Questions 1-5

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Sustaining Biodiversity Human Societies

• Chapter 8-10 18
• Questions 1-5

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Question 1

• How have human activities affected the Earths
  biodiversity why should we care? (p.155-6)

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Human Impacts on Biodiversity
Stepped Art
Fig. 8-2, p. 155
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Biodiversity Loss in the U.S.

• 95 of virgin (uncut) forests in the lower 48
  states have been logged for
• Lumber
• Agriculture
• Housing
• Industry

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Biodiversity Loss in the U.S.

• 98 of tall grass prairie in the Great Plains and
  the Midwest are gone
• 85 of Californias redwood forests are gone

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Biodiversity Loss in the World

• 50 of wetlands are lost
• 27 of coral reefs are severely damaged
• 40 of commercial fish stocks are depleted or
  overfished

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Protecting Biodiversity

• Goals
• Protect species prevent premature extinction
• Strategies
• Identify endangered species protect and
  preserve their habitats

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Protecting Biodiversity
Stepped Art
Fig. 8-3, p. 156
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Why Should We Care About Biodiversity?

• Intrinsic values
• Simply because biodiversity exists, regardless of
  its use to us
• Instrumental values
• Useful to us
• 2 types
• use nonuse values

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Instrumental Values

• Use Values
• Goods services for our direct use
• Ex wood, fruits, ecotourism
• Existence Values
• Important for us to know wild things exist
• Aesthetic Values
• Appreciate the beauty
• Bequest Values
• willingness of some people to pay to protect it
  for future generations (could be the most
  important way most people can help)
• Ex Public Lands Trust / Conservation Society /
  Sierra Club

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Question 2

• What is ecological restoration and why is it
  important? (p.177-9)

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Ecological Restoration

• Repairing human damage to biodiversity and
  ecosystems

BEFORE
AFTER
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Examples of Ecological Restoration

• Replanting forests
• Restoring wetlands and rivers
• Trout Unlimited / Ducks Unlimited
• Removing invasive species
• Returning native species
• Removing dams

KUDZU REMOVAL
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Restoration of a Stream Bank
Fig. 8-28, p. 178
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4 Science Based Principles of Ecological
Restoration

• Encourage secondary succession
• Let nature do the work!
• Recreate lost ecological niches
• Rely on pioneer species, keystone species,
  foundation species to help the process
• Remove invasive species

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Secondary Succession at Work!

• Education, awareness INVOLVEMENT are the best
  ways to restore protect ecosystems!!!
• Becoming involved helps to create that VALUE
  discussed in Question 1!

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Question 3

• What can we do to help sustain the Earths
  biodiversity ? (p.181-2)

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Solutions Edward O. Wilson (Harvard)

• Immediately preserve biological hot spots
• (terrestrial marine)

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Solutions Edward O. Wilson (Harvard)

• Save the old growth forests

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What Can We Do? Wilsons Priorities

• Map world biodiversity so we know what we have
• Protect and restore lakes and rivers (most
  threatened)
• Create global conservation strategy that includes
  all land water ecosystems
• MAKE CONSERVATION PROFITABLE!!!
• Start ecological restoration projects worldwide
  (QUESTION 2!)

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• We abuse the land because we regard it as a
  commodity belonging to us.
• When we see the land as a community to which we
  belong, we may begin to use it with love and
  respect.
• Aldo Leopold

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Question 4

• How can we help prevent the premature extinction
  of species? (p.198-203)

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Preventing Extinction

• Legal Approach
• International Treaties
• help protect endangered
• or threatened wild species
• Sanctuary Approach

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Legal Approach

• CITES
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered
  Species, 1975
• 160 countries, almost 30,000 species that cannot
  be traded as live specimens or products

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Legal Approach

• Endangered Species Act, 1973

• Illegal to sell, buy, hunt, kill, collect or
  injure any threatened or endangered species as
  designated by the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries
  Service) or the USFWS (U. S. Fish and Wildlife
  Service)

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Legal Approach Endangered Species Act

• 1973 (92 species) to 2005 (1260 species)
• Designates and protects the critical habitats
  needed for the survival and recovery of the
  listed species
• So far critical habitats have only been
  established for 1/3 of species on list!!!
• The USFWS and NMFS must prepare a plan for
  recovery
• As of 2004, only ¼ of species have active plans

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Legal Approach Endangered Species Act

• Act is under constant pressure to be abolished or
  weakened by those who see it as
• Ineffective
• Causing economic loss b/c of inability to develop
  certain areas
• Inability to use private lands

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Legal Approach Endangered Species Act

• Conservation Biologists contend
• 40 of species on list are stable or improving
• Has not caused severe economic loss (only 0.05
  of projects have been blocked)
• Could be improved to provide financial incentives
  to private landowners who agree to protect
  endangered ecosystems

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Sanctuary Approach

• Wildlife Refuges Protected Areas
• National Wildlife Refuge System

The U.S. has set aside 542 refuges, but many are
suffering from environmental degradation
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Georgia Wildlife Refuges
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Sanctuary Approach

• Gene/Seed Banks
• Refrigeration of millions of seeds
• Botanical Gardens

Atlanta Botanical Gardens
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Sanctuary Approach

• Zoos /
• Farms
• Aquariums

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Question 5

• What is reconciliation ecology how can it help
  prevent the premature extinction of species?
  (p.203-4)

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Reconciliation Ecology

• Creating new habitats to conserve biodiversity in
  places where people live, work play
• Learning to share the spaces we dominate with
  other species

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How can we do it?

• Change home landscaping into sanctuaries for
  native species instead of collections of highly
  bred plants like zoysia grass and trimmed hedges

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How can we do it?

• Convert city parks and school campuses into
  biodiverse communities

GOLDEN GATE PARK, SAN FRANCISCO
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