Chapter 7: Biodiversity and Conservation

1. Chapter 7: Biodiversity and Conservation

2. Chapter 7 Goals and Objectives • Differentiate the components of biodiversity • Explain two ways in which biodiversity varies across groups or geography • Describe the economic benefit of biodiversity • Describe how biodiversity is monitored and explain current biodiversity trends • List the major causes of biodiversity loss • Explain legal actions nations can take to protect biodiversity • Explain the goal of species survival plans • Describe three strategies for managing whole ecosystems and habitats

3. Chapter 7 Biodiversity Big Ideas • There is a huge diversity of life on Earth that is critical to all species. . • There are some factors about species that make them prone to extinction. • Human activities are causing large numbers of species to go extinct.

4. Chapter 7: Biodiversity • How many species live on Earth? • Describe the types of biodiversity. • Explain why biodiversity is important. • What does it mean when a species is threatened or endangered? • What makes some species more prone to extinction? • What are the largest threats to biodiversity? • What areas are likely to have high biodiversity? • List and describe efforts to save individual species. • Explain the advantages of protecting entire ecosystems rather than individual species. • Define the following terms: biodiversity, genes, keystone species, ecotourism, endangered species, threatened species, exotic species, endemic species, poaching Endangered Species Act, habitat conservation plans, CITES

5. Chapter 7: Biodiversity page 200 - • What does it mean when a species is threatened or endangered? • What makes some species more prone to extinction? • What are the largest threats to biodiversity? • What areas are likely to have high biodiversity? • List and describe efforts to save individual species. • Explain the advantages of protecting entire ecosystems rather than individual species. • Define the following terms: endangered species, threatened species, exotic species, endemic species, poaching Endangered Species Act, habitat conservation plans, CITES

6. Answer these 3 questions and define the terms. Chapter 7 page 200 • How many species live on Earth? • Describe the types of biodiversity. • Explain why biodiversity is important. • Terms: biodiversity, genes, keystone species, ecotourism

8. About 1.7 million species are known • Estimates vary from greater than 10 million • Why so many unknown?

9. Biodiversity Which species rule the world?

10. Biodiversity • Biodiversity: the number of different species in a given area

11. 3 Types of Biodiversity Species Biodiversity:number of different species in an area Ecosystem Diversity:how many types of habitats in an area Genetic Diversity: the number of genes in all members of a population

12. 3 Types of Biodiversity • Genetic diversity: Differences in DNA among individuals • Species diversity: Variety of species in a given area • Ecosystem diversity: Variety of habitats, ecosystems, communities

13. Ecosystem diversity often leads to species diversity and often genetic diversity

14. Did You Know?In general, biodiversity increases toward the equator.

15. What is a gene? • Gene: a piece of DNA code for a specific trait inherited • Tall, short, brown eyes, etc. Genetic Diversity among corn

16. Benefits of Diversity • Genetic Diversity Key To Survival • small isolated populations unlikely to survive • Genetic mutations from inbreeding can occur • More diversity = more likely to survive

17. Benefits of Diversity Keystone Species: species that is critical to ecosystem survival • Sea otter • Grey Wolf • Beaver • Krill

18. Keystone Species KRILL This Food Web Depends Upon Krill

19. Benefits of Diversity: Ecosystem Services • Intact environments provide ecosystem services, such as water purification and pest control. • High biodiversity increases stability of communities and ecosystems, enabling them to perform services. • Stable ecosystems are resistant and resilient.

20. Ecosystem Services • Medicine • Industrial • Agricultural • Ecotourism • Ethics • Aesthetics • Recreation

21. Ecosystem Services • Medical, Industrial, Agricultural uses • Food, cloths, shelter, chemicals and medicine often comes from variety of organisms See table 1 pages 261

22. Ecosystem Services: Medical • Medicine: Organisms contain compounds that are useful for treating disease. The yew tree, an original source of Taxol, a cancer-fighting drug Did You Know?Of the 150 most prescribed drugs in the United States, 118 originated in nature.

23. Ecosystem Services • Ethics, Aesthetics and Recreation • Moral, religious purposes for all species • Personal enjoyment Dolphin Tour

24. Ecosystem Services • Ecotourism: tourisms that supports conservation • Wildlife, birding, wilderness hiking • People make $ by having people view wildlife

25. Section 1 Review • How many species live on Earth? • Describe the types of biodiversity. • Explain why biodiversity is important. • Terms: biodiversity, genes, keystone species, ecotourism

27. Section 2: Biodiversity at Risk • What does it mean when a species is threatened or endangered? • What makes some species more prone to extinction? • What are the largest threats to biodiversity? • What areas are likely to have high biodiversity? • Terms: endangered species, threatened species, exotic species, endemic species, poaching

28. Biodiversity has increased over time, but mass extinctions are also natural events (5 major events) How do we get this data?

29. Extinctions • Species gone forever • NORMAL • Mass Extinction: short period of time when large number of species go extinct (65 MYA) • Currently in mass extinction…caused by humans • Rapid climate change

30. There have been five mass extinctions in Earth’s history. • Each time, more than 1/5 of all families and 1/2 of all species have gone extinct.

31. Current Extinctions • Endangered: At serious risk of extinction • Threatened: Likely to become endangered soon through all or part of its range

32. Biodiversity at Risk The current extinction rate is 100 to 1000 times greater than the natural background rate. In 2009, 1321; Currently there are 2141 species in the U.S. were classified as endangered or threatened.

33. Extinctions Certain traits make some species more vulnerable: • Small populations • Specialized • Need large range • Migration • Valuable to humans

34. Species squeezed into smaller and smaller fragmented habitat

36. Current Extinctions • TNC estimates 1/3rd of 21,000 identified U.S. animal and plant species are vulnerable. • 30,000 of the world’s species and 1,200 in U.S. are officially endangered.

37. Types of endangered species worldwide

38. How do humans cause extinctions? • “HIPPO” • Habitat destruction • Invasive species • Population (humans) growth • Pollution • Overharvesting

39. Habitat Loss/Fragmentation

42. Habitat Fragmentation Habitat fragmentation: Patches of suitable habitat surrounded by unsuitable habitat In general, larger habitat fragments can support greater biodiversity than smaller fragments

43. Humans Causing Extinctions • Habitat Destruction causes 75-80% • Large creatures need lot of land • Invasive Species: exotic speciesnot native to area can destroy an ecosystem

44. Invasive Species Invasive species can out-compete and displace native species.

45. Humans Causing Extinction • Over-harvesting excessive hunting (bison in U.S., fish) • Poaching: illegal hunting • Common in poor countries for food, medicines, income • Pollution air, water, land

46. Causes of Extinction Climate Change • Increasingly becoming a factor in biodiversity loss • Unlike the other factors, climate change will have a potentially global effect on biodiversity.

47. Areas of Critical Biodiversity • Hotspots: areas threatened that contain high biodiversity • Roughly 25 worldwide • Madagascar • Parts of California

48. Hotspots Large numbers of endemic species – An endemic species is a species native to that specific area.

49. US Hotspots

50. Areas of Critical Biodiversity • Tropical Rain Forests • Coral Reefs • Coastal Ecosystems • Islands Why these areas????