Introduction to Ecology

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Introduction to Ecology

• CERC Certificate Program
• Columbia University
• Session 5 Conservation Biology

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Conservation Biology
Goals for the day

• Why now?
• Definition of Conservation Biology
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Invasive Species
• Disease Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• What Can We Do?

But Before That. Lets Discuss the Introduced
Species Summary Project Exercise
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Introduced Species Summary Project

• What species did you do?
• Responses?
• Why did you choose the species you did?
• Should your species be controlled? Why?

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Conservation Biology
Goals for the day

• Why now?
• Definition of Conservation Biology
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Invasive Species
• Disease Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• What Can We Do?

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Global Changes

• What processes are at work at present in the
  planet?
• Examples
• Global Climate Change
• Acid Rain
• Spread of Pollution and Toxins
• Spread of Biotic Pollution
• How are these occurring?
• What is the generative force behind them?

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Global Change Cause

• What is the Generative Force behind these
  changes?
• US!

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Human Impact

• We have altered nearly all of the Earth that it
  is profitable for us to do so

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Why Now?

• Why has human population growth so escalated
  recently?
• What has happened to cause this?
• When was the last large dip in world population?

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Conservation Biology
Goals for the day

• Why now?
• Definition of Conservation Biology
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Invasive Species
• Disease Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• What Can We Do?

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Definition of Conservation Biology

• Applied ecology
• but with an agenda!
• Is this truly scientific?
• Why or why not?

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Agenda Items

• Why should we care about conserving biodiversity?
• Ecosystem Function
• Direct Economic Uses
• Indirect Economic Uses
• Ethical Reasons
• Aesthetic Reasons

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Agenda Items

• Nearly all of these are subjective and involve
  value judgments
• Not everyone values biodiversity
• Short-term gain may outweigh these considerations
• Financial, Survival
• Respect others views?

vs.
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Conservation Biology
Goals for the day

• Why now?
• Definition of Conservation Biology
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Invasive Species
• Disease Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• What Can We Do?

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Habitat Loss

• Single greatest threat to biodiversity
• Approx. 50 of all species extinctions have been
  involved habitat loss
• Island biogeography theory predicts that around
  50 of species are lost with 90 habitat loss

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Impacts of Habitat Modification

• Loss of Habitat
• Habitat Alteration
• Fragmentation
• Increased Human Presence
• Introduced Species

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Impacts of Habitat Modification

• Loss of Habitat
• Occasionally completely
• Paving - 377,810 miles in US forests only plus
  44,000 m highways, plus ? m suburban, etc.
• Usually remaining habitat in altered areas is
  suboptimal
• Remaining individuals are stressed and have
  decreased fitness

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Impacts of Habitat Modification

• Habitat Alteration
• Remaining surrounding habitat is impacted due to
  use of altered habitat
• E.g., fumes, pollution, from cars

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Impacts of Habitat Modification

• Fragmentation
• Key component Edge Effects
• Impacts of fragmentation percolate into interior
• ? aridity, ? wind, ? openness, ? heat, change in
  water patterns, ? noise, etc.
• These impacts often permeate in several hundred
  meters
• Distance is species specific
• Birds in Australia 200 m

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Impacts of Habitat Modification

• Increased Human Presence
• Alteration leads to more alteration
• People arrive, then their influence expands and
  intensifies

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Impacts of Habitat Modification

• Introduced Species
• Other species come with us as we fragment
• Intentionally
• Unintentionally
• Thought to be the second strongest force behind
  only fragmentation
• More about these

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Conservation Biology
Goals for the day

• Why now?
• Definition of Conservation Biology
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Invasive Species
• Disease Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• What Can We Do?

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Invasive Species

• Intentional Introductions
• Crops, pets, ornamentals, ranching, etc.
• Unintentional Introductions
• Everything else
• Majority of Introductions are these

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Invasive Species

• Impact on other species through many ways
• Competition, predation, parasitism, herbivory,
  parasitoidism
• Species need resources to survive and propagate
• What does this view assume about community
  structure and niche availability?

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Rule of Tens

• Not all species that are introduced are
  successful
• Stages of Invasion
• Introduction
• Establishment
• Integration
• Dominance (or Pest status or invasiveness)

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Rule of Tens

• Only 10 make it through each stage
• 10,000 in a source area
• 1,000 introduced
• 100 established
• 10 integrated
• 1 pest
• Empirical observation

Transportation Establishment Integration Domina
nce (or Pest status)
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Invasive Species

• Why can invasive species quickly explode in
  population size?
• Ecological Release
• The restrictions on pop growth are removed in the
  novel location

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Invasive Species

• This phenomenon can also be used to our benefit
• Can you think of examples?
• Biological Control of pest insects
• Parasitoid wasps
• Erosion Control
• E.g., Kudzu
• CAUTION

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Heaviest Hit Location

• Hawaii
• Comprises lt 0.2 of total US land area
• Has more than 25 of US endangered species
• Approximately 72 of recorded extinctions are in
  Hawaii
• Hawaii has more endangered species (per area)
  than anywhere else on the planet

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Conservation Biology
Goals for the day

• Why now?
• Definition of Conservation Biology
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Invasive Species
• Disease Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• What Can We Do?

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Disease Ecology

• Essentially a subfield within invasion biology
• The pest is usually an introduced species
• Bacteria, viruses, fungi, protists, etc.
• Responsible for tracking controlling the spread
  of novel diseases

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Disease Ecology

• Examples of this locally?
• West Nile Fever
• Malaria
• Chestnut Blight
• Dutch Elm Disease

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Disease Ecology

• Novel feature here
• Need a vector (as with other Invasives)
• Also need host(s)
• Harder to introduce diseases as a consequence
  than other species
• Rule of tens overestimates Emerging Infectious
  Diseases (EIDs)

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Conservation Biology
Goals for the day

• Why now?
• Definition of Conservation Biology
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Invasive Species
• Disease Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• What Can We Do?

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Ecotoxicology

• Definition Spread of the scientific study of
  harmful effects caused by manmade chemicals to
  the natural environment
• Of particular interest are the effects on
  populations, communities, and ecosystems

From Dictionary.com
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Ecotoxicology

• An essential part is the study of the movement of
  potentially toxic substances through food webs
  and through the water cycle
• Dictionary.com

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Ecotoxicology Example

• Floridian Feminized Feral Alligators
• First found in early 1990s
• Due to estrogen-like pollutants from sewage
  effluent
• Main chemical culprits pesticides, industrial
  compounds, dioxins, ingredients of plastics and
  detergents
• Act to either mimic estrogen or block
  testosterone receptors
• Suppress reproduction, by reducing their
  effective population size
• Possibly also occurring in Humans?

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Conservation Biology
Goals for the day

• Why now?
• Definition of Conservation Biology
• Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
• Invasive Species
• Disease Ecology
• Ecotoxicology
• What Can We Do?

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What Can We Do?

• Prioritize areas for conservation
• Restore already damaged areas
• Called Restoration Ecology
• Land-for-debt swaps
• Ecosystem valuation
• Captive breeding programs
• Reducing our footprint
• Many others.

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Ecological Pyramid

• Trends down pyramid
• Increase in geographic scale
• From single species to multiple species
• Increasing number of ecological factors that may
  be influential
• Decreasing certainty in results

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The Tour of Ecology Has Concluded

• General Ecology
• Population ecology
• Community ecology
• Ecosystem ecology
• Conservation Issues
• Is there any hope for the future?
• You determine the answer