1. Bellwork Silently read page 183 Core Case Study
The passenger Pigeon: Gone Forever

2. Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species Approach
Chapter 9

3. CCS: The Passenger Pigeon
Passenger pigeon hunted to extinction by 1900
Why?
Commercial hunters used a "stool pigeon”
What is a stool pigeon?
Archeological record shows five mass extinctions
What caused them?
Human activities: hastening more extinctions?
How many species will become prematurely extinct?

4. Passenger Pigeon

5. What Role Do Humans Play in the Premature Extinction of Species?
Objective 1
“The natural world is everywhere disappearing before our eyes – cut to pieces, mowed down, plowed under, gobbled up, replaced by human artifacts.” –Edward O.Wilson

6. Human Activities Are Destroying and Degrading Biodiversity
Humans have disturbed ½ & probably about 83% of the earth’s land surface
Most of this disturbance involved filling in wetlands
Converting grasslands & forests to crop fields & urban areas
Such disturbances eliminate large numbers of species by destroying or degrading habitats

7. Extinctions Are Natural but Sometimes They Increase Sharply
Background extinction
Eventually all species become extinct. For the 3.56 billion years life has existed on earth, there has been continuous, low level rates of extinction
Extinction rate
The percentage or number of species that go extinct within a certain timer period
Example
1 extinction per million species per year =
1 / 1 x 106 =
1 x 10-6 x 100 = .0001%
Mass extinction
The extinction of many species in a relatively short period of geologic time
There have been 5 mass extinctions
Levels of species extinction
Local extinction – a species in no longer found in an area, but is still found elsewhere
Ecological extinction- so few members of a species are left that it can no longer play its ecological roles in communities where it is found
Biological extinction – the species is no longer found anywhere on the earth

8. Some Human Activities Cause Premature Extinctions; the Pace Is Speeding Up
Premature extinctions due to
Habitat destruction
Overhunting
Conservative estimates of extinction = %
100 to 1000 times the background rate of .0001%
Growth of human population will increase this loss
Rates are higher where there are more endangered species
Tropical forests and coral reefs, wetlands and estuaries—sites of new species—being destroyed
Speciation crisis – in addition to increasing the rate of extinction, we may be limiting the long-term recovery of biodiversity by reducing the rate of speciation

9. Animal Species Prematurely Extinct Due to Human Activities
Why do you think birds top the list of extinct species?

10. Effects of a 0.1% Extinction Rate
Figure 9-3 for packet

11. Endangered and Threatened Species Are Ecological Smoke Alarms
Endangered species – has so few individual survivors that the species could soon become extinct over all or most of its natural range
Threatened species, a.k.a. vulnerable species
Still abundant in its natural range but, because of declining numbers, is likely to become endangered in the near future.

12. Endangered Natural Capital: Species Threatened with Premature Extinction
Fig 9-4 of text / pg 187

13. Copy this chart and commit it to memory
Characteristics of Species That Are Prone to Ecological and Biological Extinction
Copy this chart and commit it to memory
Fig 9-5 / page 188

14. Percentage of Various Species Threatened with Premature Extinction
Why do you think fishes top this list?

15. Science Focus: Estimating Extinction Rates Is Not Easy
Read science focus on page 188
There are 3 problems when estimating rates
Hard to document due to length of time
Only 1.8 million species identified out of million
Little known about nature and ecological roles of species identified
How would you improve the estimation of extinction rates?

16. Why Should We Care about Preventing Premature Species Extinction?
Objective 2

17. Species Are a Vital Part of the Earth’s Natural Capital
Instrumental value
Use values
Their usefulness in providing ecological and economic services
Ecotourism: wildlife tourism generates 950, million/minute
1 male lion living to 7 generate $515,000 in tourist dollars in Kenya and only $1,000 if killed for its skin.
Each year Americans spends more than 3X as many hours watching wildlife as they spend watching movies or professional sporting events
Nonuse value
Existence value – the satisfaction of knowing that a species exists
Aesthetic value – appreciate it for its beauty
Bequest value – people will pay to protect some forms of natural capital for future generations
Ecological value – vital component of ecosystem functions of energy flow, nutrient cycling, and population control

18. Natural Capital Degradation: Endangered Orangutans in a Tropical Forest
An illegally smuggled orangutan typically sells for a street price of $10,000.

19. Natural Capital: Nature’s Pharmacy
About 2,100 of the 3,000 plants identified by the National Cancer Institute as sources of cancer-fighting chemicals come from tropical forest.

20. Endangered Scarlet Macaw in Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest
Endangered Scarlet Macaw in Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest. These and other colorful species of parrots can become endangered when they are removed from the wild and sold as pets.

21. Science Focus: Using DNA to Reduce Illegal Killing of Elephants for Their Ivory
Read the Science Focus on page 191
1989 international treaty against poaching elephants
400,000 elephants remain in the wild
Before treaty – 87,000 were killed a year for ivory
The treaty reduced poaching, but did not stop it.
Currently 25,000 elephants per year
On the flip side, elephant populations have exploded in some areas and are destroying vegetation
An adult elephant devours up to 660lbs of vegetation a day
Elephants damaging areas of South Africa:
Do you favor culling elephants in areas where large populations are degrading vegetation?

22. Are We Ethically Obligated to Prevent Premature Extinction?
Intrinsic value: existence value
An inherent right to exist and play its ecological roles, regardless of its usefulness to us
Edward O. Wilson: biophilia phenomenon
Because of the billions of years of biological connections leading to the evolution of the human species, we have an inherent genetic kinship with the natural world.
Biophobia
Fear of many forms of wildlife

23. Science Focus: Why Should We Care about Bats?
Read Science focus on page 192
Vulnerable to extinction – 25% of the worlds bats are endangered or threatened – Why?
Slow to reproduce
Live in huge colonies in caves and abandoned mines
Humans close up which trap bats in
Important ecological roles – What do bats do for us?
70% of bats feed on crop-damaging nocturnal insects
Pollen-eaters = pollinate flowers
Fruit-eaters = distribute plants
Unwarranted fears of bats – Should you fear bats?
More Americans die from being hit by coconuts than bat-transmitted disease.
Has reading this material changed your view of bats?
Group discussion.
Can you think of two things that could be done to help protect bat species from premature extinction?

24. How do Humans Accelerate Species Extinction?
Objective 3
How do Humans Accelerate Species Extinction?

25. The greatest threats to any species are (in order)
Loss of Habitat Is the Single Greatest Threat to Species: Remember HIPPCO
The greatest threats to any species are (in order)
Habitat destruction, degradation, & fragmentation
Invasive (nonnative) species
Population and resource use growth
Pollution
Climate change
Overexploitation

26. Figure 9-10 for packet
What are two direct causes that are related to each of the underlying causes?

27. Reduction in the Ranges of 4Wildlife Species
Discuss in your groups.
Would you support expanding these ranges even thought this would reduce the land available for people to grow food and live on? Explain.

28. Science Focus: Studying the Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Old-Growth Trees
Read the Science Focus on page 195
Tropical rain forests typically consist of large numbers of different tree species with only a few members of each species in an area.
Tropical Biologist Bill Laurance, et al. studies the effects of increasing fragmentation of tropical rain forests.
Why are TRF being fragmented?
Roads, crop plantations, settlements, and cattle grazing
How large must a forest fragment be in order to prevent the loss of rare trees?
Within 330 ft (100 meters) of the edge of a forest fragment, typically up to 36% of the biomass of old-growth trees is lost within years of fragmentation.
What are two ways to reduce the fragmentation of the tropical rain forests?

29. Case Study: A Disturbing Message from the Birds
Habitat loss and fragmentation of the birds’ breeding habitats
Forests cleared for farms, lumber plantations, roads, and development
Intentional or accidental introduction of nonnative species
Eat the birds
Seabirds caught and drown in fishing equipment
Migrating birds fly into power lines, communication towers, and skyscrapers
Other threats
Oil spills
Pesticides
Herbicides
Ingestion of toxic lead shotgun pellets
Greatest new threat: Climate change
Environmental indicators – because birds live in every climate and biome, respond quickly to environmental changes in their habitats, and are relatively easy to track and count.

30. Distribution of Bird Species in North America and Latin America

31. The Ten Most Threatened Song Birds in the US
How does your lifestyle directly or indirectly contribute to the premature extinction of some bird species?
What are three things that you think should be done to reduce the premature extinction of birds?

32. Science Focus: Vultures, Wild Dogs, and Rabies: Unexpected Scientific Connections
Read the Science Focus on page 195
In 2004, the World Conservation Union placed 3 species of vultures on the critically endangered list.
In the 1990’s there were more than 40 million of these carcass-eating vultures. Within a few years their populations had fallen by more than 97%.
What happened to their numbers?
Vultures poisoned from diclofenac in cow carcasses
Diclofenac is an anti-inflammatiry drug that reduces pain in cows and humans.
Diclofenac caused kidney failure in vultures that feed on dead cows.
When the vultures died off, the dead cow carcasses increased
Wild dogs started eating the cow carcasses
Wild dog population exploded = more rabies
In 1997 more than 30,000 people died of rabies

33. Some Deliberately Introduced Species Can Disrupt Ecosystems
Most species introductions are beneficial
Food – corn, wheat, rice, cattle, & poultry (98% of our food)
Shelter
Medicine
Aesthetic enjoyment
Nonnative species may have no natural
Predators
Competitors
Parasites
Pathogens
Why is this significant?

34. Some Harmful Nonnative Species in the US
Over 7,000 harmful invasive species have been deliberately or accidentally introduced into the USA

35. Figure 9.14
Some of the more than 7,100 harmful invasive (nonnative) species that have been deliberately or accidentally introduced into the United States.
Fig. 9-14a, p. 199

36. Figure 9.14
Some of the more than 7,100 harmful invasive (nonnative) species that have been deliberately or accidentally introduced into the United States.
Fig. 9-14b, p. 199

37. Case Study: The Kudzu Vine
Imported from Japan in the 1930s
Planted in the SE to control soil erosion
“ The vine that ate the South”
As our climate gets warmer, the kudzu spreads north
Could there be benefits of kudzu?
A Japanese firm built a kudzu farm in the US and ships extracted starch to Japan
The starch is sold for beverages, confections, & herbal remedies
Almost every part of the kudzu is edible

38. Some Accidentally Introduced Species Can Also Disrupt Ecosystems
How do they get here?
Downside of global trade
Aircraft, ballast water of tankers and cargo ships, wooden packing crates, cars and truck, boats, and tourists
Argentina fire ant: 1930s
Shiploads of lumber or coffee imported from South America
No natural predator
Pesticide spraying in 1950s and 1960s worsened conditions
Temporally reduced populations, but also wiped out native ants
This reduced competition and encouraged genetic resistance
Burmese python
Imported as a pet and dumped when they got too large

39. Argentina Fire Ant Accidentally Introduced into Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
I hate Argentina Fire Ants!

40. Prevention Is the Best Way to Reduce Threats from Invasive Species
Prevent them from becoming established in the 1st place! BUT HOW ???
Learn the characteristics of invasive species (fig 9-17)
Increase ground surveys and satellite observations
Detect and monitor species invasions
Develop models on how they spread
Step up inspection of imported goods
Set up treaties to ban transfer of invader species
Require cargo ships to discharge ballast water before entering ports
Try to find natural ways to control them
Predators, parasites, bacteria, and viruses

41. Characteristics of Invader Species and Ecosystems Vulnerable to Invading Species
Figure 9-17 for packet
Which, if any of the characteristics on the right-hand side could human influence?

42. Discuss with your letter partner.
Which of these two actions do you think are the most important? Why?

43. Other Causes of Species Extinction
Population growth and overconsumption have greatly expanded the human ecological footprint
Climate change could drive more than 25% of all land animals and plants to extinction by the end of the century
Pollution and Pesticides
DDT: Banned in the U.S. in 1972
Pesticides kill about 20% of the beneficial honeybees, more than 67 million birds, and 6-14 million fish.
Bioaccumulation – an increase in the concentration of a chemical in specific organs or tissues
Biomagnification – an increase in concentration of DDt, PCbs, and other slowly degradable, fat soluble chemicals in organisms at higher trophic levels
So What?

44. White Rhinoceros Killed by a Poacher

45. Rising Demand for Bush Meat Threatens Some African Species
Indigenous people sustained by bush meat
Within 1 or 2 decades, the Congo basin’s rain forest – the world’s 2nd largest rain forest – will contain few large mammals
Butchering and eating some forms of bush meat has helped to spread fatal diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola to humans

46. How Can We Protect Wild Species from Premature Extinction?
Objective 4

47. International Treaties Help to Protect Species
We can use existing environmental laws and treaties and work to enact new laws designed to prevent species extinction and protect overall biodiversity.
1975: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
Bans capturing and selling threated or endangers species.
Lists 900 species that cannot be commercially traded
Signed by 172 countries
Convention on Biological Diversity (BCD)
Focuses on ecosystems (reverse global decline of biodiversity)
Ratified by 190 countries (not the U.S.)

48. Case Study: The U.S. Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act (ESA): 1973 & later amended in 1982, 1983, &1985
Write down the ESA suggestions on page 208
Identify and protect endangered species in the U.S. and abroad
Hot Spots – many of the rarest and most imperiled species are concentrated in a few areas

49. Confiscated Products Made from Endangered Species

50. We Can Establish Wildlife Refuges and Other Protected Areas
We can help to prevent species extinction by creating and maintaining wildlife refuges, gene banks, botanical gardens, zoos, and aquariums.
1. Wildlife refuges
Most are wetland sanctuaries
More needed to protect endangered plants

51. 3. Botanical gardens and arboreta
Gene Banks, Botanical Gardens, and Wildlife Farms Can Help Protect Species
2. Gene or seed banks
Preserve genetic material of endangered plants
Storing seeds in refrigerated, low humidity environments
More than 100 seed banks around the world
3. Botanical gardens and arboreta
Contain Living plants

52. Zoos and Aquariums Can Protect Some Species
Techniques for preserving endangered terrestrial species
Egg pulling
Captive breeding
Artificial insemination
Embryo transfer
Use of incubators
Cross-fostering
Problems
Zoo and aquariums limited space and funds
Critics say these facilities are prisons for the organisms

54. The Precautionary Principle
According to the precautionary principle, we should take measures to prevent or reduce harm to the environment and to human health, even if some of the cause-and-effect relationships have not been fully established, scientifically.

55. Summary
In earlier times, many people viewed huge flocks of passenger pigeons as pest that devoured grain and left massive piles of their waste. Do you think this justified the passenger pigeon’s premature extinction? Explain. Assume you believe that premature extinction of an undesirable species is justified, what would be you three top candidates? What might be some harmful ecological effects of such extinctions?