Principles of Conservation Biology

Question 1

The noble savage

Answer 1

Low population densities
Use fewer resources
Less carbon production and climate change issues
Still caused irreparable damage
Over utilisation of resources
Over 2000 bird app went extinct - overhunting
- introduction of non-native spp

Question 2

Easter Island

Answer 2

Very remote - colonised 300AD
Heavily forested originally (pollen analysis), now dominated by grasses
Probably used forest for energy, timber, boats
Overused natural resources and human population went extinct

Question 3

Noble savage and Easter Island lessons

Answer 3

Humans have always impacted the natural word
Some species will benefit - like the exotic grasses
Shifting baselines - at what point do we conserve and restore the natural environment?

Question 4

Human resource use

Answer 4

Deforestation is correlated with increase of human population - has stabilised… 10bn
20-32% of global energy used by humans
-photosynthesisers create this
-humans take 1/3 leaving little for other organisms
Industrialised nation use 60-80% of local energy
-Over 80% bear footprint via pollution
98% of fertile land is used by us

Question 5

Reasons for human usage and global change

Answer 5

Ultimate - human pop growth and resource use
Proximate - industry (pollution), agriculture(converts land and pollution), fisheries (overfishing), forestry (deforestation)
5 broad categories:
Land use and cover change (biggest driver)
Altered Bio-geochemical cycles (becoming more important to CC)
Persistent organic compounds
Harvesting natural populations
Biological invasions
=BIODIVERSITY LOSS

Question 6

Romatic-Transcental Ethic

Answer 6

1850s Muir 
Loved the natural world
Mystical almost religious 
Led to Sierra club and Yosemite NP 
Preservationist movement = no human interference, not just economic value, respected on its own

Question 7

Resource Conservation Ethic

Answer 7

1900s Mill
Utilitarian
Protect nature for its usefulness - to keep exploiting it
Led to - multiple use concept

Question 8

Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic

Answer 8

1950s Leopold
Merged other two
Lacked Muirs religousness and Mills utilitarian approach
Ecosystems - integrated system based on interdependent processes
Equilibrium - risking it all if individual components changed
Foundation of modern conservation

Question 9

Quantify loss and impacts

Answer 9

Monitoring the natural world
UK Avian species monitoring BTO has shown 50% in all farmland bird species
Indicates problem - can target habitats
Looks at spp R, pop densities, GD and predation/disease
Use sophisticated technology - sensing illegal deforestation etc.

Question 10

Causal mechanisms

Answer 10

Wood warbler - migratory spp showed decline by 60%
Climate change in breeding or wintering grounds?
Detailed survey work - showed specialised for winter grounds
Likely to be loss of this - need detailed science

Question 11

Identifying solutions

Answer 11

Protected area gap analysis -gap species = threatened but not in protected areas
-expand protected areas showing where its useful
E.g. Skylark decline - breeds in spring, crops dense difficult for them to move through..
Skylark plots created ! for foraging