Biodiversity:

1
Biodiversity Present, Past, Future? Nancy
Knowlton National Museum of Natural
History Smithsonian Institution
2
Marine Biodiversity Crisis Natural Disturbances
People
Anything Longer or Taller than 5 cm
CO2 Nutrients Toxics Sediments Aliens
3
Coral Reefs Rainforests of the Sea 1000
coral species
1 - 9 million reef species in total (?) 1/4 of
all marine species (?) Most are rare
4
22 dead coral heads 20 of total European
diversity
5
DISCOVERY BAY, JAMAICA IN 1975
and not just in Jamaica
Caribbean-wide 80 decline in 30 years Pacific
on same trajectory
GONE
6
OK
At Risk
?
July 2008
7
Scenarios for the future
Business as usual no reefs by 2050 Remember
CO2 lasts for centuries in the atmosphere
8
?
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function
?
Pristine Human Dominated
Wasteland
Where is what being lost?
9
fish
Synergies between coral cover and diversity
10
Overfishing and Trophic Cascades Entire food webs
are affected
PRISTINE
DISTURBED
X
X
X
Jellyfish Bacteria (aka the rise of slime)
Jackson et al. 2001
11
Kingman (US) pop. 0
Time Machine Research
Hawaii
Palmyra (US) pop. 10
Australia
Tabuaeran (KR) pop. 2000
Without management even a few people can have
substantial impacts on coral reefs
through fishing and sewage
Kirimati (KR) pop. 6000
12
Bacteria
Viruses
Bottom cover
Other microbes
Increasing human influence
Increasing human influence
Altered Communities
13
Increasing human influence
Reduced Resilience
14
What Do We Do?
California Condor Conservation Strategies
Not a Realistic Option for Most Species,
15
Build Ecological Resilience Reduce Local
Impacts so Reefs Can Recover from Impacts We
Cant Control
150 years
16
Marine Protected Areas as One Tool for Building
Resilience
Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Two of the Worlds Largest MPAs Protect Coral
Reefs
But less than 2 of reefs are protected
globally MPAs alone are not enough
17
Resilience Strategies

Longer Term/Global Scale Reduce CO2 emissions
Short Term/Local Scale Control fishing
pressure Improve water quality
?
Provides Insurance, Buys Time
18
If We Fail.
First lets concentrate on water. Then well
worry about krill