Chapter 10

1. Chapter 10 Wild Species and Biodiversity

2. Value of Wild Species • Ecosystem capital • Sum of all the goods and services provided to human enterprises by natural systems • Estimated to be worth $41 trillion a year! • To maintain sustainability their integrity must be preserved • Maintaining their resilience and biodiversity.

3. Biological Wealth • About 2 million species of plants, animals, and microbes have been identified and classified • Scientists estimate that the total number of species on Earth ranges from 5 to 30 million. • Biodiversity • Richness of living species • Refers to species but can also include ecosystems, and the genetic diversity within a given species

4. Spending the Wealth • At least 500 plant and animal species have become extinct in the United States alone and thousands more are at risk

5. Two Kinds of Value • Instrumental value • A species or individual organism has instrumental value if its existence or use benefits some other entity. • Usually anthropocentric, or beneficial to humans • Intrinsic Value • When something has value for its own sake, that is, does not have to be useful to us to possess value • Philosophical question and comes down to moral reasoning

6. Value of Natural Species • Sources for agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, and animal husbandry • Sources for medicines and pharmaceuticals • Recreational, aesthetic, and scientific value • Intrinsic value (value for their own sake)

7. Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture, Animal Husbandry • In nature, both plants and animals are continuously subjected to natural selection. (only the fittest survive) • Wild populations have numerous traits for competitiveness, resistance to parasites, tolerance to adverse conditions • Populations grown under agricultural conditions tend to lose the wild traits because they are selected for production, not resilience

8. Cultivators • In the process of breeding plants for maximum production, virtually all genetic variation is eliminated • The cultivated population is commonly called a cultivar (cultivated variety) • This indicates that is a highly selected strain of the original species with minimum genetic variation

9. Wild Genes • To maintain vigor in cultivars and to adapt them to different climates, plant breeders comb wild populations of related species for desired traits. • Introduced by cross-breeding, or biotechnology

10. New Food Plants • Potential for developing new cultivars will be lost • Humans have used 7,000 existing plant species • Modern agriculture has tended to focus on about 30 • Of these species – wheat, maize, and rice fulfill about 50% of the global food demand.

11. New Food Plants • Scientists estimate that 30,000 plant species with edible parts could be brought into cultivation • Increase production in environments that are less than ideal • Ex – winged bean of New Guinea • Recently introduced into many developing countries and the legume has contributed significantly to improving nutrition

12. The Winged Bean. A climbing legume with edible pods, seeds, leaves, and roots this tropical species demonstrates the great potential of wild species for human uses

13. Sources for Medicine • For thousands of years, the indigenous people of Madagascar used rosy periwinkle in their medicine • In the 1960s, scientists extracted two chemicals from the plant • Vincristine, vinblastine • Chemicals that have revolutionized the treatment of childhood leukemia and Hodgkin’s disease • Two chemicals represent a $200-million-a-year industry

15. Sources for Medicine • Chinese star anise • Yields fruits that are harvested to produce shikimic acid • Raw material for making Tamiflu ® - treatment for influenza virus • Paclitaxel (trade name Taxol ® • Extract from a bark of the Pacific yew • Valuable for treating ovarian cancer

16. Ethnobotany • The study of the relationships between plants and people • 3,000 plants have been identified as having anticancer properties • The search for drugs in the tropics has led to the creation of parks and reserves to promote the preservation of natural ecosystems.

18. Recreational, Aesthetic, and Scientific Value • Recreational and aesthetic activities support commercial interests • Ecotourism – whereby tourists visit a place in order to observe wild species or unique ecological sites – represents the largest foreign-exchange enterprise in many developing countries

20. Intrinsic Value • Until recently, Western philosophers argued that only humans were worthy of ethical consideration • Western philosophical tradition has been strongly anthropocentric • Intrinsic value arguments center on animal rights and religion

21. Saving Wild Species Chapter 10.2

22. Game Animals in the United States • Game Animals – traditionally hunted for sport, meat, or pelts (commercial hunting) • Earlier U.S. – no restriction on hunting • Caused a number of species to become extinct (great auk, heath hen, passenger pigeon) or near extinction (bison, wild turkey) • Regulations were enacted in response to the declining numbers of organisms • Established hunting seasons, bag limits, hired wardens

23. Restoration efforts have successfully reestablished the wild turkey throughout the United States the hunting within carefully controlled limits now takes place

24. Backyard Menagerie • Common game animals such as deer, rabbits, doves, and squirrels are well adapted to rural and suburban environments • Therefore adapted and protected from overhunting • But, serious problems have emereged

25. Problems • # of animals killed on roadways now exceeds the number killed by hunters • As rural areas are developed, more animals found on roadways are a serious hazard • 1 million animals become road-kill a day • 200 human fatalities occur annually as a consequence

26. Highway Overpasses. This wildlife overpass in Banff, British Columbia, facilitates wildlife traffic between the forests intersected by the highway.

27. Problems • Many nuisance animals are thriving in highly urbanized areas, creating various health hazards • 2001, CDC reported 7,437 cases of rabid animals in the U.S. • 68% occurred in raccoons and skunks

28. Problems • Some game animals have no predators except hunters and tend to reach population densities that push them into suburban habitats, where they cannot be hunted effectively • White-tailed deer • Pest to gardeners, fruit nurseries • Public health risk – Lyme disease • Disrupts ecosystem by over-foraging

29. Problems • Suburbanites have increasingly been attacked by cougars, bears, and alligators as urbanization encroaches on the wild. • Over the past 100 ears, large carnivores have killed 142 people in the U.S., and half of these deaths have occurred in the last decade alone.

30. Cougar on the Roof. As suburbs encroach on cougar habitats in the western United States, attacks on humans have become more numerous. This particular cougar on the roof of a home in a California suburb has been shot with a tranquilizer dart.

31. Problems • Coyotes, which once roamed only in the Midwest, and western states, are now found in every state and are increasing in numbers. • Highly adaptable predator • Coyotes will eat almost anything, including deer, cats, dogs, human garbage, and occasionally attack small children

32. Problems • Suburban parks and lawns, college campuses, and golf courses have become home to exploding flocks of Canadian geese. • Grazing herbivores consume large amounts of grass and defecate as often as every 8 minutes • Protected by wildlife laws • Hard to keep in control. • Few predators

33. Protecting Endangered Species • In the 1800s, fashion was dictated by fancy hats. • Egrets and other birds were hunted for their plumage • By the late 1800s, egrets were almost extinct • In 1886, the newly formed Audubon Society began a press campaign to shame “feather wearers” • Campaign caught on and gradually attitudes changed and new laws followed.

34. Lacey • Florida and Texas were the first to pass laws protecting plumed birds • 1900 Congress passed the Lacey Act • Forbidding interstate commerce in illegally killed wildlife, making it more difficult for hunters to sell their kill. • Act has become the most important piece of legislation protecting wildlife from illegal killing or smuggling. • Under this act the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) can bring federal charges against anyone violating a number of wildlife laws.

35. Endangered Species Act of 1973 • ESA was reauthorized in 1988 • Provides protection for endangered and threatened species • Endangered – been reduced to the point where it is in imminent danger of becoming extinct if protection is not provided • Threatened – judge to be in jeopardy but not on the brink of extinction

36. ESA of 1973 • Law specifies substantial fines for killing, trapping, uprooting, modifying significant habitats of, or engaging in commerce in the spices or its parts of a listed endangered or threatened species • ESA is administered by the FWS for terrestrial and freshwater species and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for marine and anadromous species

37. 3 Crucial Elements in Designating Species as Threatened or Endangered • 1 – Listing • Based on the best available information and must not take into consideration any economic impact the listing might have

38. 3 Crucial Elements in Designating Species as Threatened or Endangered • 2 – Critical Habitat • When a species is listed, the agency must also designate as crucial habitat the areas where the species is currently found or where it could likely spread as it recovers • 1995 – Supreme Court made it clear that federal authority to conserve critical habitat extended to private lands.

39. 3 Crucial Elements in Designating Species as Threatened or Endangered • 3 – Recovery Plans • Required to develop recovery plans that are designed to allow listed species to survive and thrive.

40. Examples of Endangered Species

41. Examples of Endangered Species

42. Examples of Endangered Species

43. Examples of Endangered Species

44. Examples of Endangered Species

45. Examples of Endangered Species

46. Examples of Endangered Species

47. Examples of Endangered Species

48. Examples of Endangered Species

49. ESA • 1,301 U.S. Species are currently listed for protection under the act • Recovery plans are in place for 1,063 of them • 475 species have designated critical habitats • Up for reauthorization in 1992 • Has been living on a year-to-year budget due to politcal conflicts

50. Conflicting Values • Often, not much data is available • Rare species are poorly known or seldom studied • Critics believe act doesn’t go far enough • Protection is not provided until the species is listed • Critical habitat puts unwanted burdens on property owners • “saving bugs and bushes over humans and economic growth”