Transcript BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS - University of the Western Cape

BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
Simone Neethling
Department of Biodiversity and
Conservation Biology
University of the Western Cape
[email protected]
Available at http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Eco_people/Presentations/
Introduction
 Observed and predicted loss of biodiversity over
the years = sixth extinction
 Loss of biodiversity permanent14
 Conservation biology therefore very important
 Identification of areas under sever threat of
permanent loss
 “Hotspots” origin
Evolution of the term: Hotspot
 Norman Myers-first to develop concept15
 Geographical regions that deserved conservation
priority
 High numbers of endemic (rare) species in
relatively small areas
 First 10 hotspots were identified-all tropical
rainforest, plants were indicators for diversity15
 Myers then added a further 8 hotspots
(Mediterranean-type ecosystems added)14
 High species number or high degree of endemism
or under huge threat or combination of factors15
Evolution of the term:Hotspot (Cont.)
 A consequent analysis resulted in 25 hotspots14
 A minimum number of plant species was required
to be analyzed
 Two criteria:endemism and degree of threat
 Not just “pristine” vegetation includedfragmented vegetation included
 Mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian endemism
and diversity patterns also analyzed
 Hotspots covered much more diverse terrestrial
ecosystems
 A further 9 hotspots has been added but is
currently still being peer-reviewed7
The 34 Terrestrial Hotspots
Biodiversity Hotspots
The 34 Terrestrial Hotspots (Cont.)
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Atlantic Forest
California Floristic Province
Cape Floristic Province
Caribbean Islands
Caucasus
Brazilian Cerrado
Central Chile
Coastal Forests of Eastern
Africa
East Melanesian Islands
Eastern African
Afromantane
Guinean Forests of West
Africa
Himalayas
Horn of Africa
Indo-Burma
Irano-Anatolia
Japan
Madagascar and Indian
Ocean Islands
18)
Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands
19)
Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany
20)
Mediterranean Basin
21)
Mesoamerica
22)
Mountains of Central Asia
23)
Hengduan Mountains of Southwest
China
24)
New Caledonia
25)
New Zealand
26)
Philippines
27)
Polynesia-Micronesia
28)
Southwest Australia
29)
Succulent Karoo
30)
Sundaland
31)
Tropical Andes
32)
Tumbès-Chocò-Magdalena
33)
Wallacea
34)
Western Ghats and Sri Lanka
The 11 Marine Hotspots
 Major limitation to present hotspot analysis
 Lack of marine realm-purely terrestrial based
 Study of marine ecosystems based on coral
reefs16
 Hotspots located entirely within tropics19
 Study presented not yet comprehensive16
 Research is still on going16
 Although many marine hotspots extend from
terrestrial hotspots=extension
The 11 Marine Hotspots (Cont.)
http://www.starfish.ch/reef/hotspots.html
The 11 Marine Hotspots (Cont.)
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Philippines
Sundaland Islands
Wallacea
Gulf of Guinea
Southern Mascarene Islands
Eastern South Africa
North Indian Ocean
Southern Japan, Taiwan and Southern China
Cape Verde Islands
Western Caribbean
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
Tropical Regions
 More specifically tropical forests-renowned for
housing the most biologically diverse
ecosystems11
 Occurs between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic
of Capricorn
 Share characteristics:climate, precipitation,
canopy structure, complex symbiotic
relationships
 Stable climate9
 Canopy-provides array of niches8
 Holds up to 50% of planet’s species10
Tropical Regions-High Diversity
 “Latitudinal gradient in species diversity”-increases from
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poles to equator 18
Hypotheses:energy/climate based hypotheses and
historical/evolutionary base hypotheses18
Energy/climate-species based–energy and climate stability
hypothesis18
Historical/evolutionary based-historical perturbation and
effective evolutionary rate hypothesis18
These hypotheses do however have critiques and need
further research to be fully accepted6
Other hypotheses do exist18
This latitudinal gradient is also observed in the marine
realm 17
High Concentration of Hotspots in
Equatorial Regions
 High diversity compared to temperate and polar regionslatitudinal gradient hypothesis 18
 High degree of endemism in tropical regions 12
 Restricted to relatively small land areas 12
 Most tropical regions are under sever threat-mainly due to
social and economical issues 12
 Severe habitat loss and destruction 12
 Tropical forests once covered 12% of Earth's surface-now
reduced to a mere 5% (maybe even less) 10
 Vanishing at disturbingly high rates 11
 Therefore most of world’s hotspots found within tropical
regions 12
 Tropical Andes Hotspot
contains 15 000 endemic
plant species 7
 Sundaland Hotspot also
contains 15 000 endemic
plant species 7
 Together these hotspots
harbour nearly 14% of all
vascular plants found on the
planet 7
 Cape Floral Kingdom
contains the world’d greatest
concentration of nontropical
endemic plant species 1
http://www.biodiversityh
otspots.org/xp/Hotspots/
Distribution of Endemic (rare) Terrestrial
Species and Freshwater Fish-Plants
Distribution of Endemic (rare) Terrestrial
Species and Freshwater Fish-Mammals
biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots
 Sundaland hotspot contains the
highest number of endemic
mammals-172 species, 17 genera 7
 Madagascar and Indian Ocean
Islands hotspot houses 144
endemic mammals speciesworld's leader in endemic primates
houses 5 endemic lemur families 7
 Wallacea hotspot – 127 endemic
mammal species 7
Distribution of Endemic (rare) Terrestrial
Species and Freshwater Fish-Birds
 Tropical Andes hotspot harbours
579 endemic bird species 7
 This hotspot contains all or parts of
21 different Endemic Bird Areas 7
 This high degree of endemism does
not compare to any other area in
the world 7
 Wallacea hotspot –262 endemic
bird species which is astonishing
because of its relatively small land 1
Distribution of Endemic (rare) Terrestrial
Species and Freshwater Fish-Reptiles
 Caribbean Islands hosts the the largest number of endemic
reptiles-469 species 7
 Two examples of entirely endemic genera (both snakes)
include: Tropidophis sp.(all 26 species endemic) and
Alsophis sp.(all 13 species endemic) 7
 The Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands harbours 367
reptile species and is a major centre of chameleon
diversity7
biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots
Distribution of Endemic (rare) Terrestrial
Species and Freshwater Fish-Amphibians
and Freshwater Fish
 The Tropical Andes hotspot is the most significant area in
the world concerning amphibian diversity as it hosts 980
species of which 670 are endemic 7
 The Mesoamerica hotspot contains 358 endemic amphibian
species 7
 The Eastern Afromontane hotspot, where the Great Rift
lakes reside, is home to 617 endemic freshwater fish 7
 The Indo-Burma hotspot houses 553 endemic freshwater
fish species, 30 endemic genera and 1 endemic family 7
Threats
Social and economic threats=habitat loss
and degradation 12
Major cause-exponential human population
growth 12
Increase in foreign debt loads 12
Decrease funds available for conservation 12
Poverty 5
Over hunting and illegal pet trade 12
Threats (Cont.)
 Human impact overwhelming 7,2,3
 Pollution
 Introduction of invasive alien species
 Unsustainable use and management of
biodiversity (commercial exploitation)
 Climate change-global warming
 Global warming most probably the most
enveloping threat as it has the ability to affect
areas out of range of humans 13
 Future predictions state that hotspots could lose
between 39-43% of biodiversity 13
 Lack of efficient practical protection14
Threats (Cont.)
 Marine hotspots have specific threats 19
 Destructive fishing methods
 Over exploitation of fish stocks (unsustainable
use)
 Pollution from urban and agricultural runoff
 Pollution from sediment logging
 Live fish trade
 Oil spills from tankers
 Coastal and agricultural development
Conservation
 Priority-identification of regions under severe threat
of extinction which is why hotspots originated
 Protection of areas through establishment of
reserves, national parks, botanical gardens, heritage
sites, wildlife refuges and ect. 7
 Incentive measures are essential for conservation 4
 Regulations and market based tools are also used 4
 Increase in new conservation tools and conservation
professionals promote action against biodiversity
loss 7
 Unique projects- Working for water 7
 Ecotourism-mutually beneficial
References
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5.
6.
Anon. Biodiversity Hotspots [Internet]. [Cited 2007 April 04]
Available from: Biodiversity Hotspots
Anon. Biodiversity-what is it and why is it being lost? [Internet].
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(http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Biodiversity/pdf/biodiv_brf_19.pdf
Anon. Forests and biodiversity [Internet]. [Cited 2007 April 04]
Available from:
(http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Biodiversity/pdf/biodiv_brf_12.pdf
Anon. Incentive measures for the conservation and sustainable
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(http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Biodiversity/pdf/biodiv_brf_04.pdf
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Boyero L. Latitudinal Gradients in Biodiversity [Internet]. [Cited
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References (Cont.)
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8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Brooks, T., De Silva, N., Foster, M., Hoffmann, M., Knox, D.,
Langhammer, P., Pilgrim, J., Ratledge, N., Sweeting, A. (eds).
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Butler RA. Canopy Structure [Internet]. [Cited 2007 April 06]
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Butler RA. Structure and Character [Internet]. [Cited 2007 April
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Butler RA. Tropical Rainforests [Internet]. [Cited 2007 April 06]
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Gentry AH (1992) Tropical forest biodiversity: distributional
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Malcolm JR, Liu C, Neilson RP, Hansen L and Hannah L (2006)
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References (Cont.)
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Mittermeier RA, Myers N, Thomsen JB, da Fonseca GAB and
Olivieri S (1998) Biodiversity Hotspots and Major Tropical
Wilderness Areas: Approaches to Setting Conservation
Priorities. Conservation Biology 12(3): 516-520
Reid WV (1998) Biodiversity hotspots. Trends in Ecology and
Evolution 13 (7): 275—280
Roberts CM, McClean CJ, Veron JEN, Hawkins JP, Allen GR,
McAllister DE, Mittermeier CG, Schueler FW, Spalding M, Wells
F, Vynne C and Werner TB (2002) Marine biodiversity hotspots
and conservation priorities for tropical reefs. Science 295
(5558): 1280—1284
Roy K, Jablonki D, Vaentine JW and Rosenberg G (1998) Marine
latitudinal diversity: Tests of casual hypotheses. Proc. Natl.
Acad. Sci 95:3699-3702
Wikipedia Contributors. Latitudinal gradients in species
diversity [Internet]. [Cited 2007 April 04] Available from:
Wikipedia
Zubi T. Major Endangered Reef Regions [Internet]. [Cited 2007
April 04] Available from:
http://www.starfish.ch/reef/hotspots.html