Transcript 22 Sustaining Wild Species

22 Sustaining Wild Species
Miller’s - Living in the Environment
13th Edition
Factors Affecting Biodiversity
Factors that increase
biodiversity
Factors that decrease
biodiversity
1) Physically diverse
habitat
2) Moderate environmental
disturbance
3) Small variation in
environmental
conditions
4) Middle stages of
succession
5) Evolution
1) Environmental stress
2) Large environmental
disturbance
3) Extreme environmental
conditions
4) Severe limitations of an
essential resource
5) Introduction of a nonnative species
6) Geographic isolation
Human Impacts on Biodiversity
Fig. 22-2 p. 561
The State of US Species Diversity
Strategies for
Protecting
Biodiversity
 Species
approach
 Ecosystem
approach
Species Extinction
• Local extinction
– a species is no longer found in an area
it once inhabited, but is still found
elsewhere in the world
• Ecological extinction
– so few members of a species are left
that it can no longer play its ecological
roles in the biological communities
where it is found
Species Extinction
• Biological extinction
– a species is no longer found anywhere
on the earth.
Biological extinction is forever!
Animal species that have become
prematurely extinct
Passenger
pigeon
Great auk
Dodo
Dusky seaside
sparrow
Aepyornis
(Madagascar)
‘Endangered’ and ‘Threatened’ Species
• Endangered species
– species with so few individual survivors
that the species could soon become
extinct over all or most of its natural
range.
Florida
manatee
Northern
spotted owl
(threatened)
Florida
panther
© 2004 Brooks/Cole-Thomson Learning
Gray wolf
Bannerman's
turaco (Africa)
Endangered and Threatened Species
• Threatened (vulnerable) species
– species that is still abundant in its
natural range but because of declining
numbers is likely to become
endangered in the near future.
Florida
manatee
Northern
spotted owl
(threatened)
Florida
panther
© 2004 Brooks/Cole-Thomson Learning
Gray wolf
Bannerman's
turaco (Africa)
Extinction Rate
 Background (natural) rate of extinction
– 0.0001% per year (1/10,000)
 Mass
extinctions
Adaptive radiations
- recovery after
mass extinctions
Extinction Risks
• Factors: population size, habitat, and
genetics
• Population viability analysis
• Minimum viable population
• Minimum dynamic area
What are some characteristics
of extinction-prone species?
Characteristic
Examples
Low reproductive rate
(K-strategist)
Blue whale, giant panda,
rhinoceros
Specialized niche
Blue whale, giant panda,
Everglades kite
Narrow distribution
Many island species,
elephant seal, desert pupfish
Feeds at high trophic
level
Bengal tiger, bald eagle,
grizzly bear
Fixed migratory patterns
Blue whale, whooping crane,
sea turtles
Rare
Many island species,
African violet, some orchids
Commercially valuable
Snow leopard, tiger,
elephant, rhinoceros,
rare plants and birds
Large territories
California condor, grizzly
bear, Florida panther
Effects of Human Activities on
Extinction Rates
• Before humans, extinction rate was one
species per million annually
• Current rate of extinction is estimated at
100 to 1000 times the rate before humans
• Speciation Crisis - limiting long-term
recovery of biodiversity by reducing the
rate of speciation for some types of
species.
Why Should We Care About
Biodiversity?
 Instrumental value
– their usefulness
to us
 Intrinsic value
– they exist,
regard-less of
whether they
have any
usefulness to us
Instrumental Values of Biodiversity
1. Utilitarian (use)
A. Economic Goods
 Food, fuel, fiber, lumber, paper, medicine,
other useful products
 90% of food crops were domesticated
from wild plants
 A majority of our medicines were derived
from plants.
 Bioprospecting – evaluating species for
their economic potential
Pacific yew
Taxus brevifolia
Pacific Northwest
Ovarian cancer
taxol
Cinchona
Cinchona ledogeriana
South America
Quinine for malaria treatment
Rosy periwinkle
Cathranthus roseus
native to Madagascar
Hodgkin's disease,
lymphocytic leukemia
Neem tree
Azadirachta indica
native to India
Treatment of many
diseases, insecticide,
spermicide
Instrumental Values of Biodiversity
1. Utilitarian (use)
A. Economic Goods
 Food, fuel, fiber, lumber, paper, medicine,
other useful products
 90% of food crops were domesticated
from wild plants
 A majority of our medicines were derived
from plants.
 Bioprospecting – evaluating species for
their economic potential
Instrumental Values of Biodiversity
1. Utilitarian (use)
B. Ecological Services
Flow of materials, energy, and information
from the biosphere








Photosynthesis
Pollination
Soil formation
Nutrient recycling
Pest control
Climate regulation
Flood control
Waste decomposition
Instrumental Values of Biodiversity
1. Utilitarian (use)
C. Information
 Genetic information
 Scientific information
 Educational information
Instrumental Values of Biodiversity
1. Utilitarian (use)
D. Options
• People are willing to ‘pay’ for the
option of using resources directly
Instrumental Values of Biodiversity
1. Utilitarian (use)
E. Recreation
•
•
We value recreational pleasure.
Eco-tourism
– Should not cause ecological damage.
– Should provide income to preserve wildlife.
– Should provide funds for the purchase and
maintenance of wildlife preserves and
conservation programs.
Instrumental Values of Biodiversity
2. Non-utilitarian (no use) Values
•
•
•
Existence – value in knowing a thing
exists
Aesthetic – value in the beauty
Bequest – willingness to pay to
protect natural capital for future
generations
Intrinsic Value of Biodiversity
• Each species has an inherent value
and right to exist that is unrelated to
their usefulness to humans
• Biodiversity matters and should not
be depleted or degraded by our
activities
Habitat
loss
Habitat
degradation
Overfishing
Basic Causes
Climate
change
• Population growth
• Rising resource use
• No environmental
accounting
• Poverty
Introducing
nonnative
species
Commercial
hunting
and
poaching
Pollution
Predator
and
pest control
Sale of
exotic pets
and
decorative
plants
HIPPO
Major types of habitat disturbances
•
•
•
•
•
•
Agriculture
Commercial development
Water development
Outdoor recreation
Livestock grazing
Pollution
Habitat Fragmentation
When a large continuous area of habitat is
– reduced in area
– divided into a patchwork of isolated
areas or fragments
HABITAT FRAGMENTATION
• Reduction in
ranges of four
wildlife
species,
mostly due to
habitat loss
and
overharvest.
Indian Tiger
Range 100 years ago
Range today
(about 2,300 left)
Black Rhino
Range in 1700
Range today
(about 3,600 left)
Probable range 1600
Range today
African Elephant
Asian or Indian Elephant
Former range
Range today
(34,000–54,000 left)
Figure 22-15
Page 574
Cerulean warbler
Florida scrub jay
Sprague’s pipit
Bichnell’s thrush
California gnatcatcher Kirtland’s warbler
Blacked-capped vireo
Golden-cheeked
warbler
Henslow’s sparrow
Bachman’s warbler
Ten most threatened species of U.S. songbirds.
Habitat loss and fragmentation most common threat.
Biome
% of Area Disturbed
Temperate broadleaf forests
94%
Temperate evergreen forests
94%
Temperate grasslands
72%
Mixed mountain systems
71%
Tropical dry forests
70%
Subtropical and temperate
rain forests
67%
Cold deserts and semideserts
55%
Mixed island systems
53%
Warm deserts and
semideserts
44%
Tropical humid forests
37%
Tropical grasslands
26%
Temperate boreal forests
Tundra
18%
0.7%
Extinction Threats from
Non-native Species
• After habitat loss and degradation,
non-native species are the biggest
cause of animal and plant extinctions.
• Deliberately or accidentally introduced
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 22-17 (1)
Page 576
Purple loosestrife
Marine toad
European starling
African honeybee
(“Killer bee”)
Water hyacinth
Japanese beetle
Nutria
Salt cedar
(Tamarisk)
Hydrilla
European wild boar
(Feral pig)
Deliberately Introduced Species
Figure 22-17 (2)
Page 576
Sea lamprey
(attached to lake trout)
Formosan termite
Argentina fire ant
Brown tree snake
Eurasian muffle
Common pigeon
(Rock dove)
Zebra mussel
Asian long-horned
beetle
Asian tiger mosquito
Gypsy moth larvae
Accidentally Introduced Species
Kudzu
Vine
INVASIVE SPECIES
• The Argentina
fire ant was
introduced to
Mobile,
Alabama in
1932 from
South America.
– Most probably
from ships.
– No natural
predators.
1918
Expansion
of the fire
ant in
southern
states.
2000
Characteristics of
Successful
Invader Species
Characteristics of
Ecosystems Vulnerable
to Invader Species
• High reproductive rate,
short generation time
(r-selected species)
• Similar climate to habitat
of invader
• Pioneer species
• Absence of predators on
invading species
• Long lived
• High dispersal rate
• Release growthinhibiting chemicals
into soil
• Generalists
• High genetic variability
• Early successional
species
• Low diversity of native
species
• Absence of fire
• Disturbed by human
activities
Habitat
loss
Habitat
degradation
Overfishing
Basic Causes
Climate
change
• Population growth
• Rising resource use
• No environmental
accounting
• Poverty
Introducing
nonnative
species
Commercial
hunting
and
poaching
Pollution
Predator
and
pest control
Sale of
exotic pets
and
decorative
plants
HIPPO
Extinction from
hunting and poaching
Ivory
International trade in wild
plants and animals
•
•
•
•
•
•
Live mountain gorilla ($150,000)
Panda pelt ($100,000)
Chimpanzee ($50,000)
Imperial Amazon Macaw ($30,000)
Rhino horn ($13,000 per pound)
As commercially valuable species
become endangered, the black
market demand soars
Other Extinction Threats
• Predators and Pest Control
– Gray Wolf
– Carolina parakeet
– Prairie dog
• Market for Exotic Pets and
Decorative Plants
• Climate Change
– Alters wildlife habitats
– Not enough time to adapt
Protecting Wild Species
• Research Approach
–Bioinformatics
• Building computer databases
• Developing computer tool to
find, visualize and analyze
information
• Communicating information
Protecting Wild Species
• Legal Approach
– International Treaties
• Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES)
– Forbids trade of 900 different live
specimens or wildlife products
– Restricts trade of 29,000 other
threatened species
• Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD)
– Legally binds signatory governments to
reversing the global decline in
biodiversity
Protecting Wild Species
• Legal Approach
–The Lacy Act of 1900
• Prohibits movement of live or
dead wild animals across state
lines w/o a permit
–The Endangered Species Act
of 1973
• Illegal for Americans to import or
trade in any product made from
an endangered species
Endangered Species Act
• National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
– Identify and list endangered ocean species
• US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
– Identify and list all other endangered or
threatened species
• Species cannot be hunted, killed,
collected, or injured in the US
• 1250 species listed today
• Designate and protect the critical habitat
– Private lands subject to restrictions
• Prepare a recovery plan
2
4
3
5
Top Six Hot Spots
6
1 Hawaii
2 San Francisco Bay area
3 Southern Appalachians
4 Death Valley
5 Southern California
6 Florida Panhandle
Concentration of rare species
1
Low
Moderate
High
Sanctuary Approach to
Protecting Wild Species
• Wildlife Refuges and Other Protected
Areas
• Gene Bank, Botanical Gardens, and
Farms
• Zoos and Aquariums
– Captive breeding
– Cloning
• The U.S. has set aside
544 federal refuges for
wildlife, but many
refuges are suffering
from environmental
degradation.
Pelican Island was the
nation’s first wildlife refuge.
• Gene banks, botanical gardens and using
farms to raise threatened plant species
can help prevent extinction, but these
options lack funding and storage space.
• Zoos and aquariums can help protect
endangered animal species by preserving
some individuals with the long-term goal
of reintroduction, but suffer from lack of
space and money.
– captive breeding
– cloning
RECONCILIATION ECOLOGY
• Reconciliation ecology involves
finding ways to share places we
dominate with other species.
– Replacing monoculture grasses with
native species.
– Maintaining habitats for insect eating
bats can keep down unwanted insects.
– Reduction and elimination of pesticides
to protect non-target organisms (such
as vital insect pollinators).
Using Reconciliation
Ecology to Protect Bluebirds
• Putting up bluebird
boxes with holes
too small for
(nonnative)
competitors in
areas where trees
have been cut
down have helped
reestablish
populations.
What Can You Do?
Protecting Species
• Do not buy furs, ivory products, and other
materials made from endangered or threatened
animal species.
• Do not buy wood and paper products produced
by cutting remaining old-growth forests in the
tropics.
• Do not buy birds, snakes, turtles, tropical fish,
and other animals that are taken from the wild.
• Do not buy orchids, cacti, and other plants that
are taken from the wild.
• Spread the word. Talk to your friends and
relatives about this problem and what they can
do about it.
Wildlife Management
• Manipulating wildlife populations and their
habitats for their welfare and for human
benefit.
– enacting hunting and fishing laws
– establishing harvest quotas
– implementing population management
programs
– improving wildlife habitat
– using international treaties to protect
migrating game species such as waterfowl.
North American-South
American flyways
European-African
flyways
Asian flyways