Conservation Management North American Wildlife

Conservation Biology A mission oriented science that focuses on protecting and restoring biodiversity What is biodiversity- Variety of living things Includes… All forms of life All levels of organization All interactions among different forms of life in the envioronment.

Where is the biodiversity Endemic species- species whose natural occurrence is confined to a certain region and whose range is relatively limited. Isolated areas- Islands, Mountain ranges Product of unique habitat or climate features Can you think of an area where you might find endemic species???

Biodiversity hotspots - areas with a high concentration of endemic species, experiencing rapid habitat loss

Biodiversity Hotspots Occupy only 1.4% of land area Contain 44% of vascular plant species Contain 35% of terrestrial vertebrate species BUT!!! Also contains 20% of human population with the greatest population growth(1.8% compared to 1.3%) Each hotspot is estimated to have lost 70% of its vegetation already.

Threatened/Endangered Species 5,188 vertebrates (9%) 1,992 invertebrates (0.17%) 8,321 plants (2.89%) 2 lichens (0.02%) Since 1600, ~1000 species have gone extinct (probably many more)

Causes of species declines Habitat destruction and fragmentation Introduced species Exploitation and overharvesting Pollution Climate change

USA

What is fragmentation? Disruption of extensive habitats into smaller isolated patches

Exploitation and overharvest Direct exploitation for food overfishing “bycatch” in fisheries – killing non-target species (birds, marine mammals) “bush meat” – harvest of wild animals for food can be sustainable, but often not threatens many large mammals, primates

Pollution Most important for aquatic systems chemical pollutants acid precipitation Bioaccumulation (AKA Biological Magnification)– process by which toxin concentrations increase in living tissues concentrations increase through the food chain

protecting biodiversity Reasons for protecting biodiversity Intrinsic – valuable for its own sake Instrumental – beneficial to humans Economic (food, drugs, tourism) Ecosystem services (moderating climate, eliminating wastes/toxins, mitigating floods and droughts)

What can we do??? To sum it up a more diverse ecosystem is a more stable ecosystem We need to take steps to prevent extinction of species We need to take bigger steps to protect biodiversity hotspots