and interesting?
Breed and Release
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Peregrines
California Condor
How to reduce genetic inbreeding
High Cost
Capture, transfer and release
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Elk in PA
Turkey in PA
Wolves in Yellowstone
Whopping crane
Sea turtles (egg “capture”)
CITES Treaty
• International-What is purpose?
• Need economic sustainability as well
as protect endangered species
• Role of ecotourism
West Virginia
Giant panda
spring salamander (China)
Mountain gorilla
(Africa)
Pine barrens
tree frog
(male)
Whooping
crane
Knowlton
cactus
Swamp
pink
Hawksbill sea
turtle
Figure 22-7 (3)
Page 565
Blue whale
El Segundo blue
butterfly
Figure 22-7 (1)
Page 564
Florida
manatee
Northern spotted
owl (threatened)
Gray wolf
Florida panther
Devil's hole
pupfish
Snow leopard
(Central Asia)
Symphonia
(Madagascar)
Black-footed
ferret
Ghost bat
(Australia)
California
condor
Black lace
cactus
Black rhinoceros
(Africa)
Bannerman's
turaco (Africa)
Utah prairie dog
(threatened)
Oahu tree
snail
Figure 22-13 (1)
Page 573
Range 100 years ago
Range today
(about 2,300 left)
•The Tiger – critically endangered - NG video
Indian Tiger
Former range
Range today
(34,000–54,000 left)
Asian or Indian Elephant
Figure 22-13 (4)
Page 573
Figure 22-13 (3)
Page 573
Probable range 1600
Range today
(300,000 left)
African Elephant
Why Be Concerned?
• Plants
– Source of drugs - rosy periwinkle (78)
– genetic diversity for food crops
• Loss of ecosystems - cascading effects
– keystone species - sea otter in California
– killing predators - lose limiting factors • Elk in Yellowstone, deer in pa
• Moral, ethical, aesthetic
Foxglove
Digitalis purpurea,
Europe
Digitalis for heart failure
Figure 22-11 (2)
Page 569
Pacific yew
Taxus brevifolia,
Pacific Northwest
Ovarian cancer
Figure 22-11 (3)
Page 569
Endangered Species in PA
Class Activity
• Wade Island - Tough Decisions to Protect
Endangered Species
What two end Class Activity endangered species nest on
Wade Island?
Describe what is happening with cormorants on the
island
Discuss at least three problems caused by the
cormorant
What is going to be done?
Do you agree or disagree with this approach?
Do we humans have a right to decide what species
survives on the island?
Wildlife Management
(textbook 1.15, game commission website, class
videos)
• What are the goals of a wildlife manager?
• How are wildlife populations studied and
assessed?
• What are the techniques used today and in the past
to manage and enhance PA wildlife populations?
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Hunting
Habitat management
Endangered species
Other
• What are some PA wildlife “success stories”?
• What are advantages/disadvantages of hunting in
PA?
Preserving Nature
Vital Habitats
• Coral Reef - video
Land Use in the United States
Rangeland
and pasture
29%
Fig. 23-3 p. 595
Types of US Public Lands
 Multiple-use lands:
National Forests
BLM
National Forest Service in Dept of Agr.
 Moderately-restricted use lands:
National Wildlife Refuges - USFWS
 Restricted-use lands:
National Park System- Dept of Interior
National Wilderness Preservation System
 Wilderness Act of 1964 (pg 627)
US Public Lands
Fig. 23-4
p. 596
US National Parks
• The First: Yellowstone in 1872
• Yosemite: thanks to John Muir
• Why a national park - what are the
purposes?
Wildlife Refuges
• Teddy Roosevelt - 1901
• 511 in the system
• Hunting not only allowed, but in many have
become number one activity
Land Use In PA
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Pennsylvania Land Area 28,863,000 acres
Forested (Public and Private)
20,078,000 acres
State Forest Land 2,100,000 acres
State Forest Wild Areas 145,000 acres
Protected Natural Areas 79,000 acres
Even if we protect all 145,000 acres of state forest wild
areas, only a fraction of Pennsylvania - less than 1% - will
be left wild and protected for future generations to enjoy.
Types of PA Public Lands
• PA Wildlands
• State parks
Tropical Rain Forests
• Sustainable Logging
• Why are rainforests being cut and SO
WHAT?
Summary
• State of the Earth
• Animals – State of the Earth