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Trinity Term 1 > Climate and Life on Earth V: Global change - biodiversity in the Anthropocene 2 > Flashcards

Climate and Life on Earth V: Global change - biodiversity in the Anthropocene 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Describe the mutli-level loss of biodiversity

A
  • species-level
  • population-level
  • ecosystem-level
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2
Q

Describe species-level loss of biodiversity

A

global and local extinctions

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3
Q

Describe population-level loss of biodiversity

A

declines and extinction

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4
Q

Describe ecosystem-level loss of biodiversity

A

loss of wilderness and biotic homogenization

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5
Q

Describe the global rate of species extinction

A

10-100x higher than average rate over the past 10 million years, and is accelerating

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6
Q

Describe declines in abundance of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish since 1970s

A
  • 60%
  • 16,704 populations
  • representing 4,005 species
  • 23% in the Nearctic
  • 89% in the Neotropics
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7
Q

What is Biodiversity Intactness Index [BII]

A

= average abundance of originally present species across a broad range of species, relative to abundance in an undisturbed habitat

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8
Q

Describe BII

A
  • translucent bars indicate the corresponding relative biodiversity values if novel species are treated as equivalent to those originally present
  • numbers can surpass 100% because gains may outnumber losses)
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9
Q

List some ways of capturing biodiversity loss

A
  • ecosystem extent and condition
  • species extinction risk
  • ecological communities
  • biomass and species abundance
  • nature for indigenous peoples and local communities
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10
Q

Describe ecosystem extent and conditions

A

declination relative to earliest estimated states (currently 47%)

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11
Q

Describe species extinction risk

A

25% in most animal and plant groups studied

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12
Q

Describe ecological communities

A
  • biotic integrity
  • declined by 23% average in terrestrial communities
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13
Q

biotic integrity

A

the abundance of naturally-present species

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14
Q

Describe biomass and species abundance

A
  • global biomass of wild mammals fallen by 82%
  • vertebrate abundance declined rapidly since 1970
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15
Q

Describe nature for indigenous peoples and local communities

A

72% of indicators show ongoing deterioration of important cultural elements

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16
Q

List some direct drivers of decline

A
  • land/sea use change
  • direct exploitation
  • climate change
  • pollution
  • invasive alien species
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17
Q

List some indirect drivers of decline (values and behaviours)

A
  • demographic and sociocultural
  • economic and technological
  • institutions and governance
  • conflicts and epidemics
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18
Q

What is the biggest driver of decline

A
  • habitat degradation/loss
  • commodity-driven deforestation in the tropics
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19
Q

Describe deforestation

A
  • 50% Earth’s species live in tropical forests
  • ~9 million hectares forest lost / year
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20
Q

Describe the indirect effects of deforestation

A
  • climate change: 13% of total GHG emissions
  • loss of agricultural productivity: triggers major shifts in rainfall and increased temperatures worldwide
  • increased conversion of forest to agriculture to compensate
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21
Q

Describe the effects of increasing temperatures in the tropics

A
  • generates large upward-moving air masses
  • cause teleconnections that flow outward
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22
Q

teleconnections

A

ripples in the upper atmosphere

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23
Q

List some drivers of tropical deforestation

A
  • industrial animal agriculture is main driver
  • beef > soy (for fodder) > palm oil > timber > paper products
  • beef = >67% deforestation
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24
Q

List some ‘forest risk’ commodities

A

palm oil, soya, beef, leather, timber, and pulp and paper.

25
Q

Describe fishing

A
  • c. 100 mt of animal biomass harvested from the ocean each year
  • c. 6Bn tonnes of fish and invertebrates have been taken from the world’s oceans since 1950
  • 75% of the major marine fish stocks currently depleted, or overexploited
  • 70,000 reported industrial fishing vessels cover >55% of the oceans
  • smaller fisheries involve > 100 Mn people
  • huge population declines, but few extinctions so far (except in reefs)
26
Q

Define climate change

A

the large-scale, long-term shift in the planet’s weather patterns or average temperatures

27
Q

Give some evidence for climate change

A
  • higher global air and sea temperatures
  • changing patterns of rainfall
  • retreating glaciers
  • declining sea ice in the Artic
  • declining ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctic
  • sea level rise
  • increased frequency and intensity of extreme events
  • changes in nature: timing of life cycle events and shifts in ranges
28
Q

Describe climate change

A
  • since 1900, global average surface temperature has increased by 1 °C (2019 average: 1.11 +/-0.1 °C, Met Office)
  • since 2000, 18 of 19 hottest years recorded since 1850 have occurred
  • since 1900, sea levels have risen by c.10 cm around UK and c.19 cm globally, with the rate of sea-level rise increasing in recent decades
  • predicted extinction risks from climate change accelerate with global temperature rise
29
Q

List some causes of climate change

A
  • anthropogenic
  • non-anthropogenic, natural
30
Q

Describe some anthropogenic factors causing climate change

A
  • increased concentration of GHGs
  • pollution: ozone and aerosols
  • land-use change (direct impacts on reflectance)
31
Q

Describe some non-anthropogenic factors causing climate change

A
  • El Niño (release of heat from Pacific ocean)
  • changes in Earth’s orbit (inc. insolation)
  • sun spots (inc. insolation)
  • volcanic activity (inc. re-radiation)
32
Q

When the environment changes, organisms either

A
  • change behaviour (e.g. in phenology – breed earlier)
  • move (e.g. niche tracking – head north, move upslope)
  • adapt (e.g. change phenotype)
  • go extinct…
33
Q

Describe species changing behaviour in response to climate change

A
  • since ‘60s, many European and N American bird species breeding 8-10 days earlier
  • since 1970, 70% California butterfly species have advanced first flight date by 24 days
34
Q

Describe species movement in response to climate change

A
  • since 1972, >50% European birds, butterflies & dragonflies shifted ranges 20-240 km north
  • colonisation of temperate zone with subtropical flora & fauna
  • bird range and tree lines shifting ranges upslope (Andes, Himalayas)
35
Q

Why do species go extinct under climate change?

A
  • nowhere to go: habitat fragmentation, isolated on mountain tops
  • spatial and temporal mismatches: different spp. change or move at different rates; asynchronies between predators and prey, etc
  • species enter range of novel pathogens or predators
  • rate of environmental change faster than rate of evolutionary change
36
Q

Discuss some extinctions linked to climate change

A
  • mountain restricted species
37
Q

Discuss a mountain restricted species linked to climate change

A

harlequin frogs (67% species extinct)

38
Q

Describe coral reef extinction

A
  • coral reefs bleach (increased sea surface temp.)
  • 16% extinct species during 97-98 el Niño
  • 95% of Great Barrier Reef surveyed with >30% bleaching during 2016-2017 el Niño (as yet unknown impact on extinction)
39
Q

around … of population declines driven by climate change alone

A

7%

40
Q

Biggest biodiversity impacts come from

A

combined effects of climate and land use change

41
Q

RCP =

A

relative concentration pathways (emissions scenarios used by the IPCC)

42
Q

Predicted extinction risks from climate change

A

accelerate with global temperature rise

43
Q

Describe the governmental action to tackle climate change

A
  • decarbonize
  • scale-up conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems: incentivise ecosystem stewardship
  • stop subsidizing bad practice
  • tax/penalise harm to the biosphere and climate system
  • take the value of nature into account when making decisions: national and company accounting, replace GDP with metrics that prioritise wellbeing over material wealth
44
Q

Describe decarbonisation

A

incentivize renewables, tax fossils

45
Q

bad environmental practice

A

big oil, coal, over-exploitation of lands and seas

46
Q

How can businesses tackle climate change

A
  • decarbonize
  • eliminate deforestation and other destructive practices from supply chains
  • invest in nature and renewables
47
Q

Give some examples of businesses engaging with climate good practice

A
  • pledges for zero deforestation in supply chains (e.g. Wilmar, Asia Pulp & Paper, Cargill)
  • 870+ companies developing GHG emission reduction targets
  • across-the-board investment in renewable power generation
  • pledges to invest in nature-based solutions
  • nature-positive economy
  • Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD)
48
Q

What can individuals and communities to tackle climate change

A
  • diet change: plant-based
  • decarbonise purchases and travel
  • hold governments to account
  • spread the word
  • conduct and communicate good research
49
Q

Describe the research necessary

A
  • natural science underpinning biodiversity’s influence over ecosystem functions and properties
  • social science underpinning values and valuations
50
Q

Describe forests

A
  • produce oxygen
  • regulate hydrological cycles
  • moderate climates
  • store carbon
  • monocultures may be more vulnerable to disease and potentially less able to withstand changing environmental conditions
  • tree diversity stabilises the system
  • generated through density-dependent processes such as those mediated by disease and herbivory
  • made possible by the pollination of flowers and dispersal of seeds by numerous specialized organisms
  • much of the diversity of microbes, pathogens, insects, birds and mammals in the forest system is not directly generating services to humanity, it is supplying something more fundamental by allowing the ecosystem to regenerate in perpetuity, and to withstand and recover from disease and environmental change
51
Q

Biodiversity is structured by biodiversity services

A

(i) community assembly
(ii) interaction networks
(iii) nutrient transfer
(iv) biogeochemical cycling

52
Q

biodiversity services

A
  • underpin and determine the stabiility, resilience, magnitude and efficiency of the functions and properties of ecosystems
53
Q

community assembly

A

biotic and abiotic interactions (including environmental filtering, competition and host–parasite interactions) which together determine the distribution of species and their abundance in communities

54
Q

interaction networks

A

architecture of mutualistic and antagonistic interactions underlying pollination, seed dispersal, predator–prey cycles, etc.

55
Q

nutrient transfer

A

breakdown of nutrients and transfer across the environment

56
Q

biogeochemical cycling

A

cycling of chemicals, e.g. C, N, through the biosphere and lithosphere

57
Q

Describe ecosystem service valuation

A
  • intrinsic and instrumental values When economic valuation is done correctly (i.e. robust assessment and weighting of values), the outcome is green environmental policy (left, green arrow implying positive effects on biodiversity and ecosystems) that leads to environmental conservation, restoration, protection and sustainable practice.
58
Q

instrinsic

A

cannot be valued economically

59
Q

instrumental

A

contribute to human welfare in many and varied direct and indirect ways

Trinity Term 1 (38 decks)

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