Transcript Direct Threats to Biodiversity

Direct
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Fragmentation
Invasive Species
Unsustainable use
Pollution
Global Climate Change
Underlying (or indirect)
• Overpopulation
• Over-consumption
• Reduced or negative
incentives to conserve
• Lack of enforcement
• Causes
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Agriculture
Human settlement
Resource extraction
Industrial development
• Result
– Small isolated patches
– Many too small to
support a diverse mix
of species
Source: Corey Leopold / Flickr
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Agriculture
Resource extraction
Human settlement
Industrial development
Source: Frey©AMNH-CBC
• Converted to agriculture or grazing
Source: Bureau of Land Management/ Merv Coleman
• Mangroves, salt marshes, and sea grasses
• Dredging, fishing, conversion
Source: NOAA/ Commerce Department
• Fresh and marine
– Drained
– Filled
– Developed
Source: NOAA/Commerce Department
• Between 1950 & 1986 more than 45,000 large dams constructed
• 60% of 227 Large River Basins studied show strong or moderate
fragmentation and altered flows
World Resources Institute. 2006. EarthTrends:The Environmental Information Portal. Available
at http://earthtrends.wri.org. Washington DC:World Resources Institute.
Source: EarthTrends 2001 World
Resources Institute
• Loss of ecosystems
and habitats
• Decreased patch size
• Increased edge
effects
• Increased patch
isolation
• Changes in species
diversity, composition
and interactions
Area: 16 sq km
Edge: 32 km
Source: Murphy©AMNH-CBC
Area: 16 sq km
Edge: 16 km
• Invasives outcompete,
displace or extirpate
local species
• Exotic species
– Live outside their native
range, not always invasive
• 3 Phases
– Dispersal
– Establishment
– Integration
Source: Florida DEP / Don Schmitz
• Hybridization with native species
• Disruption of an ecosystems structure and
function
• Displacement of native species as
invasives outcompete them for resources
• Local or even global extinctions
• Unsustainable levels
of consumption,
harvest or loss
• Direct
– Commercial
pressures
• Indirect
– Unintentional use,
e.g. bycatch of sea
turtles in fishery
operations
Source: FreyAMNH-CBC
Source: NOAA
Source: NOAA
• Quotas and
governance
zones (200 mile
limit)
• Restrictions on
types of gear
and number of
boats
• Marine
Protected Areas
(MPA)
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration /
Commerce Department
• International Consumption
– Legal
• CITES (Convention on the
International Trade in
Endangered Species)
• 30,000 species of plants and
animals
– Illegal
• Estimated by Interpol to be
$12 Billion annually
• Second only to drugs in
global value
• Domestic Consumption
– Much (maybe most)
domestically consumed
– Magnitude is unknown
Source: Center for Biodiversity and Conservation
• Many classifications possible
• Wide variety of types and impacts
• Result is a disruptive, persistent and cumulative
impact
Source: National Oceanic & Atmospheric
Administration / Commerce Department
• Toxic & Non-toxic
contaminants
– Toxic - Lethal or interfering with
organisms natural functioning
(immune, reproductive etc)
– Non-toxic – fertilizer runoff
harming aquatic systems
• Point and Non-Point source
– Where does it come from? Is
there a series of single
identifiable sources or is it
widespread and harder to control
• Affected environment
– Air, Water, Soil
• Other
– Noise, Light
SourceL NOAA
• Principal Sources
– Transportation (cars, trains, airplanes, shipping) and
industry (construction or factory)
• Impacts many species by disrupting normal
behaviors
– Breeding, migration, feeding
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
• Involve people!
• Create reserves
• Understand species needs
– Population
– Habitat
• Restore habitat
• Live with biodiversity
• Is it bad or good for biodiversity?