2. *-- Extinction --*
MOST INFLUENTIAL threat to BIODIVERSITY today
HUMANs today have skyrocketed (couple thousand times) the NATURAL
EXTINCTION RATE of Species today
Only 2.3 percent of the EARTHs surface holds CRITICAL
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
Those HOTSPOTS have lost 70 percent of their natural habitat due to
HUMAN INDUCED INTERESTS
3. WHAT areas of the EARTH are most CRITICAL for
preserving BIODIVERSITY?
[1988] NORMAN MYERS (British Ecologist) asked this question and defined the
biodiversity hotpots on the EARTH
4. Caribbean Islands
Hotspot Original Extent
(km²)
229,549
Hotspot Vegetation Remaining (km²) 22,955
Endemic Plant Species 6,550
Endemic Threatened Birds 48
Endemic Threatened Mammals 18
Endemic Threatened Amphibians 143
Extinct Species† 38
Human Population Density (people/km²) 155
Area Protected (km²) 29,605
Area Protected (km²) in Categories
I-IV*
16,306
Lesser Antilles
Greater Antilles
CUBA
Jamaica
Bahamas
12 Independent Nations
6. -- ESCALATING –-
Historical Threats
HUMAN ARIVAL --- 4,000 years ago
LAST 500 years --- HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRATION
[1500s] DEFORESTATION 4 SUGAR CANE
BIGGEST THREAT to BioDIVERSITY --- HUMAN
INTRODUCED INVASIVE SPECIES for HUMAN INTERESTS
[1872] Asian Mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) --- used to
control rodents & poisonous snakes ---
DEVASTATED NATIVE POPULATIONS --- Reptiles &
Amphibians ---
LED to EXTINCTION of DOZENS of SPECIES
AGRICULTURE
MINING
COAL PRODUCTION --- ADDs induced CARBON
EMMISSIONS
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
NO MORE than 10 % --- ORIGINAL VEGETATION REMAINS
LESS than 15 % --- CUBA’s FOREST REMAIN (largest
remaining in CARIBBEAN)
9. KEY HISTORICAL HUMAN DISTURBANCES
[1900-1950]
Early Coastal Development
1918 -- MBTA ( X hunting & trade )
**NOTICABLE RED KNOT RECOVERY**
1920 – 1st Beach Fill
Hardening of the Coast
[1950-1970]
DECLINE in HORSESHOE / CRAB #s
Transition to Beach Nourishment
[1979-2004]
Delaware Bay (HEMISPHERIC
SIGNIFCANCE)
**CRAB HARVESTS SKYROCKET**
1996 -- Delaware Bay OIL SPILL
Delaware Bay Shorebird Project
**MANAGEMENT for CRABS**
Red Knots tracked to ARCTIC
**2002 -- RED KNOT** populations
start RAPID FREEFALL
2006 -- LISTED as ENDANGERED --
Habitat Destruction
10. HUMAN DISTURBANCES
ESCALATE..
* National Climate Data Center Info –
USFWS *
(data taken from multiple federal agencies
and multiple scientists displays the
increasing sea-level rise {mm})
11. MIGRATION STOPOVER..
FACTS
TRAVEL up to 9,300 Miles –- S to N –
every SPRING
3 sub-species -- WESTERN HEMI –
**(C.c. islandica, C.c. roselaari, C.c.
rufa)**
EAT– small clams & mussels & snails &
other invertebrates (shell and all)
BREED in ARCTIC
ESSENTIALS for SURVIVAL
RICH STOPOVER HABITATS -- Easily
Digested Foods OR Thin/No Shells –
***QUALITY***
ABUNDANT STOPOVER HABITATS –
***QUANTITY***
***PERFECT TIMING***
***AWARENESS*** -- locations of
STORM / WEATHER patterns
12. AFTER BREEDING in the ARCTIC… RED KNOTS like to
travel in LARGE FLOCKS
*BENEFITS…
PREDATOR PROTECTION IN #s
*NON-BENEFITS / NEGATIVES…
As HABITATs Shrink DUE to HUMAN
INTERESTS / DISTURBANCES…
COMPETITION between SPECIES for
NECESSITIES INCLINES..
*&* CLIMATE CHANGEs IMPACT
…
As predator species in the arctic become
deprived of prey resources and habitat destruction
from glacial melting… Seeking out new sources of
food has become the NORM in present day life for
these arctic creatures…
This creates a TARGET for the Red Knot’s
eggs, as the artic flora & fauna gets continuously
pushed backwards by melting glaciers & destructive
forces on the habitat that comes with dramatic
climatic changes in the ecosystem.
13. THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
Red Knot -- Passed 10 Years
LAST SEEN In 2008
Habitat has been SURROUNDED
Resorts and Restaurants & other Development
RISING SEA LEVELS & CLIMATE CHANGE
Infrastructure like ROADS
All LEADS to…
IMPERVIOUS SURFACES (water quality)
CARBON EMMISSIONS (air quality)
FREQUENCIES used by HUMANS (confusion)
THE COMBO --- HUMAN DISTURBANCES -
-- DISAPPEARING REDKNOT
14. THE BIRD with ALL the
PROBLEMS
USFWS: The Red Knot
Cooperative Aggreement
Established in the UNITED STATES and
aids the scenario by PROTECTING the
BREEDING grounds of the HORSESHOE CRAB
(keystone species) in DELAWARE BAY…
Considering the RED KNOT is a versatile
WESTERN HEMI / N & S POLE Migrator, in
order to PRESERVE this species,
COOPERATION & COLLABORATION
between nations for a COMPREHENSIVE
MANAGEMENT PLAN will aid but NOT
GUARENTEE survival of the REDKNOT, whose
journey EXTENDS in TIME without
SUFFICIENT TOOLS needed in COMPLETION
of that JOURNEY…
DESPITE the MBTA, that historically
noticed the OVER EXPLOITATION of
HUNTING to REDKNOTS almost to
EXTICTION…
HUNTING REGULATIONS on this bird
in the CARIBBEAN ISLANDS has
significantly ADDED to DRAMATIC
REDUCTIONS on this UNIQUE BIRD
species..
This EXPOSES the LACK of
SOCIETAL pressures / HUMAN
indifferences ASSOCIATED with FUNDING
for PROTECTION and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the REDKNOT
16. *--PHOTO EVIDENCE of RED KNOT in last
10 Yrs--*
Tells me… either…
*RED KNOTS hunted in large FLOCKs
*Adapted to HUNTING in CARIBBEAN
*Adapted to Climatic Conditions
*#s are EXTREMELY LOW
*DIED on STARVING JOURNEYS
*IS it ALREADY BE TOO LATE??
18. [CEPF]
Corridor Accomplishments
1. Cockpit Country - North Coast Forest - Black River Great Morass
– Jamaica
2. Portland Bight Protected Area
– Jamaica
3. Massif du Nord
– Haiti
4. Massif de la Selle – Jaragua – Bahoruco - Enriquillo binational corridor
– Haiti and Dominican Republic
5. Cordillera Central
– Dominican Republic
6. Central Mountain Range
– St. Vincent and the Grenadines
