1. Environmental Science PowerPoint Lecture Principles of Environmental Science - Inquiry and Applications, 2nd Edition by William and Mary Ann Cunningham

2. Chapter 5 - Topics Biomes Biodiversity How Do We Benefit from Biodiversity? What Threatens Biodiversity? Human-Caused Reductions in Biodiversity Protecting Biodiversity Cunningham, Cunningham 2004

4. Part 1: Biomes Biomes Broadly defined life zones Environments with similar climates, topographies, soil conditions, and biological communities Distribution mainly dependent on temperature and precipitation – only at broad scale used to determine distribution of biomes

5. Biomes of the World – where humans mostly live? Lots rain, Hot Less rain, Cold Cunningham, Cunningham 2004 Does temperature or precipitation limit human habitation of an area?

6. Forests, woodlands = 33% Ice, rock, desert etc. = 32% Pastures = 23% Ag = 10% Built land = 2% FAO 1999, WRI 1998-1999 GLOBE Potential ~ 66% RESOURCE EXTRACTION; Humans use ~ 40% of all global net primary production

7. Forests, woodlands = 28% Desert = ~ 14% Pasture, Rangeland = 31% Ag = 28% Built land = 6% NY Times Oct. 4, 2002, p. A19, E. Becker UNITED STATES ~ 87% RESOURCE EXTRACTION

8. Where do most humans live and survive the best?

10. - NEEDS ENOUGH RAIN DURING GROWING SEASON since not grow during winter and WA have dry August Why Washington not dominated by deciduous forests? Deciduous forests

11. Evergreen Forest Grow year round and in winter; grow in nutrient poor soils Lower human population levels – difficulty finding food (bark of tree not good, past considered desert for animals since few big game animals) Largest trees in world are evergreen, locations where sequester carbon in forests

12. Mixed Forest Mixed Deciduous- Evergreen Forests

13. High species diversity, Large tree biomasses Lots vines, epiphytes TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS Lots vines Lots big trees Multilayer habitat with different species Lots of species Plants adapted to get rid of water Lots of species protecting themselves by forming chemicals at high levels & highly toxic (but value for pharmaceutical, drugs) More people live in dry tropical forests than wet. Why? Dry forests – soils more nutrient rich fewer insects, parasites and fungal diseases so healthier for humans can use fire

14. TEMPERATE RAINFOREST, WASHINGTON How well could you survive here?

15. large pieces of dead wood lots habitat in dead wood endemic species on wood live > 1,000 yrs resistant to disease not fire susceptible when large high carbon sequestration rates - important for mitigating rising CO 2 levels Thin needle like leaves, waxes, minimize moisture loss TEMPERATE CONIFEROUS FOREST (Old growth Douglas-fir)

16. Black spruce forest Arctic tundra Alaska Small trees Old trees but very small Boggy environments Animals hibernate or migrate High diversity in microbial community (not animals or plant levels)

17. Dry, thorn- shrubland, Africa SAVANNA - Serengeti National Park Impalas in African savannas http://www.summitelgin.org/grassland_web/Tropical%20Grasslands/Animals.html http://www.summitelgin.org/grassland_web/Tropical%20Grasslands/Plan ts.html

18. DESERT - Joshua Tree National Park Deep roots Lots insects Plants store water Adapted to higher salt levels Plants, animals adapted to heat, low HOH, repel enemies

19. River deposits – chemicals, effluent Freshwater ecosystems are influenced by surrounding terrestrial ecosystems. In turn, riparian areas are productive because of nutrient deposition by the river. Can also have pollutants transported by river to terrestrial areas.

20. Freshwater ecosystems are impacted by anything that happens uphill or upstream from them.

21. Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia WETLANDS

22. Coastal wetlands – salt marsh ecosystems One most productive systems in the world Major breeding, nesting habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds Highly human impacted - Burn easily WETLANDS

23. Coral reefs - Most productive ecosystems in world in terms of energy cycling; strongly impacted by land uses from land (sewage wastes)

24. Part 2: Biodiversity Genetic diversity - variety of different versions of the same genes within a species Species diversity - number of different kinds of organisms within an ecosystem Ecological diversity - complexity of a biological community (number of niches, trophic levels, etc.) Biodiversity - the variety of living things - three types essential: Cunningham, Cunningham 2004

25. How many species are there? Mammals 4,000 Insects 750,000 Tapeworms, flukes 12,000

26. Biodiversity Hotspots - endemic species WHY ARE most of world’s biodiversity concentrated near the equator (tropical rainforests, coral reefs), islands, coastal areas, mountain tops?

27. Part 3: How do we benefit from biodiversity? Where do we collect most of these species? Food, Drugs, Medicine, Ecological benefits Mangosteens, Indonesia Costa Rica, taxonomists identifying all insects in the country

28. Where do many of our drugs that cause you to hallucinate come from? What is the link between the old Salem witch trials & LSD? What is tobacco? What if I told you it was an insecticide? Was used by Egyptians in the mummification process?

29. Birdwatching and other wildlife observation contribute more than $29 million each year to the U.S. economy. Aesthetic and cultural benefits

30. Part 4: What Threatens Biodiversity? Extinction - the elimination of a species Natural process - one species lost every 10 years Process been accelerated by human impacts on populations and ecosystems E.O. Wilson - we are currently losing thousands of species a year

31. Part 5: Human Activities That Reduce Biodiversity Habitat destruction and fragmentation Hunting and fishing Commercial products and live specimens Predator and pest control Exotic species introduction Diseases Pollution Genetic assimilation

32. Human Disturbance Map

33. Why is the tundra least dominated by humans (0.3%)? Why are the tropical forests only 25% dominated by humans? Why is 4/5 of temperate broadleaved forests dominated by humans?

34. Past 200 years, more than half of the original wetlands in the lower 48 states have been drained, filled, polluted, or otherwise degraded. In the Midwestern states, up to 99% of all wetlands have been lost. Habitat Destruction - U.S. Wetlands

35. About 200 years ago, the American passenger pigeon was the world’s most abundant bird. Population: 3-5 billion Overhunting and habitat destruction caused its extinction.

36. Trade in Products from Endangered Species

37. Trade in Wildlife About 75% of all saltwater tropical aquarium fish sold come from coral reefs of Philippines & Indonesia (commonly caught with dynamite or cyanide)

38. Introduction of Exotic Species

39. Classic example of an invasive species – considered by some biggest threat to biodiversity conservation 1905

50. Chapter 5 - Topics Biomes Biodiversity How Do We Benefit from Biodiversity? What Threatens Biodiversity? Human-Caused Reductions in Biodiversity Protecting Biodiversity

51. Part 6: Protecting Biodiversity Hunting and fishing laws The Endangered Species Act (ESA) Recovery plans Minimum viable populations Private land and critical habitat Reauthorization of the ESA International wildlife treaties

52. Jaguar, Belize Conflicts in values between conservation, resource uses: Agriculture, food production Animal species conservation Preservation Maya ruins Persistence forest cover Political power all levels Persistence of Maya culture, etc TROPICAL FOREST photo: Programme for Belize

53. Only 40 Florida panthers remain in Everglades. We spend millions of dollars to protect them, but population may be too small to be viable. Recovery Plans

54. Photo: K Vogt Protecting biodiversity conflicts with indigenous community needs to survive and obtain sufficient food for themselves

55. Iceland Photo: B Hecht Legacies of land use resulted in: Degraded grasslands with sheep, TUNDRA

56. Icelandic BOREAL FOREST Lupine Siberian Larch Photo: K Vogt All introduced species – not native used to restore habitat