Biological diversity 1980 Biodiversity 1985, 1986 A Shifted Focus

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Biological diversity (1980)Biodiversity (1985,
1986)A Shifted Focus
Nature not self-contained or equilibrial (various
time scales) Human influence widespread, humans
depend on environment The extinction crisis,
habitat critical, and the pure effects of
diversity Tropical forest loss Biodiversity focus
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Conservation responses

• Individual species or groups (Intrinsic rights
  and utilitarianism)
• Wild, pristine, human-free places (Preservation
  Ethic)
• Wise use, sustained yield, sustainability
  (Resource Conservation Ethic)
• Holism of Leopold, people in the equation
  (Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic)
• And now biodiversity

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The floor is open
Defining Biodiversity
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Extremes

• Narrow definition species richness

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The ATBI in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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www.dlia.org
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Caves to treetops
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As of 2007, 860 species new to science
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As of 20075,000 species new to the Park
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Why is it so hard to answer the questions How
many species are there?When will we be done?
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How many species are there?

• It reminds me of the question we used to get all
  the time at Mammoth Cave How many miles of
  unexplored cave are there?
• Phil Francis,
• Then Assistant Superintendent
• Now Superintendent BLRI

Problem Scale Dependence
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Defining Biodiversity

• The variety of life in all its forms, levels and
  combinations. Includes ecosystem diversity,
  species diversity, and genetic diversity
• IUCN, UNEP and WWF, 1991

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• Biodiversity is the variability among all living
  organisms from all sources, including, inter
  alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic
  ecosystems and ecological complexes of which they
  are part this includes diversity within species,
  between species and of ecosystems.
• Convention on Biological Diversity

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• Biological diversity is the variety and
  variability among living organisms and the
  ecological complexes in which they occurFor
  biological diversity, these items are organized
  at many levels, ranging from complete ecosystems
  to the chemical structures that are the molecular
  basis of heredity.
• US Congress Office of Technology Assessment 1987

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• The totality of the inherited variation of all
  forms of life across all levels of variation,
  from ecosystem to species to gene.
• Edward O. Wilson

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• Biodiversity means the whole variety of life on
  Earth.
• Biodiversity is the grand diversity of life on
  Earth and all the interconnections that support
  these myriad forms of life.
• Biodiversityis perhaps most commonly defined as
  "the full variety of life on Earth."

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• Biodiversity is the variation of life within a
  given ecosystem, biome, or the entire Earth.
• Biodiversity as found on Earth today consists of
  many millions of distinct biological species, the
  product of four billion years of evolution.
• The variation of life at all levels of
  organization.
• Wikipedia

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Extremes

• Narrow definition species richness
• Inclusive definition (Noss)
• Genes, species, ecosystems
• Composition, structure, function/process

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4 Biodiversity problems

• Definition
• Set point
• Scale dependence
• The equality and inequality of species

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2. Set PointUniversality/Historic Constraint

• We seek universal principles, some conservation
  answers are dependent on historic condition or
  precedence
• What is the RIGHT level of biodiversity?

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3.Scale dependence
Comparing places Coastal Plain Savanna vs.
Tropical Rain Forest
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3.Scale dependence
Comparing times (detecting change) Logging,
Exotic invasion
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4. The equality and inequality of species

• Human value
• Range/Abundance Rarity, Native/Alien
• Phylogeny
• Evolutionary potential
• Ecological role
• Representativeness, Surrogacy

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Surrogacy in conservation planningData are
incompleteCan some species be surrogates for
biodiversity?

• Flagship
• Focal, Indicator
• Keystone (driver-passenger species)
• Umbrella

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World Wildlife Fund
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Indicator Species
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Keystone Species
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Ecosystem Engineer Species
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Ecological RoleLittle things, Big things
Wilson 1987

• Terborgh 1988

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Top Predators

• Ecological meltdown in predator-free forest
  fragments
• Terborgh et al. 2001, Science 2941923-1926.
• Damming led to hilltops becoming islands large
  predators lost, herbivores increased (ants 100x),
  plant cover decreased

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Top Predators

• Introduced predators transform subarctic islands
  from grassland to tundra
• Croll et al. 2005, Science 3071959-1961.
• Foxes preyed on birds which then deposited less
  ocean-derived N, leading to succession

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Top Predators

• Are predators good for your health? Evaluating
  evidence for top-down regulation of zoonotic
  disease reservoirs.
• Ostfeld and Holt 2004, Frontiers in Ecology and
  the Environment 213-20.
• Predators decrease, rodents increase,
  transmission of disease to humans increases

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Ecology of Fear, Yellowstone NP
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Ecology of Fear, Zion NP
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The Rivet HypothesisThe pure effects of diversity

• What is the relationship of function to
  diversity?
• Fishers fundamental theorem of natural selection
• What is the FORM of the function?
• Linear
• Saturating
• Hump-shaped

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The Goldilocks problem

• Not too hot, not too cold, but just right
• Species have ranges of tolerance and optima for
  given environmental parameters
• Species tend to have different set points
• A particular change in the environment or
  conservation strategy will be good for some
  species and bad for others

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Biodiversity

• Species richness (taxonomic diversity)
• Functional trait diversity
• Abundance
• Species interactions

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Functional traits

• Complimentarity
• Efficiency of use
• Resilience
• Adaptability
• Redundancy
• Insurance (rivets, if rivets are all equal)
• Stability
• Resistance

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How would you phrase the question test the
surrogacy idea?

• Flagship
• Focal, Indicator
• Keystone (driver-passenger species)
• Umbrella

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How would you phrase the question test the
surrogacy idea?

• Flagship
• Focal, Indicator
• Keystone (driver-passenger species)
• Umbrella
• Initial capture of biodiversity
• Ongoing process of loss

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5 Threats

• Habitat loss and fragmentation
• Direct taking of species
• Invasive species
• Changes in physical and chemical environment
• Change in natural process fire, flood, predation