conservation, global change & sustainable development

Question 1

threats to biodiversity

Answer 1

• habitat loss
• introduced sp
• overharvesting
• global change

Question 1

sp level conservation

Answer 1

• focus on threatened species (IUCN Red List)
• sp assessed according to standardised criteria
• many sp not evaluated / data deficient: no listing = no funding

Question 2

pop-level conservation

extinction vortex

Answer 2

• genetic (& other) problems for small pops: extinction vortex
• evidence for extinction vortex: effect of introduction of genetic variation
• ‘Minimum Viable Pop’ concept – any smaller & extinction vortex will finish it off
  -> depends on effective pop size

Question 3

Habitat (and landscape) level conservation

Answer 3

• focus on habitats, rather than individ sp
• connecting patches of habitat
• maximise habitat types in landscape
• can work in concert with sp-level conservation through ‘Flagship Species’ concept

Question 4

zoned reserves

Answer 4

• landscape approach to conservation
• protected areas to cover diversity of habitat types
• buffer-zones of low-intensity economic activity
• connectivity among protected areas

Question 5

nutrient enrichment

Answer 5

• agriculture: geographic separation between where food grown & where it’s consumed
• disruption of local nutrient cycles
• requires addition of fertiliser to agricultural land
• global ↑ in nutrients in ecosystems

Question 6

Impacts of nutrient enrichment:

Answer 6

• eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems => algal blooms, followed by algal die-offs => O₂ depletion
• biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems (e.g 1/3 ↓ of plant diversity in British ecosystems)

Question 7

toxins in the env

Answer 7

• industrial compounds & pesticides
• when toxins not excreted: Biological Magnification
• pharmaceuticals: feminisation of male fish due to chemicals with estrogenic properties
• plastic waste:
  -> mechanical problems: animals ingest plastic & starve
  -> leaching of chemicals (some with estrogenic properties)

Question 8

GHGs & climate change

Answer 8

↑ in CO₂ conc in Earth’s atm since industrial revolution

=> ocean acidification

^impacts:
- less CaCO₃ available for building & maintaining calcified structures by organisms
- where CO₂ is limiting factor in p/s, ↑ in plant & algal growth

=> global warming through greenhouse effect

^impacts:
- range shifts
- disrupted sp interactions
- coral bleaching

Question 9

Depletion of Atmospheric Ozone

Answer 9

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) pollution thins layer of O₃ in stratosphere that filters UV
• impacts: DNA damage => cancers in humans, ↓ growth in phytoplankton, etc.

Question 10

cowboy economy

Answer 10

open system with unlimited resources & unlimited capacity for waste disposal

Question 11

spaceship economy

Answer 11

closed system in which resources & waste need to be managed sustainably

Question 12

economic theory

Answer 12

transition possible while maintaining growth

Question 13

human ecological footprint

Answer 13

= how many global hectares (gha) does it take to sustain one person?

• global av: 2.7 gha pp, but with large variation – more economic development -> higher gha pp
• estimate: 1.7 gha pp is sustainable
• solutions?
  -> ↓ pop?
  -> ↓ pp gha?

Question 14

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Answer 14

• SDGs at heart of ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’
• adopted by all UN Member States in 2015
• essentially a commitment to Spaceship Economy
• inc goals on biodiversity
• how to measure progress?
  -> targets & indicators associated with each SDG
  -> Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound

Question 15

Sustainable Development and Conservation

Answer 15

How is this all relevant to conservation?

• biodiversity conservation integral to sustainable economy (e.g. ecosystem services)
• must move away from colonial attitudes to conservation, towards integration of conservation in sustainable development
• tackle root causes of habitat destruction & overexploitation
• research and conservation funding