Module 4: Terrestrial Biodiversity And Rainforest Managemnent

Question 1

Species diversity

Answer 1

There is an estimated 4-100 million species on the planet. Scientists have so far identified 1.8 million:

• 1 million insects
• 270 000 plants
• 45 000 vertebrate species

Question 2

What is a species - miller and Spoolman definition.

Answer 2

A group of organisms with certain defining characteristics in common, and for sexually reproducing organisms, a set of individuals that can mate and produce fertile offspring. Every organism is member of a certain species

Question 3

What is biodiversity and why is it important?

Answer 3

Biodiversity is the richness of species, including all of earth’s plants, animals, microscopic organism and fungi. Biodiversity is important as the biodiversity found in genes, species, ecosystems, and ecosystem processes is vital to sustaining life on earth. It helps preserve the resilience of species and it is essential that we maintain it.

Question 4

What are the four types of biodiversity?

Answer 4

Species diversity
Ecological diversity
Genetic diversity
Functional diversity and

Question 5

What is species diversity?

Answer 5

Species diversity is the variety of Earth’s species. The number of species in a particular ecosystem

E.g rainforests and coral reefs have many species, while polluted streams will have fewer. I

Question 6

What is ecological diversity?

Answer 6

Ecological diversity are the ecosystems in which species live. It is the variety of ecosystems in a given place. It can cover a large area (forest) or a small area (pond). The community of organisms in a physical environment, interacting together. For example, grass lands, fresh lands, salt water, forests

Question 7

What is genetic diversity?

Answer 7

Genetic diversity refers to the genes and species contains. Genetic diversity with every species allow species to bounce back when they encounter a challenge. Genes are the building blocks for life on earth and are responsible for the similarities and differences among organisms.

Question 8

What is functional diversity?

Answer 8

Functional diversity refers to the biological complexity of a particular system. It is concerned with the ecosystem processes that sustain life’s photosynthesis, decomposition, nutrient cycling- services certain ecosystems are providing for life on earth. The components of biodiversity influence how an ecosystem operates or functions.
Eg. The number of one species in a marine ecosystem, compared to the number of another species, impact the ecosytems functional diversity. Too many or too few of the species will affect the overall functional balance of the whole system

Question 9

Summary of biodiversity

Answer 9

Biodiversity includes the variety of earth’s species (species diversity ) , the genes they contain (genetic diversity), the ecosystems in which they live (ecological diversity) and said the ecosystem processes that sustain tune (functional diversity). Biodiversity is critical for maintaining the health of the planet and its habitants

Question 10

Australias diversity (Stefan et al., 2009)

Answer 10

Endemic species: means native to a certain place
85% terrestrial mammals
91% flowering plants
90% of reptiles and frogs
50% of the world’s marsupial mammals.
Unique features of different species set them apart from similar species elsewhere in the world.
7-10% of earth species are found in Australia

Question 11

What are ectomycorrhizal fungi?

Answer 11

They are a mixture of fungi and microbes that help do a gas nutrient exchange

Question 12

The wet tropics

Answer 12

Two word heritage areas meeting side my side - wet tropics and the Barrier Reef.

• a global biodiversity hotspot.
• listed with UNESCO for world heritage natural values in 1988.
• the wet tropics make up < 1% of the whole continent (of the total land area)

Question 13

Economically important…

Answer 13

• 10% of Queensland’s agricultural activity and 23% of its tourism from 1% of its area
• 3 million visitors per annum with the tourism value $2.5B pa
• rainforest to tourism is $1B pa

Question 14

Contested landscapes…

Answer 14

There is lots of competition tension:

• clearing the space to increase the amount of agriculture two productivity
• maintain the quality of the water
• the ecosystem provides us with goods and services
• increasing pressures to agriculture and pressures for tourism
• complicated how we manage the ecological, people political.

Question 15

Why is Australia’s biodiversity so rich? Steffan et al. (2009)

Answer 15

• isolation from other land masses
• unique environmental factors:
  . Variable rainfall
  . Variable climate
  . Nutrient poor soils
  . Love topography
• 85 diverse terrestrial bioregions - distinct ecologically and geographically defined areas.

Question 16

How does Variable rainfall and soil infertility cause Australia’s rich biodiversity

Answer 16

Variable rainfall and soil infertility (nitrogen- fixing plants) have resulted in a diverse range of organisms uniquely adapted to these conditions (native plants and reptiles). If climate change results in a drier August, this will favour much of our flora and fauna that is already pre-adapted to arid conditions.

Question 17

How does high climate variability result in Australia’s rich biodiversity?

Answer 17

There is high climate clarity in Aus, Due to our location in the middle orb major ocean currents. Strongest driver of our climate in the El Niño southern oscillation phenomenon (ENSO). Also have monsoonal influences from the north, and polar influences from the south. Extreme temperature and rain variation - droughts, floods, storms

Question 18

How does topography impact Australia’s biodiversity?

Answer 18

<5% of landmass is 600m above sea level. Lack of mountain ranges to inhibit species migration. Could be problematic in the event of climate change l, and species cannot migrate to higher altitudes to escape rising temperatures

Question 19

How do human activities affect biodiversity?

Answer 19

Human activities can decrease biodiversity by:
Largely causing the premature extinction of species.
- destroying or degrading habitats needed for the development of new species, and sustaining existing species.
The death of species is not just because it human impacts, it happens anyway. It’s the at which we are impacting them

Question 20

Should we care about the premature extinction of species?

Answer 20

Yes, while we species eventually evolve to replace those lost, it will take 5-10 million years for natural speciation to rebuild the biodiversity we destroy during our lifetimes.
The rate of impacts is critical, as the extinction of one species can result in many other species becoming endangered.

Question 21

Why should we care about premature species extinction?

Answer 21

The ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting) are key.

• species attract attention- koalas are estimated to bring 1Billion dollars to Australia’s economy
• heritage values and national identity - important for traditional owners
• existence and ethical values - species have a right to exist, regardless of whether or not they are vulnerable to us.

Question 22

What roles are humans having on species distinction?

Answer 22

Role of humans - greatest threats to any species:

-habitat loss or degradation
- introduction of invasive species
- population growth (human)
- pollution
- climate change
- overexploitation
(HIPPO)

Question 23

Habitat loss and degradation

Answer 23

• single greatest threat to species
• humans are eliminating, degrading and fragmenting many biologically diverse environments that support existing species, and serve as potential colonisation sites for speciation.

Deforestation (greatest eliminator of species like)
Destruction and degradation of coral reefs and wetlands
Ploughing grasslands
Pollution of streams, lakes, and oceans

Question 24

Premature species distinction and degradation

Answer 24

Human activities, such as filling in wetlands or converting grasslands and forests to crop fields and urban areas, are destroying and degrading biodiversity at a unprecedented and accelerating rate. These disturbances eliminate large numbers of species by destroying or degrading their habitats

Question 25

What is habitat fragmentation?

Answer 25

Habitat fragmentation is caused by roads, logging, and agriculture. Large habitats are reduced in area and divided into smaller, scattered, isolated patches. It leads to local and regional extinction. It is vulnerable to predators, competitors, disease and limits available resources

Question 26

Introduction of invasive species

Answer 26

Can be deliberate or accidental.
Introduces species can lack natural predators, competitors, parasites or pathogens that normally control their populations.
Impacts:

• reduce or wipe out native species
• trigger ecological distractions
• cause human health problems
• lead to economic losses

Question 27

Introduction of invasive species - accidental

Answer 27

Global trade, tourism and travel can introduce pests accidentally. Prevention is critical! These days it is easier to introduce accidental species due to the mobility of the world - how much people are moving from place to place.

Question 28

Human population growth

Answer 28

Human population growth and excessive and wasteful consumption of resources leads to expanded human ecological footprint and elimination of habitats which results in premature species extinction.
The estimated extinction rate of 14 000 species per year is expected to increase in the next 50-100 years due to the projected growth of the world’s human population and resource consumption.

Question 29

How does pollution affect premature extinction?

Answer 29

Pesticides kill beneficial insects (e.g honeybees), as well as birds and fish.
Biosccumulation and biomsgnification is also a problem.
Bioaccumulation - fat soluble chemicals accumulate in body fat of organisms. In a good chain or web, pesticides is biologically magnified in the bodies of animals at each higher of tropic level
Eg. Mercury in large fish.

Question 30

Climate change and species distinction

Answer 30

Impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity.
Changes in climate also means a change in rainfall, sea level rises and catastrophic events, which impact on different ecosystems, and subsequently, the biodiversity within them.
Eg. Arctic is warming 2 x faster than the rest of the world - thus, impacting polar bears as they reply on sea and ice to hunt for food, without excessive swimming from place to place. Shrinking sea ices means they have less time to hunt and build their fat before fasting in summer and autumn. Hunting resumes when the ice expands again. They are not use to spending so much energy on hunting food. Travelling long distances to get their meals l.

Question 31

Overexploitation

Answer 31

• commercial hunting and poaching: animals sold live, or killed for food parts. $10B trade pa globally.
• sale of exotic pets and plants: amphibians, reptiles, mammals, tropical fish, orchids, and cacti.
• overfishing - habitats are over fished by using explosives

Question 32

What about rainforests?

Answer 32

Tropical rainforests account for the majority of the planet’s terrestrial plants. Natural and planted fleets occupy 1/3 of the earth’s land surface (excluding ice caps) and tropical rainforests account for more that 1/2 of this area. There are only small pockets of tropical rainforests in Australia. They are not distributed equally among the globally.

Question 33

Ecology bs economy - rainforests.

Answer 33

Rainforest ecosystems provide ecological survives far greater in value than the value of raw materials obtained from forests.

They: 
Support energy flow and chemical cycling 
Reduce soil erosion
Absorb and release water 
Purify water and air 
Influence local and regional climate 
Sequester carbon 
Provide wildlife habitat 

Economic; 
Fuelwood 
Timber 
Paper pulp 
Jobs 
Recreation

Question 34

What are the impacts of tropical deforestation?

Answer 34

• Decreased soil fertility due to erosion
• runoff of eroded sediment into aquatic systems
• release of carbon dioxide into atmosphere
• premature extinction of specialised species
• regional climate change from extensive clearing
• loss of habitat
• acceleration of flooding.

Question 35

Tropical deforestation continued

Answer 35

Tropical rainforests cover only about 6% of the earth’s land area, yet humans human impacts have destroyed almost hard of the world’s forests. The catastrophic problem as vital ecological services are at risk, high rate of deforestation, and its growing contribution to global warming.

Question 36

How are ecosystem services lost in an area of forest?

Answer 36

The impacts of deforestation, when forests are cleared and burned the carbon stored in plant material is released as carbon dioxide, ecosystem services are lost.

Question 37

Human impact on species extinction.

Answer 37

Some species may die out, due to the lack of genetic resilience. However, the rate at which humans are impacting the species is critical. Premature humans extinction is accelerated by human activity.