(M2) Lecture 13 - Biodiversity Crisis

Question 1

Concept of ‘biodiversity’ and what is meant by ‘biodiversity crisis’ (focus on extinction rates)

Answer 1

Biodiversity: The variability among living organisms, from plants to animals, and the terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems in which they live. Biodiversity includes diversity within the same species (genetic diversity), between different species and between ecosystems.

Biodiversity Crisis
- Extinctions across taxa

Question 2

Main drivers of the current biodiversity crisis with focus on the boreal forest in Canada (connection to climate change)

Answer 2

• Impacted by natural disturbances, like wildfires and pests. But also industrial disturbances through: roads, oil & gas exploration and development, pipelines, infrastructure, forestry activities
• Boreal forest can store C for thousands of years, but is being hit hard; deforestation, peatland clearing, conversion of native grassland to cropland = loss of natural carbon storage
• Can see landscape disturbances from space
• Rates of anthropogenic disturbance exceed all other disturbance sources in some regions of the boreal forests that are associated with intensive forest management

Question 3

What the cumulative impacts/disturbances on boreal forest are (in Alberta, but easily applies more globally)

Answer 3

• rates of anthropogenic disturbance exceed all other disturbance sources in some regions of the boreal forest that are associated with intensive forest management
• Difficult for wildlife to find suitable habitat
• Species respond differently to disturbances = makes planning hard

Question 4

Natural disturbances

Answer 4

Wildfires and pests

Question 5

Direct impacts of anthropogenic activities

Answer 5

habitat loss, destruction, fragmentation, overexploitation of resources, range interruption, climate change

Question 6

Indirect impacts of anthropogenic activities: e.g., imbalanced predator-prey relationships (ex. of the wolf and caribou)

Answer 6

• Human-induced habitat alterations have caused an imbalance in predator-prey relationships resulting in unnaturally high predation rates

Question 7

Definition of indicator species

Answer 7

Organisms that serve as a measure of the environmental conditions that exist in a given area.

Question 8

The specific case of the woodland caribou and why it’s important (indicator + umbrella species)

Answer 8

• Woodland caribou are an indicator species, due to their sensitivity to disturbances and use of mature forests and wetlands
• Caribou declines indicate something is wrong
• Forestry, oil and gas exploration and development, mining and mineral exploration and development, hydro-electric development, and tourism all negatively affect boreal caribou. A combination of direct and fxnl habitat loss, decreased habitat quality, and development of linear features, causing fragmentation.
• Umbrella species; large geographical range, need a lot of forest to thrive, when you can achieve that for caribou you are benefitting many other species as well
• Caribou have a strong response to disturbances; helpful in predicting survival; a little bit of disturbance they they will avoid the area not only in the disturbance zone but within a radius

Question 9

Possible solutions and recovery plan to contrast the crisis

Answer 9

• A range needs 65% undisturbed habitat to have a likely outcome of population stability.
• Disturbed habitat: a 500-m buffer around industrial features best represents the combined effects of increased predation and avoidance of caribou population across Canada
• Habitat measures need to be at the heart of all caribou conservation solutions; increase undisturbed habitat and not destroying intact habitat by establishing conservation areas.
• One part of the solution? Protected areas!

Question 10

Protects areas: definition, requirements, expansion

Answer 10

Protected Area: a clearly defined geographic space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem service and cultural values.
- Only areas where the main objective is conserving nature can be considered protected areas; this can include many areas with other goals as well, at the same level, but in the case of conflict, nature conservation should be priority.

Question 11

Mitigating measures and regulations on land use

Answer 11

1. COP 15
   - 196 countries gathered in Montreal in 2022 to create a Global Biodiversity Framework that describes 23 targets that would help in the battle against biodiversity loss
2. Land use planning is key
   - we need to consider all activities on the landscape