Lecture 34 - Conservation Biology (part 2) Flashcards
Biodiversity is sustained with…
landscape conservation
Conservation efforts lately have been focusing on…
biodiversity within communities, ecosystems, & landscapes
Biodiversity of a landscape is related to…
landscape structure
Fragmentation
• Species adapted to ecosystem centers have more rapid decline than species along edges
- Ex. Amazon rainforest with isolated forest fragments
Edges
- The boundaries of the ecosystem
- Ex. Edges of forests, lake shorelines, cropland and urban housing tracts
- Edges have their own properties that differ from surrounding ecosystems
- Organisms can thrive in edges because they get resources from both surrounding ecosystems
Edges have their own properties that differ from surrounding ecosystems. Give an example:
Ex soil surface at edges receive more sunlight than the forest beside but is cooler and wetter than the soil in the open areas also beside
Organisms can thrive in edges because…
they get resources from both surrounding ecosystems
• Ex. Ruffled grouse (Bonasa umbellus) needs forests for nesting coverage and winter food but openings for summer food
In fragmented habitats, ______ _______ can exist that help organisms move between fragments
movement corridors
Movement corridors can be what?
Can be narrow strip of land, trees, small clumps of habitat, ect that is similar enough to the habitat fragment
What does movement corridors allow for?
Allows for dispersal, reduces inbreeding, aid in migration
Riparian
(along water ways that undergo frequent and/or periodic flooding) act as corridors (coyotes come into the city via the frozen Red River and it’s riparian banks)
Riparian ecosystems are more than just corridors. They can also…
protect a huge diversity of species from wild fires, such as lichens on alder trees
within montane streams in BC
We can create _______ _______ to help species cross roads that would otherwise have fragmented their habitat
artificial corridors (like Wildlife bridges in Banff National Park; kinda a tunnel on road for cars to go through)
Corridors can be harmful though…
- Can spread diseases among habitat fragments
* Can allow predators to travel into new fragments
What else can we do to protect landscapes and habitats?
Can establish PROTECTED AREAS, preventing/reducing habitat loss as a means to preserve biodiversity
7% of the _____ _____ are in protected areas
world’s land
10% of ______ ______ ____ is in protected areas
Canada’s land mass
Begs the question though….
should the land set aside in protected areas be managed to reduce particular threats (ie wildfires, removing predators, etc) or should we let nature run its course and not interfere?
Biologists focus on areas to be protected that are…
biodiversity hot spots
Biodiversity hot spots
Relatively small area with numerous endemic species and/or a large number of threatened or endangered species
Example of biodiversity hot spots:
Ie Newfoundland is a biodiversity hot spot for many endemic and endangered lichens due to its unique climate and fog forests and has many protected areas and provincial/national parks (Gros Morne, Terra Nova, etc)
Designating biodiversity hot spots generally leans towards those with…
vertebrates and plants, and less so on insects and other invertebrates
Nature reserves are…
protected “islands” of biodiversity within a “sea of disturbance”
Do we create fewer but larger reserves or smaller, more numerous ones?
Larger reserves have smaller total perimeters (edges) than smaller ones and also are good for large, territorial animals
Zoned reserves accounts for…
land management practices
Zoned reserves
Extensive regions of undisturbed land surrounded by areas with controlled human
activity for economic gains
What do zoned reserves have?
Strict regulations prevent the area from overexploitation and often have buffer
zones to prevent the undisturbed areas from being damaged by human activities
Describe how Costa Rica does really well with zoned reserves
- Goal is to protect and maintain 80% of its native species
* Even have ECOTOURISM, promoting its national parks and reserves to tourists for economic gain
Ecotourism
promoting its national parks and reserves to tourists for economic gain
Marine protected areas (MPA) also exist:
• Endeavour Hydrothermal vents off Vancouver Island
- Protects unique biota found in deep sea vents along spreading ocean floors
• Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs MPA
- Protects 9000 year old reefs
• Often establish in areas with economic resources (fish, oil, etc)
Urban ecology
looks at protecting species within urban areas and works to understand how species and the urban environment interact
Almost __ ______ people will live in cities by 2030
5 billion!
Describe how critical research focuses on urban streams
• Focus on water quality and flow
• What species are found in them
• Urban rivers tend to rise and fall more rapidly than streams in rural
areas
- Concrete and other impervious materials, storm drains, etc force
runoff into streams
- Also have higher concentrations of nutrients and chemical
pollutants
• Can plant native shrubs and plants to manage riverbanks, help
establish invertebrate populations, and moderate stream flow and
water quality
Describe how urban rivers tend to rise and fall more rapidly than streams in rural
areas
- Concrete and other impervious materials, storm drains, etc force runoff into streams
- Also have higher concentrations of nutrients and chemical pollutants
What can be done to urban streams to help?
Can plant native shrubs and plants to manage riverbanks, help establish invertebrate populations, and moderate stream flow and water quality
Human activity is…
modifying Earth’s ecosystems at the regional and global levels
Acid precipitation
is a large-scale global change in which precipitation (rain, snow, fog, etc) has a pH <5.2
Describe acid precipitation
- Burning of wood and fossil fuels releases SO2 and NO2 which reacts with atmospheric water forming sulfuric and nitric acids
- Can result in huge loss of species as the acid precipitation not only burns terrestrial species, but also acidifies lakes and rivers
Nutrient enrichment and loss
Nutrients are lost when habitats are converted or destroyed (agriculture removes nutrients from soils, etc)
When does nutrient enrichment happen?
happens when nutrients are added to a habitat that have either been lost or not previously found there
• Ex adding fertilisers to crops added Nitrogen to the soil, but can also enrich surrounding waterways
Critical load
the amount that plants can absorb without causing harm to the ecosystem
What happens when nutrients exceed critical load?
can cause immense problems
• Leaching, runoff, ground water contamination, etc
• Can lead to eutrophication, “dead zones” of phytoplankton kill
Toxins in the environment
We release a bunch of stuff into our environment and a lot of it is not good
Organisms can absorb/acquire these toxins into their bodies, which then…
bioaccumulate up the trophic levels
Biological magnification
results in top-tier carnivores being the most affected
Rachel Carson wrote…
“Silent Spring” outlining the effect of DDT on the ecosystem and the decline of large birds of prey
• The DDT interfered with their bodies’ ability to deposit calcium into their eggs, resulting in population decline since the parents crushed their eggs during nesting
Pharmaceuticals also affect ecosystems…
• People who consume over the counter medicines and other drugs
excrete a lot of it when they pee or flush them down the toilet
• Sewage treatment cannot break down all of them so the chemicals
end up in our waterways
• Sex steroids (estrogen, etc) can cause male fish to acquire female
characteristics at super low doses, which can cause population
declines if there are no breeding males
Greenhouse gases and climate change:
- Atmospheric ozone (O3) is important for screening out harmful and excess UV radiation from the sun
- Located 17-25km in the stratosphere (upper atmosphere)
- Accumulation of CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons, widely used in hair sprays and refrigeration in the 1970s) react with ozone, reducing it down to O2
- This thins the ozone layer, reducing its ability to protect life on Earth
Sustainable development
meets the economic needs of society today without limiting the availability of
future generations to meet their needs
But what does sustainable development mean?
Ecologists set conservation strategies by identifying which habitats/patches are most crucial that will also improve the lives quality of life for the local people
• A connection between life sciences with social sciences, economics, and humanities
Case Study: Costa Rica
- Successful conservation of biodiversity required inputs and cooperation at the national government, NGOs, and private citizen levels
- Nature reserves are given tax benefits, especially to those established by individuals
• Established and promotes ecotourism
- 10% of the GDP is from ecotourism
- Locally, almost 100% of locals are employed in tourism
• Only implemented after the country was socioeconomically stable
- Infant mortality rates decreased, life expectancy increased, immunizations, disease control, education goals
