Slides with beautiful graphics and notes to aid student engagement based on Essential Environment by Withgott and Laposota 5th Edition. Chapter 8

1. Biodiversity and Conservation
Biology
Environmental Science, 2017

2. Slicing through the Serengeti
• 1.2 million wildebeest
• 700,000 zebra
• Hundreds of thousands antelope
• Followed by hunting lions
• Crocs ambush at rivers
• Spend the dry season at the north
end, then migrate to the south
• Migration has gone on for
millennia
• A highway is proposed to cross the
Serengeti
• Epic Battle at Kruger (8 min)

3. Slicing the
Serengeti cont…
• 2 million tourists visit Kenya and
Tanzania each year
• Economic benefits $3 billion
• Local people act as conservation
stewards
• People in N. Tanzania desperately
poor
• Isolated by poor road system
• President offered to build road
• Financed by World Bank

4. Slicing Serengeti
Cont…
• Conservationists alarmed by road
proposal
• Road block migration routes
• Roadkill
• Provide access for poaching- illegal
killing of animals for meat and body
parts
• Corridor for invasive plant species
• Encourage settlement next to
highway
• Larger cities and growth promoting
more future roads

5. Serengeti Highway
• 2010 lawsuit stopped road temporarily
• International pressure on Tanzania to abandon road
plans
• Alternative route wrapping around N. end Serengeti
would connect more towns, serve 5X more people
• 2014 Tanzanian Gov’t continues to push for road under
President Kikwete
• Order road paved to park boundaries
• Not a conservation minded president
• Today poaching is on the rise, wildlife #s falling
• One of planet’s last intact large ecosystems
• Africa an example of improving standard of living while
practicing conservation.

6. Oct. 2016 update- no paved road, roads will
be build around the preserve

7. Our Planet of
Life
• Rising human population and
resource consumption are putting
rising pressure on the flora and
fauna of our planet
• We are diminishing the ultimate
source of our civilization’s wealth
and happiness, Earth’s diversity of
life
• Diversity makes Earth unique in
the known universe
• Many people worldwide are
working to save threatened
animals, plants, and ecosystems in
efforts to stem the loss of our
planet’s priceless biodiversity.

8. Biodiversity encompasses multiple levels
• Biological diversity- biodiversity describe the
variety of life on all levels of biological
organization, including the diversity of species,
their genes, their population, and their
communities
Species Diversity
• A species is a distinct type of organism, a set
of individuals that uniquely share certain
characteristics, and can breed with one
another and produce fertile offspring
• We can express species diversity in terms of
number or variety fo species in a particular
region
• Speciation generates new species, extinction
diminishes species richness
• Taxonomists classify species by their similarity
into a hierarchy of categories meant to reflect
evolutionary relationships
• Biodiversity exists below the species level in
the form of subspecies, populations of species
that occur in different geographic areas and
differ from one another in some
characteristics.
• Eg.Black rhino consists of 8 subspecies spread
across Africa

9. Subspecies- Biodiversity
• Taxonomists classify species by their
similarity into a hierarchy of categories
meant to reflect evolutionary relationships
• Biodiversity exists below the species level in
the form of subspecies, populations of
species that occur in different geographic
areas and differ from one another in some
characteristics.
• Eg.Black rhino consists of 8 subspecies
spread across Africa

10. Genetic Diversity
• Genetic diversity encompasses the differences
in DNA composition among individuals
• Genetic diversity provides the raw material for
adaptation to local conditions.
• Populations with more genetic diversity may
be more likely to persist, because their
variation better enables them to cope with
environmental change
• Populations with little genetic diversity are
vulnerable to environmental change, because
they may happen to lack genetic variants that
would help the adapt to novel conditions

11. Inbreeding depression-
genetic bottlenecks
• Cheetah
• Florida panther
• American Bison
• Food crops

12. Romanov’s and hemophilia (x-linked, means boys
only need to inherit one copy to inherit
hemophilia)

13. Cheetah Genetic Bottleneck
• more genetic diversity in a
population means a more
resilient that population
• Able to survive environmental
stressors
• Romanov family and hemophilia-
human avoidance of incest
• Take millennia for genetic
diversity to develop

14. Cheetah
Genetic
Bottleneck
• Cheetahs face threats including
poaching, habitat loss
• Most mammal species share 80%
of their DNA between individuals
• Cheetahs share 99% of their DNA
• Cheetahs have very low genetic
diversity
• Limited ability to adapt to a
changing environment

15. Other species also went
through genetic bottlenecks
• Sea otter was down to 50 individuals in 1937
• Florida panther was down to just six, so they
brought in Texan pumas in 1995
• Just 50 Siberian tigers remained in 1950

16. American bison
• Reduced to near extinction in the
1880s
• Less than 100 remained
• From original herds of 30 million
animals
• Shot for hides and sport
• Crossed with domestic cattle
• Video- destruction of buffalo herds
(6 min)

17. Inbreeding Depression (dogs)
• Double merle= blind/deaf
• Cancer in Golden Retrievers, “Berner” cancer
• Other cancers in other purebreds
• Eye problems
• Multiple genetic issues
• Shorter lifespan
• Smaller litters
• Breed carefully to maintain genetic diversity
• Berner project, dalmations and kidney disease

18. Ecosystem Diversity
• Ecosystem Diversity refers to the
number and variety of
ecosystems
• But biologists may also refer to
the diversity of biotic
communities or habitats within
some specified area

19. Ecosystem Diversity- coral
reefs, rainforest, vernal pools

20. Many Species await discovery
• So far, scientists have described
about 1.8 million species of
plants, animals, and
microorganisms.
• Estimates for the number that
actually exist range from 3
million to 100 million, most
widely accepted estimates are
around 14 million
• Recently discovered newt in
Thailand

21. Why is our knowledge of
species numbers incomplete?
• Many species are tiny and easily overlooked
• Many organisms are so difficult to identify that
species thought to be identical, turn out to be
a different species once scientists take a closer
look (eg. Bats)

22. Some areas of Earth remain almost unexplored (deep sea).

23. New Species of 2019

24. Recently discovered
species
• Pychedelic gecko
• Rosy clawed pistol shrimp
• Ecuadorian rainfrog
• Bucktoothed ghost shark species
• Video- David Attenborough- It’s a
Wonderful World (2:30 min)

25. New Species of 2017
• Red-eyed cave spider
• Parasitoid wasp species named after
shape-shifting Star Trek character
Phanuromyia odo
• New species of snake named after
Cerberus (gates of hell… for where
it was found)
• Fish scale gecko jumps out of its
own skin to escape predators

26. Biodiversity is unevenly
distributed
• Some taxonomic groups hold more species than others
• Insects predominate
• Beetles make up 40% of insects
• Biologist JBS Haldane “God must have had an inordinate
fondness for beatles”
• Living things are distributed unevenly across our planet
• Near equator, greater amounts of solar energy,
humidity, spur plant growth- steady climate
• Variable climates (like NH) favor generalists
• Stable climates favor specialists

27. Biodiversity is unevenly
distributed
• The latitudinal gradient
influences species diversity of
Earth’s biomes
• For any given area, species
diversity tends to increase
with diversity of habitats
because each habitat supports
a somewhat different set of
organisms

28. Benefits of Biodiversity
• provides ecosystem services
• helps maintain ecosystem function
• Enhances food security
• Organisms provide drugs and medicines

29. Benefits of Biodiversity
• Boost economies through tourism and
recreation
• People travel to observe wildlife and explore
natural areas, and in doing so they create
economic opportunities for residents living
near protected areas
• Ecotourism has become a vital source of
income for many countries

30. Ethical obligations to other
species
• Many people feel living organisms have an
inherent right to exist
• Humans can use conscious reasoning to make
decisions
• Conservation of biodiversity is justified on ethical
grounds alone

31. Extinction and
Biodiversity Loss
Extinction occurs naturally
• Extinction occurs when the last member of a
species dies and the species ceases to exist
• The disappearance of a particular population in a
given area, but not of an entire species globally-
called extirpation (extirpation of gray wolves from
NH, extirpation of grizzly bears from Yellowstone)
• Human impact is responsible for most cases of
extirpation and extinction today, but these
processes also occur naturally at a slower rate
• Most extinctions preceding the appearance of
humans have occurred one by one for independent
reasons at a pace referred to as background
extinction rate

32. Earth has experienced five mass extinction
episodes
• Each mass extinction event eliminated more
than one-fifth of life’s family and at least half
its species
• If current trends continue, the modern era
may see extinction of more than HALF of all
species

33. We are setting the sixth mass extinction in
motion
• Species loss is accelerating as
our population growth and
resource consumption put
increasing strain on habitats and
wildlife
• To monitor endangered species,
the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
maintains the Red List, an
updated list of species facing
high risks of extinction.

34. Recently extinct
species
• Passenger pigeon
• Ivory billed woodpecker
• Carolina parakeet
• Tasmanian tiger
• Western black rhino
Soon?
Polar bear
Siberian tiger
Rhinos of all species
Elephants… who else?

35. Sixth mass extinction might
include us
“Arguably the most serious aspect of the
environmental crisis is the loss of biodiversity—
the other living things with which we share
Earth. This affects human well-being by
interfering with crucial ecosystem services such
as crop pollination and water purification and by
destroying humanity’s beautiful, fascinating, and
culturally important living companions.”

36. Biodiversity Loss
More than just extinction, also low population
levels
Many species occupy a much smaller area and
have far lower population than they once did
Species lose their functional role in the
ecosystem
Video- wolves change rivers (4 min)

37. Habitat Loss
• By far the greatest threat to species diversity
• Each organism has adapted over thousands of
years to a specific environment
• Loss of that environment, or major change,
renders that habitat less suitable
• occurs most commonly through gradual,
piecemeal degradation such as habitat
fragmentation
• habitat destruction has occurred widely in nearly
every biome
• In tropical areas more species tend to be lost as
there is natural higher biodiversity
• Less than 1% of American prairies remain

38. Pollution
• Air pollution degrades ecosystems and
forests
• Noise and light pollution impinge on
behavior and habitat use of animals
• Ag run-off harms species
• Heavy metals, endocrine disrupting
compounds
• Plastic garbage in oceans
• Oil spills
• Less influential than habitat loss

39. Overharvesting
• American Bison
• Passenger pigeon
• Mostly affects species that are long-lived and slow to
reproduce
• Tiger
• Elephant
• Rhino
• Poaching for ivory on the rise- 75,000 elephants killed
from 2011 to 2013

40. Belgian malinois
help catch
poachers
• K9 unit in Kruger Park very
successful in finding poachers
• 90% of arrests of poachers with
help of dogs
• Park keeps 50 anti poaching dogs
• Video- K9 unit in Kruger
• Video- K9 training (8 minutes)

41. Invasive species
• Non native species may push native species to
extinction
• Green tree snake
• Cane toad
• Nile perch
• Weeds
• Kudzu
• Purple loosestrife
• Pythons in everglades- wiping out native mammals

42. Climate Change
• Global impacts
• Extreme weather events
• Polar bears
• Some species can not move or adapt- yellow
cedar, sugar maple
• Rise in global temps puts 20- 30% of world’s
species at risk of extinction

43. Combination of factors
• Eg. Monarch butterfly
• Industrial ag eliminates milkweed plants the butterfly
depends on
• Pesticides kill monarchs
• In Mexico where the monarch overwinter, illegal logging
• Amphibian collapse “perfect storm” of many factors
• Many populations vanish without a trace
• Over 42% of amphibian species are in decline
• 170 now extinct
• Habitat destruction, chemical pollution, fungal disease
(chytrid), invasive species- all affect amphibians
• Frogs and pesticides- turn males to females

45. Endangered species are the focus of
conservation efforts
• The primary legislation for protecting
biodiversity in the United States is the
Endangered Species Act (ESA).
• Passed in 1973, the ESA forbids the
government and private citizens from taking
actions that destroy endangered species or
their habitats

46. Protecting
Endangered
Species
• Today, a number of countries have
laws protecting species although
they are not always effective
(Canada, Congo, etc.)

47. Conservation Efforts include
International Treaties
• The 1973 Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
protects endangered species by banning the international
transport of their body parts

48. In 1993, the leaders of many nations
agreed to the Convention on Biological
Diversity- Treaty outlining three goals
• Conserve biodiversity
• Use biodiversity in a
sustainable manner
• Insure the fair distribution of
biodiversity’s benefits

49. Captive breeding,
reintroduction and cloning are
being pursued
• Zoos and botanical gardens have become
centers for captive breeding in which
individuals are bred and raised in controlled
conditions with the intent of reintroducing
them to the wild

50. One new idea for saving species from extinction is to create individuals by cloning them

51. Forensics is being used to
protect species
• Forensic science or forensics involves scientific
analysis of evidence to make an identification
or answer a question relating to a crime or an
accident
• Conservation biologists are now employing
forensics to protect species at risk from illegal
harvesting
• Track elephant ivory to source to inform
enforcement
• Analyze shark fins to see if harvested illegally

52. Some species act as “umbrellas” protecting habitat and
communities

53. Protected areas conserve biodiversity at the
ecosystem level
• 13 % of world land area is
protected
• Many managed for recreation
• Many suffer illegal logging,
poaching, resource extraction
• Do offer animals and plants
some protections, and are large
enough to protect entire natural
systems
• Oceans are now also being
protected as marine reserves
(Sylvia Earle)

54. Protected areas and reserves
• Serengeti National Park in Kenya, Masai Mara
two of the world’s largest reserves
• In total, Kenya and Tanzania have set aside
12% and 25% of their land respectively
• Not enough- poaching, animals get killed
when they leave the park
• Similar to Yellowstone- wolves killed as soon
as they leave the park
• Also need to link protected habitats with
corridors

55. Biodiversity hotspots pinpoints
regions of high diversity
• Biodiversity hot spots are areas that support an
especially high diversity of species, particularly
species that are endemic to the area, or found
nowhere else in the world.
• The nonprofit group Conservation International
maps 34 biodiversity hot spots.
• Hotspots once covered 15% of planet’s land
surface, now cover just 2.3%
• Home to half the world’s terrestrial vertebrate
species
• Focus on these areas where most con be protected

56. Community-based
conservation is growing
• Involves conservation biologists actively
engaging local people in efforts to protect land
and wildlife
• Saco River Land Trust
• Help people, wildlife and ecosystem at the
same time
• Maasai National Park- involve local people
with ecotourism and other benefits
• Work cooperatively to make conservation
benefit all people