Bellwork: 05/08/2014
1. Due by midnight, Friday night: Conservation Project
questions 8, 11, 16,17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24.
2. I will be emailing you comments & questions about all
of the answers that you submit, so be aware that I will
be looking for those changes in your final
presentation.
3. For question #24 (Article Questions), begin your article
review work by submitting the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What were the authors investigating?
How did the authors investigate this topic?
What did they find?
How is this connected to your topic?
Include the title of the article on your slide, possibly the
title of the slide, and when the article was published.
Bellwork:
1. Due by midnight, Wednesday night: Conservation
Project questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15.
2. I will be emailing you comments & questions about all
of the answers that you submit, so be aware that I will
be looking for those changes in your final
presentation.
3. For question #24 (Article Questions), begin your article
review work by submitting the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What were the authors investigating?
How did the authors investigate this topic?
What did they find?
How is this connected to your topic?
Include the title of the article on your slide, possibly the
title of the slide, and when the article was published.
Bellwork: 05/08/2014
1. Please don’t start changing your tank water. We
are going to do notes/lecture first, then tank
maintenance.
Conservation Biology
Defining Conservation Biology

Conservation may be defined as the management and
sustainable use of the natural environment and natural
resources for ethical reasons and the benefit of humanity.

Conservation biology is a multidisciplinary science
focusing on biodiversity and its maintenance for human
welfare.

It focuses the knowledge and tools of all the integrated
disciplines onto one issue – the maintenance of
biodiversity.

The greatest challenge is to ensure that scientific
information is used effectively by those practicing
conservation.

A Few Historical Highlights of the Use
of Unsustainable Practices and Their
Costs
Unsustainable land use practices have been around for thousands
of years.

Following the colonization of new territories, humans have overexploited various resources with the result that
people have been responsible for extinctions for thousands of years.

Aristotle, in the Greek period, commented on the widespread
destruction of the Baltic forests. At the same time the forests of
southern Asia were being felled to meet the burgeoning shipbuilding industry.

The arid lands of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran are the result of
massive exploitation of fragile woodlands.
A Brief History of Conservation

Early conservation was derived from philosophical and
religious beliefs about the relationship between man and
the natural world.

Sacred groves were important in Europe and India in preChristian times.

India has had protected areas since the fourth century B.C.

In the Middle Ages, the European royalty and nobility set
aside preserves for their recreational use.

The Polish authorities set aside a
nature reserve in 1564.
Philosophies of Conservation

Formalized philosophies of conservation biology
developed into two branches during the late 19th
century and early 20th century.

Preservationists wanted pure wilderness based on a
spiritual appreciation for nature.

Conservationists advocated a resource-based
approach to the management of natural resources.

Preservationist John Muir believed that the spiritual
benefits of nature were superior to the material
benefits gained by exploiting nature.

Conservationist Gifford Pinchot believed that
natural resources should be used for the benefit of
humanity - “the greatest good of the greatest
number [of people] for the longest time.”
The Guiding Principles of Conservation
Biology

Three guiding principles for Conservation Biology have
emerged:

Evolutionary Change

Dynamic Ecology

Human Change
Principle 1: Evolutionary Change

This is based on the work of population
geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky.

He stated that "nothing in biology makes
sense except in the light of evolution".

Evolution is the most plausible explanation
for the immense pattern of biodiversity that
exists on the planet.

The genetic composition of organisms is continuously
changing.

Consequently the goal of this principle is to allow
populations to change in response to environmental
changes through adaptations.
Principle 2: Dynamic Ecology

The ecological world is
seen as dynamic; largely
functioning through nonequilibrium principles.

Dynamic ecology specifically rejects the equilibrium viewpoint.

This non-equilibrium view sees the regulation of
ecological structure as not being maintained through
internally generated processes but through external
processes, in the form of natural processes.
More on Non-Equilibrium Processes

We know that non-equilibrium processes maintain almost all ecosystems.

Consequently, ecosystems consist
of patches and mosaics of habitats
that are not internally uniform with
clearly defined species assemblages.

The critical focus of this principle is the integration of nonequilibrium processes within a hierarchy of species
interactions and the recognition that ecosystems are open
with fluxes of species, materials and energy.
Principle 3: The Human Presence

Humans are participants within both natural and perturbed ecosystems and their
presence within ecosystems needs to be
recognized and accounted for.

Native human cultures form historical
components of the landscape and must
be explicitly recognized as a form of
diversity in the same way that biodiversity is.

Conservation efforts cannot wall off nature to safe guard it from humans
because:



Ecosystems must be seen as open systems
Nature reserves inevitably exist within a surrounding landscape that is
intensively utilized by humans.
This principle explicitly integrates humans into conservation practice.
Aspects of Human Integration into
Conservation Biology – Conservation
and Economics

Certain principles of economic theory are required for the practice of conservation biology.

Much of resource economics is based on the
willingness to pay for certain goods and services.

Nature conservation is being seen as a form of land use and its
value for generating capital through tourism is compared to other
economic activities.

The three axioms of ecological economics are likely to have a long
term impact on the value on biodiversity. These axioms are:
endless expansion into a limited space is impossible; endless use
of a finite resource is impossible and all the elements of the
biosphere are interconnected.
The World Conservation Strategy

People’s realization of their roles in determining their future on earth
prompted the development in the 1980’s of the World Conservation
Strategy.

The strategy has three objectives:



The maintenance of the ecological processes that life depends on;
The sustainable use of ecosystems
and their component species;
The conservation of genetic diversity.
Factors Responsible for Biodiversity
Loss
• Habitat fragmentation: dividing the habitat
up into small, unconnected areas
– Low population numbers
– Smaller populations in each fragment
– Edge effects: changes in microclimate along the
edge of a habitat
16
Factors Responsible
• Edge effects
– Trees exposed to more sunlight
• Hotter and drier conditions
• Less biomass growth
– Opportunities for parasite and predator species
– Habitat fragmentation is blamed for local
extinctions in a wide range of species
17
Factors Responsible
• Fragmentation of Wisconsin woodland
habitat
• Cover less than 1% of original area
18
Aspects of Human Integration into
Conservation Biology – Conservation
and Politics

It is naïve to think that conservation biology could be apolitical despite the fact
that it should be for all people.

The only realistic paths to sustainable conservation
are through the provision of a reasonable standard
of living for all people globally.

Conservation also needs the support of party
politicians at all levels, which requires conservation
biologists to invest time in lobbying and education.
Human Life-Expectancy Example:

Human Life Expectancy from around the
world:
 Monaco
– 89.73, GDP/capita - $153,177
 Swaziland
– 31.88, GDP/capita - $5, 781
Aspects of Human Integration into
Conservation Biology – Conservation
and Standards of Living

Human expectations of a decent standard of living include food,
shelter, water, space, education and a freedom of choice.

The problem of human pressure on natural resources is further
complicated by the global problem of population growth.

The world population reached 6.7 billion in 2008.

7.0 billion people at the end of 2011



By 2050, an estimated 9.22 billion people will exist. Most of these
people will be living in the developing nations of the world.
Kenya will increase from about 16.33 million in 1980 to 64.82 million
in 2050.
Columbia will increase from 26.58 million in 1980 to 64.53 million in
2050.
Aspects of Human Integration into
Conservation Biology – Conservation
and Standards of Living
Aspects of Human Integration into
Conservation Biology – Conservation
and Self-Sufficiency

Many countries that, a few years ago, were self-sufficient in food,
now have to import food.

Hungry and dissatisfied people do not always
make the best use of their living space.


They tend to make extensive rather than
intensive use of the land.
Landless people migrate to unoccupied public
lands (i.e. natural vegetation).

The techniques that could improve the situation (at
least in the short term) are generally unavailable or
beyond local budgets.

Government indifference (as shown by their
priorities) is one of the main causes of hunger.
Fraccing and Water
• 4 million to 6 million gallons of water per well
• Perspective: fraccing water makes up 1% of
statewide water use
• A growing percent of that is gelled (without
water), or recycled water (grey water)
Man-Made Conservation Problems –
Unnecessary Wastefulness and Its
Consequences

Wastefulness is not the confined to the poor.
Wealthy societies are even more wasteful.

In many developing countries, large tracts of
land are wastefully cleared to provide exports
to these wealthy countries.

The fishing industries of the wealthy nations
have collapsed. The fishing industries of developing countries have also collapsed due
to local exploitation for export to the wealthy
nations or their inability to police fishing rights
leased to wealthy countries.

Overexploitation can become habitat destruction and cause species
extinction.

The loss of tropical rainforests is serious. Other ecosystems under threat
are wetlands, coastal areas, arid and semi-arid rangelands.
The Future Survival/Success of
Conservation

Conservation needs to become user-friendly to
gain and maintain public support now and in the
future.

Conservation needs to recognize and
include local cultural diversity. Native
human cultures form historical
components of the landscape.

For conservation to work, people must want it rather than have it imposed upon them. People will
only want conservation if they understand it and
can see that they benefit from it.