The document discusses various topics related to conservation including ecosystem structure, diversity and change. It defines conservation vs preservation and discusses consumptive vs productive use of resources. It covers concepts like maximum sustainable yield, optimal populations, and the tragedy of the commons. The document also discusses specific laws and policies around hunting, endangered species, and international agreements. Throughout it provides examples to illustrate key points.

1. Conservation

2. Themes
II.The Living World
A.Ecosystem Structure
C.Ecosystem Diversity
D.Natural Ecosystem Change

3. Conservation, Preservation,
Restoration
“For if one link in nature’s chain might be lost, until the whole of things will
vanish by piecemeal.”
- Thomas Jefferson

4. Background
• ecosystems have a remarkable
natural capacity to regenerate,
so they are considered
renewable resources.
• trouble occurs when
users (hunters, fishers, loggers,
whalers) take more than the
excess and deplete the breeding
population

5. Conservation vs. Preservation
• conservation: manage or regulate use so
that it does not exceed the capacity of the
species or systems to renew itself
• preservation: ensure the continuity of
ecosystems and species,
regardless of their potential utility

6. Consumptive Use
• consumptive use: when people harvest natural resources in order to
provide for their needs for food, shelter, tools, fuel, and clothing

7. Consumptive Use: Examples
• wild game (“bush meat”) is harvested in many parts of Africa and
provides a large proportion of the protein needs of people
• often involves poaching in wildlife
parks.
• according to CITES, contributed to
the decline of 30 endangered species

8. Productive Use
• productive use: exploitation
of ecosystem resources for
economic gain

9. Productive Use: Examples
• commercial trade in
wood products for pulp,
lumber, and fuel and in
nonwood forest
products amounted to
$468 billion in 2006
• employed 13.7 million
• global fisheries catch was
92 million metric tons
• valued at $91.2 billion

10. Tenure
• 4 Kinds of Tenure are
Recognized:
1. private ownership: restricts
access to natural resources
2. communal ownership: permits
use of natural resources by
members of the community
3. state ownership: implies
regulated use
4. open access: natural resources
can be used by anyone

11. Maximum Sustainable Yield
• Question: How much continual use can be sustained without
undercutting the capacity of the species or system to renew itself?
• maximum sustainable yield: the highest possible rate of use that
the system can match with its own rate of replacement or
maintenance

12. Optimal Population
• carrying capacity: the maximum population the ecosystem can
support on a sustainable basis
• optimal population: halfway to the carrying capacity...for harvesting
the MSY

13. Precautionary Principle
• total allowable catch (TAC): a
fixed quota set by using the
estimated MSY
• precautionary principle: where
there is uncertainty, resource
managers must favor the protection
of the living resource

14. Tragedy of the Commons
• common-pool resource: when a resource is owned by many people
in common or by no one (open access)
• commons: a system with open access where use by one does not
subtract from use by others
• tragedy of the commons: exploitation of common-pool resources
Figure 3. Off-Loading Menhaden in Southport, North
Carolina, 1969

15. Limiting Access
• private ownership: can mitigate the tragedy of the
commons

16. Limiting Access
• regulate access:
1. protection, so that the
benefits derived from the
commons can be sustained
2. fairness in access rights
3. mutual consent of the
regulated

17. Restoration
• intent: to repair damage to specific
lands and waters so that normal
ecosystem integrity, resilience, and
productivity can return
• $70 billion industry

18. Everglades
Restoration
• Comprehensive
Everglades Restoration
Plan (CERP):
• began in 2000
• expected to take 36 years
• $11 billion

19. Saving Wild Species
scientists cannot stop biodiversity loss - it requires laws - and
enforcement of those laws

20. Science of Conservation
• conservation biology: branch
of science that is most focused
on the protection of populations
and species
• taxonomy: cataloging of species
and the naming of new ones

21. Policy and Politics
• property owners do not own the wildlife living on their lands
• wildlife are public resources, protected under the Public Trust
Doctrine
• government holds these
resources in trust for all
people and is obliged to
provide protection for
these resources

22. Game Animals
• game animals: those animals
traditionally hunted for sport, meat, or
pelts
• as game animals became scarce,
regulations were enacted

23. Case Study: Wild Turkeys
• hunted to the brink of extinction but
making a slow comeback by the 1930s.
• 1930s: total population of
30,000 birds
• birds reintroduced into areas they
once inhabited, and hunting quotas
were strictly limited
• now: almost 7 million birds;
49 states
• also introduced to non-native states
and a pest there...d’oh...

24. Hunting and Conservation
• defenders of hunting and
trapping argue that their
prey are often animals that
lack natural predators •
frequently happens in the
U.S. with deer and elk
• some argue for the return
of predators (grizzly bears,
mountain lions, wolves) to
restore natural balance

25. Backyard Wildlife
• 5.7 million miles of paved roadways in the U.S., more than 1 million
animals become roadkill

26. Backyard Wildlife
• finding a way to protect predators and human safety at the same
time is our stewardship task.
• 1998: Animal Control
became Wildlife Services
• “removal” almost always
means killing...kill around 2.5
million animals yearly • keep
both invasive and native species
from overtaking human areas
and limiting negative interactions

27. Lacey Act
• Lacey Act: forbid interstate commerce in illegally killed wildlife
• made it more difficult for hunters
to sell their kill
• the most important piece of
legislation protecting any
wildlife from illegal killing or
smuggling
• In 2007, fines of more than
$14 million and 31 years of jail
time

28. Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act of 1973
(and 1988): protects endangered and
threatened species
o endangered species: species
that has been reduced to the point
where it is in imminent danger of
becoming extinct if protection is not
provided
o threatened species: species
judged to be in jeopardy, but not on
the brink of extinction

29. Getting a Spot on the List
1. Listing. can be listed by the
appropriate agency or petitions
• must not take into
consideration any economic
impact the listing might have
• 253 species are waiting to be
listed

30. Getting a Spot on the List
2. Critical Habitat. agency must
also designate as critical habitat
the areas where the species is
currently found or could spread
during recovery
• 1995 ruling made it clear that
federal authority extended
to privately held land as well
• only 526 / 1,327 have
designated critical habitats

31. Getting a Spot on the List
3. Recovery Plans. agency is
required to develop recovery
plans designed to allow species
to survive and thrive
• 1,170 / 1,327 have recovery
plans

32. Roadblocks
• currently operating on year-toyear
budget extensions; because of
political battles, has not been
reauthorized since 1992

33. Conflicting Values
• some claim it has been a failure,
because only 10 of the 1,300 have
been taken off the list • only listed
when they have already reached
dangerously low populations
• 41% have stabilized or increased
their populations after being listed

34. More Laws?!?
• March 2006: letter signed by
almost 6,000 scientists from
around the country was
delivered to the Senate
• urged them to pass legislation
that maintains and strengthens
provisions and funding for the
ESA • asked them to reject
proposals from the House
that would weaken the act

35. More
Laws?!?
Northwest Forest Plan
(1994): set
aside 7.4 million acres of
federal land in California,
Oregon, and Washington
where logging is prohibited
in stands of trees older
than 80 years
•

36. Protecting Biodiversity
Internationally
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN):
organization that monitors the success and failures of conservation
efforts

37. Red List
• IUCN maintains a “Red
List” of threatened
species
• 2008: 16,928 species of
plants and animals
• available online

38. CITES
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES)
• established in the early 1970s
• recognizes three levels of vulnerability
• covers 5,000 animals and 28,000 plants/fungi/other species

39. • 1989 : banned
international trade in
ivory in order to stop
the rapid decline of
the African elephant
• recently, allowed a
limited harvest of
elephants for ivory
• ...and poaching

40. • Convention on Biological Diversity (Biodiversity Treaty):
1. conservation of biodiversity
2. sustainable use of biodiversity services
3. equitable sharing of the use of genetic resources found in a country

41. • Convention on Biological Diversity (Biodiversity Treaty):
• Strategic Plan: “to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction of the
current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional, and national
level, as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of
all life on Earth.”

43. Assessment
• 4 Themes and recommendations:
1. Reforming policies that often lead to declines in biodiversity
• EX: subsidizing the exploitation of natural resources

44. Assessment
• 4 Themes and recommendations:
2. Addressing the needs of people who live adjacent to or in
highbiodiversity areas or whose livelihood is derived from exploiting
wild species

45. Assessment
• 4 Themes and recommendations:

46. 3. Practicing conservation at the landscape level • EX: Buffer zones
should be created between major population centers and
wildlife preserves

47. Assessment
• 4 Themes and
recommendations:
4. Promoting more research
on biodiversity
• biodiversity informatics:
put taxonomic data and other
information about species
online