Protecting Biodiversity: Preserving Species

Protecting Species Rates of Extinction Extinction is a natural process Fossil record: five mass extinction events Extinctions caused by humans: hundreds of time the natural rate

What is biodiversity? Three components of biodiversity: Species diversity: keeping all our species; preventing extinctions Genetic diversity: within species. Not just a few last animals in a zoo. Low genetic diversity  low resilience or capacity to adapt Ecological diversity: keeping the whole ecosystem together and functional.

Protecting Biodiversity Species approach: Focus on preventing extinction of endangered species Often too late when on the verge of extinction Ecosystem approach: Preserving full intact ecosystems to support viable populations

Today: Protecting Species How can we prevent extinction? Laws, treaties, other approaches Anthropogenic (human) causes

Bans trade of live specimens or products PRESERVING SPECIES AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Bans trade of live specimens or products 124 + nations but some key nations did not sign: Taiwan, Indonesia, Spain, Singapore Listed: 30,000 species, 5000 animals, 25,000 plants Only listed: species threatened by trade Regular meetings to discuss protection Whale “research” controversial

Preserving Species U.S. Endangered Species Act, 1973 Listing of Endangered & Threatened species: US Fish and Wildlife Service : terrestrial species National Marine Fisheries Service: aquatic specis Criteria are to be biological, not economic Full legal protection from projects, trade, hunting, collecting, harm Protection of foreign species (rhino, elephant)

U.S. Endangered Species Act 2250 species on U.S. endangered and threatened species list Recovery Plans: required: to rebuild populations Only 1160 have recovery plans

U.S. Endangered Species Act Many successes http://ecowatch.com/2013/12/07/success-stories-endangered-species-act/

U. S. Endangered Species Act Read in book: spotted owl controversy - U.S. Endangered Species Act Read in book: spotted owl controversy - . stopped logging npr.org

Other Approaches to Preventing Extinction International treaties including: CITES Endangered Species Act Fishing and hunting laws Captive breeding and release: zoos help Protect entire ecosystems before species are on the brink of extinction

Top Threats to Imperiled Species in USA “HIPPO” in order: Habitat destruction & degradation Invasive species Pollution Population Over-harvesting

HABITAT DESTRUCTION #1 cause of extinctions Forests cover 7% of the earth but house 50% of species Tropical rain forest: 55%+ now gone After logging the full ecosystem does not return

Extinction Cause #1: Habitat Loss Including indirect loss: fragmentation & degradation Fragmentation: habitat in small patches Small fragments lose forest-interior birds, primates, plants “Edge effect” now known to be ecologically damaging

Forest Fragmentation causes many problems Forest Fragmentation causes many problems. At edges, increased nest parasitism damages other bird species www.sialis.org/images/

Some newly discovered species Pygmy chameleon (Mozambique) Feather-tailed opossum (New Guinea) Tadpole-toting frog (Ecuador)

SE Asia: 2010 Discoveries Limestone leaf warbler Snub-nosed monkey 145 plant species 25 new fish species 7 new amphibian species Threat of deforestation for palm oil plantations and timber

INVASIVE SPECIES: #2 threat to native species Predation Competition Changes to ecosystems Water Hyacinth

Pollution: threat #3 to species Aquatic life: 30 of 103 mollusks in Ohio River in trouble Bald eagle and other raptors: DDT Fish, trees: acid rain Many others HIPPO

Human Population as a threat to species Growing numbers and growing consumption More developed land, more cropland Over-harvest of timber, fish, other animals, minerals, water, fossil fuels HIPPO

CAUSES OF EXTINCTION HIPPO #5. Overharvesting, hunting, and collecting

Extinct Passenger Pigeon: hunted to extinction

#6. Climate Change (added to HIPPO) ~7.9% of species: predicted to go extinct due to climate change Higher with higher RCPs (emissions) Higher for endemic species (narrow distribution) Higher on small continents (Australia, South America) New analysis averaged together 131 studies (2015, in Science)

Predicted Extinction with Climate Change

Why preserve species?

Why preserve species? Anthropocentric = human-centered: species valued for benefits to humans Biocentric view: ethical concerns ecological issues

Anthropocentric Concerns: Medicines and Crops 10 million + species = 10 million successful solutions to biological problems 25-40% of prescription drugs are derived from plants

Anthropocentric Concerns Undiscovered Medicines 60,000 untested plant species alone will go extinct by 2050 Bio-prospecting: exploring and testing for new medicines

Anthropocentric Concerns Crops Food, latex, fiber Only ~30 of 80,000 edible food plants are grown as crops Natural genetic diversity within crops: resistance to pests 1920 corn fungus: defense from genes of wild type in Mexico

Anthropocentric Concerns Other ecosystem services from wild species Estimated $3 billion value per year to people

Anthropocentric Reasons to Protect Biodiversity: Value: $33 trillion per year

Biocentric Reasons to Preserve Species Ethical concerns Do we have the right to destroy a species? Do we have the right to destroy a type of ecosystem?

Species Preservation: Ethics Do we care equally about all types of species?

Do we care equally about all species Do we care equally about all species? Snail darter and furbish’s lousewort: Endangered species stopped development: Tennessee & Maine

Biocentric Reasons to Preserve Species Preserving ecosystems and interactions also can help Homo sapiens.

Biocentric Reasons to Preserve Species Ecosystems are complicated Losing a species could have bad consequences Importance of interactions Cascading effects in food webs Unintended consequences of making changes Some species are critical to diversity

Biocentric Reasons to Preserve Species Preserving Keystone Species: those important to maintaining diversity

Ecological Value of Individual Species Does diversity matter? Species are like rivets: lose a few with no problems, but lose too many: airplane falls apart.

Protecting Species: Review of Topics Laws and treaties to protect endangered species Causes of extinction Reasons not to lose wild species