Conserving Biodiversity

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Preserving Biodiversity
Noah Cathy
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Biodiversity is a broad subject and faces many
different dangers.Today well focus broadly on
6 main areas. They are
-Fishing industry and its effects on Dolphins
- Manatee Friendly boats
-Coral reef destruction preservation techniques
  -Farming techniques Chemical pollution
-Species Tracking
-Damming and habitat loss Three Gorges Dam
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Dolphin Friendly Fishing Nets

• Fishing trawlers kill hundreds of dolphins every
  year.
• Dolphins get caught up in the giant nets and
  drown.
• The death is brutal they sometimes thrash
  around, cutting themselves and breaking bones.

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• Dolphin can escape these nets through holes in
  the top.
• In areas using these nets, the average number of
  dolphins killed is 2 as compared to 28 for one
  month.
• -Since the dolphin safe label was created by
  National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 1991,
  it has been estimated to have saved nearly 2,000
  of the mammals.

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Problems with Regulation

• -In 2003, the Bush administration claimed that
  encircling ponds of dolphins by with mile long
  nets to catch tuna is SAFE
• -Under this criterion, Mexican tuna would be
  sold under the label dolphin safe
• -An estimated 10-15 of dolphin spinner
  mortality in South American waters due to this
  method of fishing

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FISH FARMING

• -According to the United Nations Food and
  Agriculture Organization 28 of fish stocks over
  fished or nearing extinction.
• -47 are near the limits of sustainability
• -Prices still have not risen despite these
  warnings.

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• University of New Hampshire, including dozens of
  countries are beginning to experiment with ocean
  ranches
• Will be bigger than current models and completely
  automated mobile
• 1) Begin with lab-bred infant fish
• 2) Motorized pens will float with ocean currents
  for months
• 3) They arrive at destination with mature
  animals
• Great bay Aquaculture is one of the lead
  developers. In October they launched 200,000
  flounders-enough for 1,000 metric tons of meat!
• Will reduce reliance on tuna fishing and other
  net based catches harmful to other species

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What can you do?

• Buy Dolphin Friendly Tuna other seafood
• Increasingly rely on alternative sources for
  fish consumption-like fish farming
• Write to our government to have stricter laws
  enforcing dolphin friendly fishing nets.

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Manatees

• Are commonly called the Sea Cow
• Are endangered
• Manatees are air-breathing mammals typically
  weighing between 1200-2000 pounds. 

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• Because they are air breathing, boats are a
  danger to them.
• 90 of manatee deaths are caused by collisions
  with boats.
• In 2002, 95 manatee died from boat collisions.

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Hydrofoils and Hovercrafts

• -Propellers have little impact
• (virtually none with hovercraft) so
• they are friendly to marine life such
• as Manatees.
• -Both eliminate problems with
• invasive species because of lack of
• draft-there is no bilge to be
• pumped, introducing the species

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Hydrofoils
-It works on the same principals (Bernoulli's
Principle) as flight, but in water so the foils
dont have to be as long, since water is more
viscous.
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Hovercraft
 -Hovercraft creates a cushion of air contained
in a bladder   -Propellers exist out of the
water, so there is no danger to wildlife
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What can you do?

• Use a hovercraft or hydrofoil! If you arent
  using one of these, put protectors on the
  propellers.
• Obeying speed limits in areas with manatees.
• Get the governments attention to have stricter
  laws regarding boats in sensitive areas.

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Agrochemicals
  -In a project which ended in June 2003, a joint
venture of Thai and German scientists into
limiting the dispersal of chemicals in
fertilizers such as nitrogen and
phosphates.   -To determine the amount of
dispersal they used a vacuum system that
collected runoff.
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-Ontario, Canada is currently using a no-till
system -Using special seed planters (shown),
there is virtually no tilling required - This
prevents chemical run off that ends up in rivers,
streams and eventually the ocean, which is bad
for species like the dolphin and manatees.
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• -Instead of plowing, which leads to soil erosion,
  millions of worms are introduced and allowed to
  flourish
•   -Worms churn soil, add nutrients through
  natural body cycles (secretion of nitrogen rich
  slime)
• As the worms move through the soil, they aerate
  it. The air is converted to a useable nitrogen by
  bacteria in the soil. This is why fertilizers are
  not needed as much.

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•   -By 2003, 84 of the region converted to
  no-till farming.   -So far, the lack of erosion
  and hazardous chemical runoff has allowed various
  aquatic plant species to flourish in the nearby
  St. Claire River.   -Previously, soil runoff
  muddied the water lowering the oxygen contents
  and prevented photosynthesis in certain areas of
  the river.

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Plant Diversity

• -In 2002, it was estimated 29 of all plant
  species are at risk of extinction.
• -Much of this was due to simple habitat loss
• -Center for Plant Conservation (CPC), with
  its 30 members, including the Chicago Botanic
  Gardens, are helping to preserve species.
• -Their Goal is to maintain and reproduce rare
  or endangered plant species for eventual
  reintroduction. Dubbed ex situ conservation.

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• Gene research into seedling symmetry (maximum
  yield)
• Field research in pollination
• 385 acre, 32 garden sanctuary
• So far, 65 of the known 1,850 endangered plant
  species have been collected and preserved.
• Reintroduction thus far has been successful.
• This garden is so big, that edge effects are
  reduced.

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Serpentine Soil

• Serpentine soil is a nutrient poor and harsh soil
  for most plants.
• With excessive burning of fossil fuels, the
  pollution actually adds nitrogen to the soil,
  making it more suitable.
• This drives the original plant species into
  extinction.

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• Cows enjoy eating the plants that cant stand the
  harsh serpentine soil, but dont touch the native
  ones.
• The animal excrete elsewhere, removing the
  nitrogen from that soil.

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Agro depletion

•  -Depleted soils are a major concern they
  endanger species by forcing new forest to be
  destroyed    -To cope with the 33 million
  hectares of waste land in India, Daimler
  Chrystler India and University of Hohenheim
  developed "Jatropha bio-diesel"    -Jatropha
  plant, which grows well on depleted soils, nuts
  are harvested, de-gummed and transformed into
  bio-diesel

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 -The crop yield averages 2-5 years (based on
rainfall conditions)   -1 hectare 2 tons of
seeds 500-750 kg of bio-diesel   -Higher
oxygen contents (about 10 higher) fully combusts
hydrocarbons   -Employs local farmers,
preventing them from migrating to delicate forest
regions.   -Provides a cleaner burning fossil
fuel.   -Can be grown with minimal fertilizer
use.
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Species Tracking

•   -The first task of any biologist is to
  determine the species concentration. This is done
  through population sampling.    -To determine
  species richness, the traditional method is to
  capture and count the species in a given area.

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•  -Satellites can be used to track endangered
  species and their population richness   -Falcon
  tracking uses Argos capable satellites    -Argo
  s satellites can receive ultra high frequency
  (UHF) from earth

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•  -When the satellite passes over the horizon,
  it begins to receive transmissions from a
  transmitter attached to the bird.   -NASAs
  Goddard Space Flight Center analyzes the
  data      -Satellite moves 26,640
  km/hr   -Speed of satellite creates Doppler
  shift as two objects pass each other, the sound
  waves shift suddenly from high-pitched to
  low-pitched computer interprets the
  signal   -Accuracy is 95 within a 150 meter
  radius (with four good signals)

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•   -Technology is cheap because it uses National
  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  satellites, easily equipped with the
  technology    -Easy compared with other
  tracking systems.
•    -Fairly accurate and only mildly intrusive

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Three Gorges Dam

• -By 2009, China will have completed the
  approximately 100 Billion dollar dam project,
  providing almost three times the capacity of
  Grand Coulee dam.    -More than 1,000,000
  people will be displaced.    -Environmental
  impact difficult to calculate, many species like
  the white fin dolphin, various fish species could
  be devastated.

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• One possible solution is smaller dam sites in
  regions ranked as low-environmental impact sites
• In Vietnam, a study with UN Environment Program
  and the government determined that the best way
  to cope with increasing energy demands was to
  build 45-78 small dams.
• It began in 1999 and is in stage 2 today.
• After careful studies of the sites, several
  region were located and determined to be
  suitable.
• The reservoir capacity is going to be an
  estimated 1.39 trillion cubic feet and will
  stretch as far back as 350 miles.

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• As of 2003, 70-75 of the hydropower potential
  judged as having minimal environmental impact.
• It included about 47 workable projects, located
  in river basins with no breeding grounds or
  endangered species.
• With regional flood control, impact can be
  further decreased.
• Still, this is not a perfect solution. Some
  impact always exists. The goal is to minimize it.

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Coral Reefs

• -Coral reefs are the most diverse regions in
  the ocean   -Called Oceans rainforests     
   -Provide areas for spawning   -As much as 80
  of the Pacific Oceans reefs have been disturbed
  to various degrees

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•   -The best solutions are preservation through
  sanctuary       -This involves either simply
  roping off the area, as in the Fundacion
  Ecologica off the Yucatan peninsula
•    -Here the preservation is relatively low
  maintenance
•     -Paid for through low-impact eco tourism 

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  -Another is the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary, which actively researches and tracks
species inside the sanctuary, monitors water
quality, and actively restricts activities in the
preserve.
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What can you do?

• -Building of sand dunes onshore above coral
  communities degrades them it stifles beach
  replenishing capabilities!  -Chemicals such as
  those found in fertilizers and pesticides are
  harmful when they drain into oceans, accumulate
  in shallow reefs--use such chemicals sparingly!
• - Recycle! That way the trash doesnt end up in
  our oceans!
• - Volunteer for beach clean up days!

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The End