Biological conservation Flashcards
Define biological conservation
The management and study of biodiversity, with the aim of protecting species, their habitats and ecosystems from degradation or extinction
What is biological conservation concerned with maintaining?
Biological value
What is meant by direct use values?
These are ecosystem goods that we can use
Give an example of a direct use value good
Pharmaceuticals
What is meant by indirect use value?
This is based on ecosystem services so benefits for free to humans by the ecosystems
What is the functional importance of biodiversity?
Effect of biodiversity appears to be broadly positive
Biodiversity may enhance stability
What is meant by non-use values?
These are option and bequest values based on extrinsic and intrinsic value such as moral responsibility
What are 3 reasons why we should try and conserve?
Direct use value
Indirect use value
Non-use value
What is the idea behind biophilia?
This is the hypothesis that humans have an innate affinity with nature
Why isn’t biological value measured directly?
It is impractical to measure biological value directly
How does biological conservation work?
By taking principles we know about ecosystems and applying them to make changes
How can biodiversity be measured?
As a surrogate
Order the following chain: proxy, property, surrogate
Property - Surrogate - Proxy
Order the following chain: biodiversity, biological value, species richness
Biological value - Biodiversity - Species richness
What does investigating genetic diversity look at?
Looking at within-species variation at a genome level
Why is investigating genetic diversity important?
Disease resistance and adaptation, more species of a population = more chance that one species is immune
What is species richness?
A management metric to measure diversity (count species)
What are 5 advantages to looking at species richness?
Easily understood Surrogate for other metrics of diversity Practical for conservation Many records exist in this format Readily measurable
What are 6 disadvantages of looking at species richness?
Misses higher levels of ecological organisation
Are all species equivalent?
Overly simplistic
Problems with synonyms
Definition of species is complicated and doesn’t apply to all organisms
What is the ecological significance of species?
What do other forms of looking at species diversity include?
Looking at the evenness or equitability in a location or disparity in the community ecologically
On what scales should species diversity be protected?
Both on a regional and global scale
What is thought to have increased the rate of extinction?
Anthropogenic causes
What is thought to have caused the mass extinction of the megafauna?
Humans in the late quaternary due to overhunting
How can past extinction rates be found?
By looking at fossil records
Explain the idea behind the ‘6th mass extinction’
Some scientists believe that we are in the 6th mass extinction however, there are different criteria as to what a mass extinction is
What is the main criteria for a mass extinction?
75% of global species must be made extinct which we are nowhere near at
What are the 5 main sources of contemporary extinctions summarised as?
HIPPO
What does the HIPPO acronym stand for?
Habitat alteration Invasive species Pollution Population growth Over-exploitation
What is extinction often due to?
A combination of factors
Explain how habitat alteration can cause extinction
It is the single most important factor and is implicated in up to 85% of losses
What is meant by habitat alternation?
Degradation, fragmentation, loss
Why does habitat alteration occur?
Agriculture, urbanisation, climate change…
What does habitat alteration involve?
Breaking up un-managed habitat
What happens if the area is decreased?
The richness also decreases
What does fragmentation mean?
Loss of the ‘rescue effect’ - emigration of a small part of the population
What happens as a result of fragmentation?
The surviving population has a subset of total genetic variability and therefore a reduced capacity to cope with environmental change and disease
What does a loss in biodiversity mean?
That if numbers recover, they won’t be as diverse
What does habitat fragmentation cause?
A genetic bottleneck
Explain the genetic bottleneck
High genetic diversity but then there is a mass extinction which leads to low genetic diversity- this occurs overtime
What can invasive species be due to?
Climate migrants or human introduction
Why are invasive species a problem?
Originally there were no natural predators or pathogens.
Invasive species may out-compete indigenous species, decreasing diversity
How common are invasive species?
They are rare, most new species just integrate into the community and increase biodiversity
What does pollution include?
Air, water and soil pollution e.g. agricultural run-off
What are two ways in which pollution can cause extinction?
Toxicity alteration to biochemical environment
Bioaccumulation in animals even though the initial concentration in animals is low
Why does the bioaccumulation concentration get higher up the food chain?
The concentration of pollutants such as PCBs or mercury increases up the food chain
Explain how population growth can lead to extinction
Human population growth magnifies the effects of the rest of HIPPO and is the ultimate reason behind proximate threats to biodiversity
Explain the effect of over-hunting on extinction
It changes the population size (demography)
Explain the effect of over-consumption on extinction?
It can lead to habitat loss and pollution
What has happened to the fisheries?
We have crossed the threshold in terms of many fisheries
70% of the world’s fisheries are over-exploited or degraded as they were previously regarded as inexhaustible
How much by-catch does 1 tonne of commercial catch produce?
1 tonne commercial catch creates 1.4 tonnes by-catch
When does the modern conservation movement date back to?
19th century
What type of act is conservation?
Social/ political
How was nature viewed pre 1960s?
It was seen as threatening and the wilderness was feared
What was there an emphasis on in the 60s?
Wilderness and intact habitats e.g. national parks which are usually without people
How can the success of national parks be measured?
Areas of habitats were protected and a number of species were saved
What was the view of nature in the 70s and 80s?
‘Nature for people’ there was an emphasis on ecosystem goods and services to slow degradation and the commodification of nature
What happened in the 70s and 80s to make policy makers more interested in conservation?
Nature was given monetary value so that policy makers would be more inclined to act as this became one of their main concerns
What was the issue with giving monetary value to nature?
It was seen as controversial and insensitive
How can the success of ‘nature for people’ be measured?
Multiple indices of human benefits
What is the current view of nature?
‘People and nature’
Explain the view of ‘people and nature’
“Science has moved away from a focus on species and protected areas and into a shared human nature environment, where form, function, adaptability and resilience provided by nature are valued most highly”
What is there an emphasis on as a result of the ‘people and nature’ view?
There is now an emphasis on cultural factors, sustainability and how humans are seen as part of ecosystems
What is the measure of success for the ‘people and nature’ view?
This is hard to conceptualize, let alone measure
What does the introduction of flagship species encourage people to do?
Donate and protect the environment
What do flagship species have the ability to do?
“capture the imagination of the public and introduce people to support conservation action and/or donate funds”
Give an example of a flagship species
WWF’s panda
What can wildlife reserves be viewed as?
Islands
What is the debate other these wildlife reserve islands?
SLOSS
What does SLOSS stand for?
Single Large Or Several Small
What do wildlife reserves involve?
The consolidation and restoration of fragmented habitats
What are biodiversity hotspots?
These are areas of unusually high biodiversity for climate, latitude etc
What are crucial factors when looking at biodiversity hotspots?
Endemism and degree of threat
What is an issue with biodiversity hotspots?
By naming some areas as more important, you are by definition saying that others aren’t which could encourage degradation in these areas
It is also questionable whether they are biologically meaningful or just politically expedient
What is endemism?
This is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic region, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone
What does endemism data tend to be?
Minimalist
What does endemism data focus on?
Vascular plant species
What is the criteria for a hotspot to be under threat?
A hotspot must have lost at least 70% of its ‘primary vegetation’ to be in a degree of threat
What type of vegetation is assumed to be the richest?
Primary vegetation
Give two international agreements for biological conservation
CITES 1957
The Comvention on Biological Diversity 1992
What does CITES regulate?
Trade in endangered species
What assesses the conservation status of species?
The IUCN Red List
How much vegetation has been lost in hotspots?
11 hotspots have lost more than 90% of primary vegetation
What impact would there be if the threshold was lowered to 60%?
There would be no real impact
What would happen if the threshold was increased to 90%
11 hotspots would be ruled out
What are 5 key disadvantages with biodiversity hotspots?
Only consider richness
Thresholds criteria are arbitrary
Data often patchy or missing
Implicitly justifies degradation of non-hotspot areas
important aspects of biodiversity are not considered
Why are fish omitted from hotspot criteria?
The data is patchy
What are vertebrates used as?
A back up to support and facilitate comparison between hotspots
How many hotspots are there?
25
How many hotspots contain more than 2,500 endemic plants?
15
How many endemic plant species must there be in a hotspot?
1500
How many hotspots have over 5000 endemic plant species?
10
