Lecture 5:Biodiversity Preservation, Restoration and Reconciliation  Flashcards
How do we conserve species?
The main strategies have been the preservation of genes, species and ecosystems (either in situ or ex situ), and the restoration of degraded habitats by re-introducing key species or processes to the site
- Whole sub-disciplines of ecology have developed around these themes (conservation biology, restoration ecology)
- More recently the idea of reconciliation ecology has been developed (Rosenzweig, 2003), to encourage the use of anthropogenic habitats by a wider range of species
Resource managment
In this era of intensive management, understanding key resource dynamics became important
But we were still thinking at inappropriate space and time scales, and assuming equilibria or the ‘balance’ of nature
Equilibrium concepts
As the equilibrium concepts of succession and climax communities developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they implied predictability of ecosystem dynamics
• And predictability means that systems can be managed and controlled much like a machine
most early ecological research assumed that ecosystem processes could be broken into smaller parts and then reconstructed (mechanistic approach)
• The legacy of this is still being felt today in resource management, with control over resource production assumed to be higher than it actually is
Conservation perception
Conservation is perceived/presented as a scientific endeavour = preservation of biodiversity in the form of components (species, genotypes) or assemblages (communities, habitats, ecosystems, landscapes) – actually sustainable use
What is post normal science?
(Funtowicz and Ravetz 1994) observes that the reductionist scientific method is not feasible for some large and complex scientific issues and systems analysis due to the uncertainty and potential risks involved (originally for civil nuclear power)
example is global warming – scientists agree that it is happening and needs to be addressed, but great uncertainties exist
• These large-scale problems cannot be addressed solely by scientists
Conservation, post normal science?
conservation is post-normal science – the risk to be managed is the loss of biodiversity and associated services, and everyone has a stake in this
Extended peer community
Ravetz advocated an ‘extended peer community’ that should be involved in deciding values and making decisions, which in conservation terms is the whole conservation industry as it currently exists
Biodiversity preservation
- Preservation of species in zoos/botanical gardens/reserves • Creation of gene banks
- Conservation of habitats/ecosystems
How many species we use?
Of the 250,000 global plant species, ~3000 have been used directly for human food, ~200 have been domesticated, and 15 species are crops of major economic importance
• e.g. in rural Peru, 193 species eaten, 120 collected from the wild – contrast with the UK, where we eat around 20 basic species
• Diversity of wild crops has now been lost, e.g. rice in India was 3000 varieties – now 75% of rice comes from fewer than 10 varieties
• Indonesia – 74% of rice comes from a single maternal parent
• USA – 50% wheat crop from nine varieties, 75% potato crop from four varieties, and 50% of cotton crop from three varieties
Single species preservation- Otters decline
Otters formerly widespread throughout the UK, rapid decline from 1950-1980. Populations remain in Wales, SW England and Scotland
• Decline due to 1) pollution of watercourses, 2) water quality leading to declining prey, 3) Impoverished bank side habitat, 4) mortality from road deaths and eel traps
Single species preservation- Otter action plan and objectives
Action plan objectives: 1) Maintain existing populations, 2) Expand existing populations, 3) By 2010 restore breeding otters to all catchments and coastal areas where they have been recorded since 1960
• Some successes (in 2003 numbers were increasing)
Keystone species
Feeding relationships among major species in the rocky intertidal community dominated by Pisaster ochraceous
• Increases in response to Pisaster removal for 3 years are indicated by (+) and decreases by (-)
• After 10 years only the response of Mytilus remains positive
IUCN and European Red Lists
The International Union for Conservation of Nature global and European Red Lists were established in 1963 to draw attention to endangered species
- Selection of species was largely subjective, yet this set the standard for conservation criteria until the 1990s, when more quantified assessment began to take place and the updated Red List Categories were published in 1994, refined in 2001 (e.g. now using Population Viability Analyses)
- The Great Auk is the UK’s only extinct animal (since 1500 AD) – 8 species are currently Critically Endangered due to habitat loss/degradation
EU Bird and Habitat directives
EU Birds Directive -covers the protection, management and control of naturally occurring wild birds in the EU (1979)
•The primary mechanism is the establishment of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for 182 species considered to be in danger of extinction or vulnerable specifically due to habitat loss
• E.g. the Night Heron is suffering from a Europe- wide loss of reed-bed and wetland habitat, so this legislation is an added incentive to conserve these ecosystems

More EU Bird and Habitat directives
1992 EU Habitats Directive –
• Its aim is to ensure the preservation of biodiversity primarily via the conservation of habitat, to support the Bern Convention and the Birds Directive
• Key habitat types are those which 1) are in danger of disappearance in their natural range, 2) have a very small natural range due to regression or limited area, or 3) present outstanding example of one or more the five biogeographical regions: Alpine, Atlantic, Continental, Macronesian and Mediterranean – such sites can be selected as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) (note that SACs and SPAs together = the Natura 2000 network)
Wildlife and Countryside Acts
Introduced in 1981 as the principle mechanism for the legislative protection of wildlife in Great Britain (and therefore support the previous directives discussed)
- The act prohibits 1) the intentional killing, injuring or taking of any wild bird, and destruction or taking of nests or eggs (with the exception of pest species), 2) the intentional killing, injuring, taking of possession or trade of a range of wild animals, and the damaging of places used by the animals for shelter or protection, and 3) the unauthorised uprooting of a range of wild plant species, their possession, and sale.
- E.g. It is illegal to pick or damage the edible Hedgehog fungus or any tree it is living on
UK Biodiversity Action Plans
A series of national consultive plans to address the CBD (taken up in a range of countries but only substantially in a few)
overall goal is “to conserve and enhance biodiversity within the UK and to contribute to the conservation of global biodiversity thorough all appropriate mechanisms”
•
SAPs focus on individual species while HAPs focus on habitats
• UK BAP currently covers 391 SAPs, 45 HAPs and 162 local BAPs, and is therefore extensively detailed – one of the best plans in the world
Ecological Restoration
Many ecological communities are perceived as static
• Does it really make sense to try and restore an area to a single community based on how we perceive that particular habitat should be?
• There is an increasing focus now on restoring the functioning of systems and then letting natural dynamics take over – it doesn’t matter what habitat currently occupies an environment, as long as it has the capacity to change
• This is primarily an academic viewpoint – many conservation organisations have clear ideas about what are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ habitats
Ecological Restoration- Truckee
Truckee River (California/Nevada) dammed and dewatered throughout the 20th Century, leading to aquatic and riparian ecosystem collapse.
- In the 1980s restoration effort to save the endemic Cui-ui sucker (Chasmistes cujus), increasing spring flows to allow spawning. This also occasionally helped the Populus fremontii and and Salix exigua species to establish
- Previous modelling and experimental efforts on other rivers had established a recruitment box model for P. fremontii. This was then applied to the Truckee with great success.
Reintroductions
Grey wolf (Canis lupus) was common until quite recently – not specifically associated with woodland, but mainly subject to persecution for agricultural, economic and even religious reasons
There is now increasing interest in reintroducing the wolf to the UK (e.g. Wolf Trust, IUCN), primarily in Scotland, though there is opposition from farmers and landowners – natural recolonisation is occurring in Europe, but UK is an island…
Reconciliation Ecology
An acceptance that humans will not give up habitat means that we have to find ways of reconciling societal services with biodiversity and ecosystem services
Reconciliation Ecology- wall modification
e.g. Deptford Creek, London
Walls replaced with sheet piling, but with timber fenders and ledges to trap sediment and seeds
Many species within 8 years, no wall damage

