Threats to Biodiversity Photo of a forest fragment, surrounded by newly created cattle pasture in Amazonas, Brazil; Photo of a sign on St. Lucia (provided by John Battista, LSU – taken by one of his former students)

Image from Wikipedia K/T (Cretaceous-Tertiary) Mass Extinction ~ 65 m.y.a.; Ended the reign of the dinosaurs P/Tr (Permain-Triassic) Mass Extinction ~ 251 m.y.a.; ~ 96% of all marine species & ~ 70% of all terrestrial species Current mass extinction could result in ~ 50% of species going extinct in 100 years (Wilson 2002) ? Extinction

Image of Passenger Pigeon (extinct North American bird, once found in Louisiana) from Wikipedia Extinction “Martha” – the last living passenger pigeon – died on Sept. 1, 1914 in captivity in Cincinnati, OH

Image of Dodo (extinct Indian Ocean island bird) from Wikipedia Extinction “Not only are species at risk of extinction, but some processes that undergird ecosystem functions, or that are glorious in and of themselves, are put at risk from human activities...” Groom et al. (2006, pg. 78)

Photo from Wikipedia; For more information on HIPPO, see: E. O. Wilson (2002) The Future of Life H abitat destruction E. O. Wilson (b. 1929) I nvasive species P ollution Human P opulation O verexploitation HIPPO

Photos of forest destruction in Brazil & Malaysia H IPPO Habitat Destruction & Degradation

Image from Discover Magazine, Jan-Feb 2010 Special Issue, “Top 100 Stories of 2009” – “#92: Nowhere to Hide from the Buzz of Civilization H IPPO Habitat Destruction & Degradation “An ever-expanding network of roads, railways, rivers, and shipping lanes means that only 10 percent of the earth’s surface is now remote, defined as being at least 48 hours away from a major city. More than half of the world‘s population lives within an hour of a major city…”

Kudzu Snakehead Walking catfish H I PPO Invasive Species

“Photoshopped” image of airplanes from HI P PO Pollution

NASA image from May 24, 2010 posted on Wikipedia HI P PO Pollution

A.D A.D A.D B.C B.C B.C B.C B.C B.C B.C. 1+ million years Old Stone Age New Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age Middle Ages Modern Age Black Death—The Plague A.D A.D A.D ? Future Billions of People Image from the Population Reference Bureau © 2006 HIP P O Human Population “More people means more of all the other HIPPO effects” (Wilson, 2002)

Atlantic Cod HIPP O Overexploitation

Photo from Wikipedia Habitat destruction & fragmentation Jared Diamond (b. 1937) Introduced species Overkill Secondary or cascade effects Jared Diamond’s “Evil Quartet”

Image of shrinking forest cover on Borneo from Curran et al. (1999) Science Impacts of logging are exacerbated through increased frequency of El Niño events Compounded Effects & Synergies Erosion of biodiversity in a site often results from multiple causes