1. LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY CAUSES CONSEQUENCES
Arkive
Nature Serve Explorer

2. Biodiversity What have we lost and what are we losing?
To answer this issue we turn to the IUCN

3. IUCN – International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
IUCN was founded in October 1948
Today it’s the largest professional global conservation network 
Has more than 1,000 professional staff in 62 offices worldwide
Brings together 113 governmental agencies, 850 plus NGOs, and some 11,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership
It’s mission is to influence, encourage, and assist societies to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure resource use is equitable and ecologically sustainable
IUCN runs thousands of field projects around the world to better manage natural environments
IUCN supports governments, NGOs, international conventions, UN organizations, companies and communities to develop laws, policy and best-practice

4. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species http://www. iucn
Classifies species according to their extinction risk
Searchable online database containing the global status and supporting information on about 45,000 species
Primary goal is to identify and document the species most in need of conservation attention and provide an index of the state of biodiversity

5. Red List Categories Extinct or Extinct in the Wild
Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable: species threatened with global extinction
Near Threatened: species close to the threatened thresholds or would be threatened without ongoing conservation measures
Least Concern: species evaluated with a low risk of extinction
Data Deficient: no evaluation because of insufficient data

7. IUCN Red List http://dodosgone.blogspot.com/
Contains 784 documented extinctions
60 extinctions in the wild since 1500 AD
Over the past 20 years, 27 documented extinctions or extinctions in the wild
Underestimates the true number of extinctions
Rates of extinctions 100 to 1,000 times natural background extinction rates

8. IUCN Red List
Major analyses (i.e., global trends) of the red list are made approximately every 4 years – called Global Species Assessments
These were produced in 1996, 2000, and 2004, and species/red_list/2008_red_list_summary_statistics/
Also annual updates of information

9. IUCN Red List – 2008 Update 2008 assessment includes 44,838 species
869 (2%) are extinct or extinct in the wild
16,928 (38%) are threatened with extinction
3,246 critically endangered
4,770 endangered
8,912 vulnerable
5,570 have insufficient info to determine their status (data deficient)
Underestimates the true number of extinctions
Rates of extinctions 100 to 1,000 times natural background extinction rates

14. Why are we losing biodiversity
Why are we losing biodiversity? Most Important Fact Molding our Lives Today is that we’ve Gone Around the Bend on a Series of J Curves
INCREASING POPULATION
INCREASING USE OF FINITE
RESOURCES
INCREASING POLLUTION

15. HUMAN POPULATION GROWTH Time to Attain Year Attained
1st Billion Million Years About 1880
2nd Approx. 130 Years
3rd Years
4th Years
5th Years
6th Years
Years

17. The fact that we’ve rounded the bend on these J curves points out the primary cause of the decay of organic diversity - the habitat destruction that inevitably results from the expansion of human populations and human activities

18. The extent to which humanity has already wreaked havoc can be shown by a study of human appropriation of the products of photosynthesis
Vitousek, P.M., P.R. Ehrlich, A.H. Ehrlich, and P.M. Matson Human appropriation of the products of photosynthesis. BioScience 36:

19. IUCN Data - Causes of Threat
Habitat loss and degradation - most pervasive threat, impacting 86% of threatened mammals, 86% of threatened birds, and 88% of threatened amphibians
Overexploitation – 33% of mammals and 30% of birds are affected by overexploitation and invasive species. Invasives are affecting 67% of threatened birds on islands
Pollution – 29% of amphibians are affected by pollution and 17% by disease

20. Mammals Amphibians Birds
Habitat Loss
Over-exploitation
Invasive Species
Human Disturbance
Pollution
Natural Disasters
Species Dynamics
Incidental Mortality
Disease
Persecution
Percentage Species Affected

21. IUCN Data - Causes of Threat
Threat processes in freshwater and marine systems poorly understood
Freshwater species are most threatened by habitat loss, followed by pollution and invasive species
Marine species are most threatened by over-exploitation – incidental mortality as a result of fisheries is an increasing threat, affecting seabirds, marine mammals and other marine species.

22. How did we get into this mess
How did we get into this mess? Perhaps its due to the fact that most people operate with a frontier mentality based on three ideas
That the world has an unlimited supply of resources for human use
That humans are separate and apart from nature
That nature is something to overcome

23. These attitudes stem in part from
Judeo-Christian teachings
Biological Imperialism
Thinking of ourselves as apart from nature
Thinking that there is always more

24. Human Impacts on the Earth
Man in Nature – Early Hunter Gatherers
Man vs. Nature – Shepard & Farmer
Man vs. Nature – Industrial Man

25. What is needed is a transformation from industrial man to the earthmanship man idea
That we accept the limits to mans control over nature
That we see the entire world as an interconnected unit
To protect ourselves we must protect nature

26. We have a distorted view of Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory “survival of the fittest”

27. Loss of Biodiversity Some things I want to point out
Primary cause of the decay of organic diversity is not direct human overexploitation but habitat destruction
Many of the less cuddly, less spectacular organisms are more important to our future than most publicized endangered species
Most important reason for conserving diversity is the role that organisms play in providing free ecosystem services
The loss of genetically distinct populations within species is as important a problem as the loss of entire species

28. Why should we care if populations become extinct
Underestimate the rate of loss of organic diversity
May find the destruction of natural habitat morally objectionable
Aesthetic value of a species diminishes as populations disappear
Direct economic value is generally reduced

29. Why should we care if populations become extinct
Influences the probability of persistence of the entire species
In an evolutionary sense this could result in the death of birth