1. Protecting Biodiversity: Preserving Species

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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

9. U.S. Endangered Species Act Many successes

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. 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

14. 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

15. Forest Fragmentation causes many problems
Forest Fragmentation causes many problems. At edges, increased nest parasitism damages other bird species

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

17. 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

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

19. 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

20. 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

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

22. Extinct Passenger Pigeon: hunted to extinction

23. #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)

24. Predicted Extinction with Climate Change

25. Why preserve species?

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

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

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

29. 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

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

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

32. 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?

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

34. 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

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

36. 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

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

39. 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.

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