Course for RSPO CB Forum

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Biodiversity The Big Challenge

• Course for RSPO CB Forum Workshop No. 3

• What is Biodiversity?

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Biodiversity
What it is, what it is worth, what is happening
to it, and what to do about it
Objectives

• Key concepts related to sustainability,
  biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• The value of biodiversity, what is happening to
  ecosystem services, understanding habitat loss
  and fragmentation, and the importance of scale.

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What is biodiversity?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
Convention on Biological Diversity ? the
variability among living organisms from all
sources including, inter alia, terrestrial,
marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the
ecological complexes of which they are part this
includes diversity within species, between
species and of ecosystems.

• Simply stated
• The variety of life on the planet. This includes
  the diversity within species, between species and
  of ecosystems

Simply stated The variety of life on the
planet. This includes the diversity within
species, between species and of ecosystems
National Policy on Biological Diversity (1998)
Convention on Biological Diversity CBD (1992)
Article 2 of the Convention on Biological
Diversity - CBD
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What is important about the definition of
biodiversity?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage

• Regional flora and fauna (i.e. biota) can be
  characterized by its taxonomic, ecological, and
  genetic diversity
• A key feature of biodiversity is that it varies
  over space and time
• Only a multi-scale and multi-temporal assessment
  of biodiversity can provide insights into the
  relationship between changes in biodiversity and
  changes in ecosystem functioning and services

Biota regional flora and fauna.
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So what is included in biodiversity?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage

• Animals? Fungi? Bacteria? Plants?
• Freshwater systems?
• Marine systems?
• Managed or unmanaged ecosystems?
• Ecological processes?

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What is BioD to people?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
Yew Kiang Teh
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What is BioD to planners decision-makers?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
Landscape types
Communities, ecosystems
Habitat structure
Species, populations
Genes
Genetic processes
Demographic processes, life histories
Interspecific interactions, ecosystem processes
Landscape processes disturbances, land use
trends
Diagram modified from Noss, 1990. Indicators for
monitoring biodiversity A hierarchical
approach. Conservation Biology Vol 4, No 4,
355-364.
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What is BioD to planners decision-makers?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
is multi-scale
Landscape types
Communities, ecosystems
Habitat structure
Species, populations
Genes
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageGene.png
Genetic processes
Demographic processes, life histories
From http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(biology)
Diameter 1 nanometre
Interspecific interactions, ecosystem processes
Landscape processes disturbances, land use
trends
Modified from Evans, 2003. Graphic shown in
Maidment DR (ed). 2003. Arc Hydro GIS for water
resources. ESRI Press. ESRI. Redlands, California.
Yew Kiang Teh
Diagram modified from Noss, 1990. Indicators for
monitoring biodiversity A hierarchical
approach. Conservation Biology Vol 4, No 4,
355-364.
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What is BioD to planners decision-makers?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
Ecosystem services
Landscape processes disturbances, land use
trends
Yew Kiang Teh
Diagram modified from Noss, 1990. Indicators for
monitoring biodiversity A hierarchical
approach. Conservation Biology Vol 4, No 4,
355-364.
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How do we measure biodiversity?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage

• Ideally, to assess conditions and trends of BioD
  we would like to measure
• The abundance of all organism over space and time
  (using taxonomic relationship)
• Functional traits (e.g. nitrogen-fixing or not)
• Interaction among species (e.g. predation,
  pollination)
• Turnover of BioD in space time

Biodiversity remains difficult to quantify
precisely
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How should we respond to changes in biodiversity?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage

• However, our response options may be defined by
  understanding
• Where biodiversity is
• How it is changing over space and time
• What drivers are causing changes
• Drivers impact on ecosystem services

How do we plan for biodiversity?
Largely a spatial exercise
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How much life is there?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage

• Estimates of the total number of species on Earth
  range from 5 - 30 million.
• Hardly 2 million species have been formally
  identified.

Number of species (in thousand) 1
Insects and myriapods a
Fungi
Chelicerata b
Protoctista c
Nematodes d
Plants
Molluscs e
Unnamed species (estimate)
Named species
Crustaceans f
Vertebrates
1 Redrawn from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,
2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being
Biodiversity Synthesis. WRI, Washington, DC.
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Where do we find biodiversity?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
Latitude
North
South
No. of species
Altitude
High
No. of species
Low
Modified from Evans, 2003. Graphic shown in
Maidment DR (ed). 2003. Arc Hydro GIS for water
resources. ESRI Press. ESRI. Redlands, California.
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Importance of shape
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
Interrelationship - loss of habitat and species
Many species
98
Edge
Fewer species
73
2
27
Core
Core
Area
Area
Much fewer species
Species extinction
Modified from Clark et al., 1990. Management and
conservation of small populations, In T.W.
Clark and J.H. Seebeck (eds) Management and
Conservation of Small Populations. Chicago
Zoological Society.
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How should we respond to changes in biodiversity?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage

• However, our response options may be defined by
  understanding
• Where biodiversity is
• How it is changing over space and time
• What drivers are causing changes
• Drivers impact on ecosystem services

How do we plan for biodiversity?
Largely a spatial exercise
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Where is the biodiversity?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
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How is biodiversity changing over time?
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
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Conclusions
Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage

• Biodiversity is the variety of life on the
  planet. This includes the diversity within
  species, between species and of ecosystems
• It can be characterised based on its taxonomic,
  ecological, and genetic diversity
• It varies over space and time
• A multi-scale and multi-temporal assessment is
  needed to understand changes

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Lesson 2 What is biodiversity
Module 1 Setting the stage
Conclusions

• It is difficult to quantify precisely
• Our response options may be defined by
  understanding where, how, what and impacts on
  ecosystem services
• This understanding can largely be acquired by
  spatial analysis
• Biodiversity supports ecosystem services