Biodiversity II

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Biodiversity II
3 Sept 2009
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California Floristic Province
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Terrestrial Diversity in North America
regions of exceptional diversity
regions of special interest
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Southeastern Coniferous Broadleaf Forests
190 tree species exceptional diversity of
herbaceous plants.
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Everglades Flooded Grassland
11,000 seed-bearing plants 323 birds.
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Chihuahuan Desert
gt3000 plants, 500 cactus species, 130
mammals.
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Pacific Temperate Rainforest
Greater biomass (per unit area) than most
tropical forests.
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Great Barrier Reef, Australia

• 86 million acres
• gt400 coral species
• gt1500 fishes
• gt4000 mollusks
• 6 sea turtle species
• 2500 g/m2/yr biomass

(click for video)
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Coral Reefs
(Click for ReefBase.org)
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Tropical Rainforests
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Tropical Rainforests

• gt50 of all global species
• 40 of all flowering plants
• 80 of all insects
• 90 of all primates
• 30 of all birds

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The Megatransect Expedition
Mike Fay
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The Megatransect Expedition
(click)
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Fays legacy. . .
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What do we know, what have we missed?
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(Gulf of Mexico video)
(Link to NOAA Ocean Explorer)
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Jewel squid(500 m / 1600 ft)
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Tube worms
(550 m / 1800 ft)
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Viper fish deep-sea shrimp(gt1000 m / 3300 ft)
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Yeti crab(2000 m / 6600 ft)
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. . .and beneath us. . .
Colossal squid(2200 m / 7200 ft)
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So how do we manage biodiversity when we dont
know how much of it there is?Are there some
general rules of thumb?
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Latitudinal Diversity Gradient
Zooplankton
Mammals
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Latitudinal Diversity Gradient
Plant species 14978 Latitude-0.61
Vascular Plant Species
Degrees Latitude (N or S)
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Explaining the Latitudinal Gradient

• Some simple, but likely hypotheses
• Higher primary productivity in the tropics, due
  to abundant sunlight and warm temperatures.
• Exceptional environmental stability.
• Year-round growth due to lack of seasonality.
• Tropics not affected by last glacial period.

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Pleistocene Glacial Maximum (20,000 yr.
ago)
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Explaining the Latitudinal Gradient

• Some simple, but likely hypotheses
• Higher primary productivity in the tropics, due
  to abundant sunlight and warm temperatures.
• Exceptional environmental stability.
• Year-round growth due to lack of seasonality.
• Tropics not affected by last glacial period.
• Large surface area of the tropics.
• The species-area relationship.

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Metabolic Scaling
Metabolism (log10)
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Biodiversity Hotspots
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Biodiversity Hotspots

• 2 criteria
• Region contains 1,500 species of vascular
  plants (0.5 of global total) as endemics.
• Region has already lost 70 of its original
  habitat.

There are currently 34 global hotspots.
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GAP Analysis
Stack of environmental data layers
Field data
Predicted distribution map
Suitable habitat
Non-suitable habitat
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Biodiversity in Georgia
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Biodiversity in Georgia
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Combine all species and identify areas of high
biodiversity that are in need of protection.
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Consolidated Databases

• 74 Natural Heritage programs
• U.S., Canada, Latin America, Caribbean

http//www.natureserve.org/index.jsp
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Consolidated Databases

• Dr. John Pickering (UGA Biology)
• info on species
• identifications
• distributions,
• phylogeny

http//www.discoverlife.org/
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Reading Assignments

• Read text p. 155-164, 245-248, 262-267.