BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION Chapter 5: Environmental Science and Sustainability Thursday 4 February 2021 Sustainable Environments ENST 0842 - Spring 2021 AGENDA ➤ Attendance ➤ Reminder: Send me your paper topics!! ➤ News article presentation: Daniel ➤ Biodiversity and Conservation Biology ➤ ➤ Levels of biodiversity ➤ Benefits of biodiversity ➤ Biodiversity loss and extinction ➤ Conservation biology Review session! REMINDER: SEND ME YOUR PAPER TOPICS!! ➤ Due tonight by midnight ➤ Please send by email to tun48424@tuj.temple.edu NEWS ARTICLE PRESENTATION REASONS FOR CURRENT EXTINCTIONS WHERE ARE HUMAN IMPACTS? WHAT IS PROTECTED? What types of habitats have most heavily been converted? Which types of biomes are most protected? Least protected? What do you think? REASONS FOR EXTINCTIONS What is the largest threat? Does it differ by type of animal?? What is the least important threat? SCALE OF EXTINCTIONS Which species are most at risk of extinction? What percent of species assessed are considered critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable? 41% DECLINE IN INSECT POPULATIONS BETWEEN 2009 AND 2019 Benefits provided by insects: ➤ Food for larger animals (birds, amphibians, fish) ➤ Free pollination services ➤ Decompose plant and animal waste Source: https://www.dw.com/en/how-to-stop-an-insect-apocalypse/a-47723711 BIODIVERSITY LOSS TENDS TO FAVOR GENERALIST SPECIES WHILE SPECIALIST SPECIES LOSE OUT Winners tend to be: ➤ ➤ ➤ ➤ Generalists, using many resources or habitats Losers tend to be: ➤ Specialists on certain resources or habitats Users of open, early successional habitats ➤ Limited to a small range ➤ Users of mature, dense habitats Able to cope with fast-changing conditions ➤ Needing stable conditions ➤ Large and slow-reproducing Geographically widespread ➤ Small and fast-reproducing ➤ High on the food chain ➤ Low on the food chain ➤ Needing large areas of habitat ➤ Not in need of large areas of habitat ➤ Island species ➤ Mainland species NATIVE, INTRODUCED AND INVASIVE SPECIES Key takeaway: it is important to understand all the potential impacts of introducing a non-native species into an existing eco-system HOW TO MANAGE INVASIVE SPECIES ➤ Create effective mechanisms to prevent their introduction in the first place (e.g. customs regulations and inspections) ➤ Create monitoring systems for detecting new infestations (e.g. public awareness and monitoring by park/forest services) ➤ Move rapidly to eradicate newly detected invaders (e.g. killing or removing invasive species) Source: Midwest Invasive Plant Network Preventing introduction of potentially invasive species is typically the least expensive approach to managing invasive species BENEFITS OF BIODIVERSITY ➤ Provides food security ➤ ➤ More types of crops protects against crop failure, spread of disease, etc.; one opportunity is harvesting/farming wild species and rare crop varieties Provides drugs and medicines ➤ Over half of today’s pharmaceuticals are derived from chemical compounds from wild plants ➤ Provide food, fuel, fiber, and shelter ➤ Purify air and water ➤ Detoxify and decompose wastes ➤ Stabilize Earth’s climate ➤ Moderate floods, droughts, and temperatures ➤ Cycle nutrients and renew soil fertility ➤ Provides ecosystems services ➤ Pollinate plants, including many crops ➤ Increases the resilience of ecological systems ➤ Control pests and diseases ➤ Boosts economies through tourism and recreation ➤ ➤ May provide deeper value Maintain genetic resources for crop varieties, livestock breeds and medicines ➤ Provide cultural and aesthetic benefits ➤ ➤ Biophilia: idea that humans share an instinctive love for nature and feel an emotional bond with other living things Revitalizes our bodies and our brains ➤ Contact with nature relieves stress, brings us happiness, makes us mentally sharper, improves our physical health ? Which benefit/reason for protecting biodiversity is most convincing? CONSERVATION ➤ Conservation is the protection of plants and animals, natural areas ➤ Conservation biology is the field dedicated to understanding the factors, forces, and processes that influence the loss, protection, and restoration of biological diversity ➤ ➤ ➤ Aim to develop solutions to problems such as habitat degradation and species loss Typically focuses on species that are: ➤ Endangered: in danger of becoming extinct in the near future ➤ Threatened: vulnerable to becoming endangered soon Restoration ecology: trying to restore communities to their pre-disturbance (pre-human impact) state PROTECTED AREAS ➤ Historically, protected areas have been the primary tool for protecting and preserving biodiversity ➤ This includes national parks, nature reserves, etc. ➤ Issues with protected areas: ecological island effect (habitat isolated amongst developed areas), continued human use due to lack of enforcement, mismatch between protected areas and those habitats most at risk, hard to establish for marine areas SOME CONSIDERATIONS ➤ Edge effect: the effect of an abrupt transition between two quite different adjoining ecological communities on the numbers and kinds of organisms ➤ Ecological island effect: Negative effects on a population when its protected habitat is isolated amid wider unprotected areas INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION ON BIODIVERSITY ➤ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) ➤ Drafted 1973, came into effect 1975; ratified by 183 countries ➤ Regulates international trade for animal and plant species ➤ Bans hunting, capture, and selling of endangered and threatened species ➤ Has helped reduce trade in ivory, rhino horns, and other products ➤ Drafted in 1992, came into force 1993; ratified by 196 countries ➤ Commits countries to develop national conservation strategies for habitats as well as individual species ➤ Countries must also pass lows to expand protected areas, restore degraded ecosystems and ensure sustainable and equitable use of ecosystem services HOW TO PRIORITIZE WHAT TO SAVE? ➤ Historically conservation efforts have focused on biodiversity hot spots, those areas with a high number of different animal and plant species, in an effort to save as many species as possible. What do you think? CANVAS DISCUSSION Intrinsic vs. instrumental ➤ Both important, but instrumental could make people care and companies take into account environmental impacts of their operations ➤ Intrinsic because we shouldn’t judge other species value, all species important to ecosystem and our view can be biased by what helps us ➤ Only focusing on instrumental value could lead to imbalance in ecosystems ➤ Regardless of value place on nature, the more we preserve the better, both for nature and for humans Making insects and plants worth saving ➤ Talk about importance of plants’ and insects’ role in ecosystem ➤ Talk about these species more, people not aware of them ➤ Joke about ugliness or boringness ➤ Awareness videos on social media or have celebrities speak about it ➤ Start with cute animals, but progress to others and explain importance of all aspects of ecosystem WHAT CAN WE DO? ➤ ➤ ➤ Save individual species via: ➤ Captive breeding (and reintroduction): individuals are bred and raised in controlled conditions, with the intent of reintroducing their offspring into the wild ➤ Cloning (but doesn’t promote genetic diversity necessary to maintain biodiversity; efforts have met with limited success) Save ecosystems via: ➤ Identifying and focusing on biodiversity hotspots (support over half of world’s plant species and 42% of terrestrial vertebrate species) ➤ Establishing parks and protected areas (currently 15% of world’s land area is protected) ➤ Restoring degraded ecosystems ➤ Community-based conservation (engaging with local populations to protect land and wildlife, contributing to local engagement and economic development) Make development activities more sustainable ➤ Sustainable Forest Management ➤ Grazing and Grassland Management ➤ Agriculture and the Protection of Biodiversity ➤ Urbanization and Land-Use Planning EXAMPLES ➤ The President has decided to establish a national park to protect diminishing wolf and bear populations. ➤ Geneticists concerned about the rapid loss of insect species have decided to clone them to ensure their survival. ➤ The Everglades (a swamp in Florida) has undergone restoration to restore it to its original state. ➤ In Costa Rica, local populations have been involved in conservation activities and also developing eco-tourism. ➤ The number of pandas is declining. One day they may only live in zoos. But later they could be reintroduced into the mountains of China. ➤ Madagascar has been selected as a priority for conservation due to the large number of endemic plant and animals species there. CONSERVATION VS. NEW CONSERVATION ➤ Biodiversity should be protected for its own sake (intrinsic value) ➤ Focus should be on biological conservation, not humanitarian work ➤ Economic growth is a driver of threats to biodiversity ➤ Focus on using protected areas as the main tool for conservation ➤ Biodiversity should be protected to improve human well being (instrumental value) ➤ Focus on human development and helping poor populations improve their standard of living ➤ Economic growth could be a way to protect biodiversity ➤ Use other tools than protected areas; partner with corporations; “conservation through capitalism” NATURAL CAPITAL APPROACH ➤ Natural capital: physical assets within the natural environment that deliver economic value through ecosystem services ➤ Like a savings account; can be used in the moment or can pay interest over time ➤ Seeks to quantify impact on ecosystems, using a cost-benefit approach ➤ Tries to reconcile economic and environmental interests by integrating the value of natural capital into decision making ➤ If a tree is chopped down for firewood, the capital has been spent. However, if the tree is retained and preserved, it can deliver (perhaps much higher) value through the ecosystem services of shade, air filtration, carbon sequestration and erosion control. SOME SUCCESS STORIES ➤ Wild bison will be reintroduced in the UK ➤ Protection for pangolins boosted in China ➤ 2,5000 miles of coral reef in the Red Sea was designated as an UNESCO Marine World Heritage Site ➤ Humpback whale numbers increase in the South Atlantic ➤ More sightings and increased numbers of mountain gorillas There are success stories, but the challenge is that ongoing human development and resource use continues to create environmental impacts which threaten biodiversity QUIZ #1: TUES FEB 16TH ➤ Covering Ch 1-6 ➤ Objective: Assess what you’ve learned, help solidify your knowledge of the themes we’ve studied, apply your knowledge. ➤ Submission format: 90 minute in-class exam ➤ Quiz format: ➤ ➤ 30 multiple choice questions ➤ 3 graph interpretations ➤ 3 short answer ➤ 1 short essay/applied case study (pick from 2 or 3) Grading: Each quiz is 10% of total class grade or 50 points per quiz CHAPTER 1: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY ➤ Environment ➤ Ecosystem ➤ Ecosystem services ➤ Ways in which humans impact the environment ➤ Anthropocene ➤ How human impact on the environment has evolved over time (agricultural revolution, industrial revolution, population growth, increasing resource consumption per person) ➤ Ecological footprint ➤ Sustainability ➤ Sustainable development ➤ Environmental science ➤ Scientific method (understand steps + how to apply it), controlled vs. natural experiments CHAPTER 2: ETHICS, ECONOMICS AND POLICY ➤ Environmental ethics ➤ Intrinsic vs. instrumental value ➤ Different ethical approaches to the environment (ecocentrism, biocentrism, anthropocentrism, utilitarianism) ➤ Jevons paradox ➤ Four economic assumptions which often contribute to environmental degradation (resources assumed to be infinite and replaceable, all transaction costs are assumed to only be borne by the individuals directly involved in the transaction, events in the future have less value than those in the present, economic growth is essential for maintaining social order) ➤ Externality (positive and negative), market failure, external costs ➤ Types of environmental policy or voluntary mechanisms (lawsuits, command and control, economic tools - green tax, subsidy; ecolabelling, corporate social responsibility, information disclosure and reporting, extended producer responsibility, raising awareness) CHAPTER 3: MATTER AND ENERGY ➤ Law of Conservation of Matter ➤ Reading basic graph (x and y axis, what do they usually represent) ➤ Familiar with types of different charts and how to interpret them (e.g. line, bar and column, spider or radar charts, pie and doughnut, stacked bar or column charts, stacked area chart, histogram, scatter plot, bubble chart, dual axis chart) ➤ Common issues for understanding charts ➤ Able to look at multiple charts and interpret them and tell a story CHAPTER 4: LIFE AND BIODIVERSITY ➤ What is biodiversity (three types) and how does it arise ➤ Why is biodiversity important ➤ How are humans impacting biodiversity ➤ Artificial selection ➤ Species richness vs. species evenness ➤ Number of species discovered (estimated 2 million) and estimates of total number of species (between 5 to 15 million), why is knowledge incomplete ➤ Biomes (what they are, how they’re defined - temperature, perception, soil conditions, wind patterns; don’t need to know all types of biomes) ➤ Habitat vs. niche ➤ Biodiversity hotspot and endemic species ➤ Species interactions (competition, predation, herbivory, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, neutralism, amensalism) ➤ Extinction (concept, background extinction rate, how many mass extinctions, and idea of sixth extinction) ➤ Reasons for current biodiversity losses and extinctions CHAPTER 5: CONSERVATION ➤ Benefits of biodiversity ➤ Invasive species ➤ Things we can do to address/manage biodiversity loss ➤ Conservation vs. New Conservation, Natural Capital Approach
