Pluie, the Wandering Wolf

1. Pluie, the Wandering Wolf

2. Epic Journey

3. Conservation Biology Design, Restoration Ecology, & Pop Dynamics Definition History & Connections Biodiversity & threats Ecosystem Goods & Services Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

4. Biotic diversity has intrinsic value. • Yes • No

5. 7 Answer Now! Is the following statement true or false: Conservation biology does acknowledge the fact that it is a “value-laden” field. • True • False

6. Definition • … pursuit of a coherent goal: the protection and perpetuation of the Earth’s biological diversity. A mission-oriented, crisis-driven discipline comprising both pure and applied science • Meine et al. 2006 • …not defined by a discipline but by its goal —to halt or repair the undeniable, massive damage that is being done to ecosystems, species, and the relationships of humans to the environment. • Ehrenfeld 1992

7. PURE VS. APPLIED • Pure: pursue knowledge for its own sake • Applied: use known principles to solve practical problems

8. Critique • Clearly western, North American • Juxtaposition of ‘wild areas’ and trashed areas. • …effort by “an elite group of biologists” who “[aimed] to change science, conservation, cultural habits, human values, our ideas about nature, and ultimately, nature itself.” • Takacs 1996

9. Not without controversy • I have read many definitions of what is a conservationist & the best one is written not with a pen, but an axe. -- Aldo Leopold

10. HISTORY • Alfred Russel Wallace • George Perkins Marsh • 1860s

11. HISTORY • 1900s Progressive Era • Gifford Pinchot • John Muir

12. History • Realization: Wallace, Marsh • Progressive Era (utilitarian [Pinchot] vs. preservationist [Muir]) • Appreciation of the biota as a whole - biocentric (vs. anthropocentric view) • Laws of the early 70s • Emergence of Conservation Biology

13. Focus on Biodiversity • Diversity - the number of different items and their relative frequency. • Biodiversity - number and variety of species, ecological systems, and the genetic variability they contain. http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/biodiversity/biodiversity.html

14. Foundation - 1 • Population biology: a study of biological populations of organisms, especially in terms of biodiversity, evolution, and environmental biology. • Island Biogeography: Number of species present = f(rate of immigration & rate of extinction) • Concept of Umbrella Species http://www.fws.gov/endangered/ http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/Filson.html

15. ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY • The study of island biogeography is a field within biogeography that attempts to establish and explain the factors that affect the species richness of a particular community. In this context the island can be any area of habitat surrounded by areas unsuitable for the species on the island; not just true islands surrounded by ocean, but also mountains surrounded by deserts, lakes surrounded by dry land, forest fragments surrounded by human-altered landscapes.

16. Foundation - 2 • The worst thing that can happen during the 1980s is not energy depletion, economic collapse, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations. The one process ongoing in the 1980s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendents are least likely to forgive us. • E.O. Wilson 1985

17. CoreCorridorFragmentationConnectivityMountains‘Mainland’‘Island’SizeAgeEnvironmentCoreCorridorFragmentationConnectivityMountains‘Mainland’‘Island’SizeAgeEnvironment

18. Loss of Biodiversity - Real or imagined problem • The conceptual framework • A real example • Practical example

19. Conceptual Background

20. Practical Example • Conventional agriculture vs. “sustainable agriculture” • In order to maintain simplified biologicalsystems, one must use extensive quantities of energy • Water • Fuel • Fertilizers • Pesticides

21. Threats to Biodiversity • Habitat loss/conversion/degradation/ fragmentation • Species introductions (includes invasive species) • Over-harvesting (hunting, fishing) • Air pollution • Climate change

22. Red pine Loblolly pine http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/atlas/ Example with Climate Change

23. Solutions • Ex-situ (off-site)conservation: Arboreta, zoos, plant collections, seed banks • In-situ conservation: Preserves, reserves • SLOSS: Single large or several small. • Working farms and forests • Recognition of attributes of ‘umbrella’ species (link to discussion of food chain/web) • Yellowstone to Yukon (remember Pluie) • Restoration

24. Outcome • Corridor of connected protected areas • Identification of • Prime habitat • Areas at risk

25. Alternative (s) • Restoration • Working environments (agriculture, grazing and forestry)

27. Analysis of Restoration Project • Transformation of a relative small piece of land (~ 0.15 acres) • Work for 70 minutes @ $10 per hour • 142 students • 6 TAs • 2 Faculty • $11670 per acre

28. Renewable Resources: Forest Ecosystems Original Today Frontier

29. D Choices B A Which seems the poorest choice? C http://www.cwbiodiesel.com/biodiesel/palm_oil.html

30. Time Appropriate Questions • What do forest ecosystems provide? • What is important or valuable? • How do we conserve what is valuable? • What approaches are available for defining what is important? • What approaches are available for conserving? • Are we kidding ourselves?

31. Older definition of Ecosystem goods and services Ecosystem goods: Biophysical elements that are directly, or indirectly, consumed by humans Ecosystem services: processes that produce, or support the production of, ecosystem goods (most involve some biogeochemical cycle).

32. Newer definition of Ecosystem goodsand services • Provisional services (e.g., food, fiber, fuelwood, biochemicals, genetic resources, and water) • Cultural services (e.g., recreational, ecotourism, educational, sense of place, cultural heritage, spiritual, religious and other nonmaterial benefits). • Supporting services (e.g., primary production, soil formation & nutrient cycling) • Regulating services (e.g., water regulation [floods, irrigation], water purification, climate regulation, land degradation, and disease regulation)

33. Example of an Ecosystem Service • Soil provides the following ecosystem services • Significant regulator of the hydrological cycle • Shelters seeds, provides medium for plant growth, provides physical support • Retains, delivers & derives nutrients • Significant role in decomposition • Contributes to cycling, retention & regulation of major element cycles (N, P, C, S) • Carbon storage & cycle • Role as a purifier (water, nutrients, etc.)

34. Forestecosystems: Goods & Services • Fiber - paper and products • Fuel - cooking & heating • Water - quantity and quality • Nutrient cycling • Ecosystem energetics (food chain) • Air - CO2 uptake, O2 release, pollutant removal • Climate stability • Biodiversity/habitat: plant and animal (wildlife) • Medicine and food products • Recreation/mental & social health Reference: Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods (2006)

35. Ecosystem: A Human Construct • Definition: An ecological system composed of living organisms (plants, animals, & microbes) and their nonliving environment. • Ecosystems are characterized by: • Structure & function • Complexity • Interaction of the components • Change over time (e.g., disturbances), “young, mature, old.” • Today, these functions must be spatially and temporally coordinated.

36. Ecosystem threats? • Loss of habitat: Land-use change and irreversible conversion (fragmentation) • Disruption of biogeochemical cycles (N,C,P) • Invasive or introduced exotic organisms • Toxins, pollutants, human wastes • Climate change

37. Ensuring Ecosystem Goods & Services: Approaches • Examine three different approaches • First, we identify specific species we want in our ecosystem (e.g., wolves, spotted owl, whitebark pine, etc.). • Second, we identify a process we want to maintain (e.g., carbon fixation). • Third: A more comprehensive or systems approach. • Two examples that use this third approach • NCSSF - small scale, small perspective • MEA - small to large scale, many perspectives

38. Whitebark Pine Approach 1. Save a species!

39. Distribution & Importance of Whitebark Pine Pinus albicaulis • High elevation pine • Large seed • Special relationship with a bird • Important for other animals • Keystone species in the Rockies

40. Whitebark Pine: Ecological Importance • Hardy subalpine conifer, tolerates poor soils, steep slopes, windy exposures. • Often the tree line species • Keystone species (Rocky Mountain Region) • Food source - birds, small mammals & bears • Often colonizes a site, facilitates succession & promotes diversity • Regulates runoff, reduces soil erosion Picture: C.J. Earle

41. Decline of Whitebark Pine • White pine blister rust: Cronartium ribicola, is a rust fungus with two hosts. • All North American 5- needled pines • In addition, it infects all species of the genus Ribes spp., its alternate host. • European & Russian species resistant • Problems today • Fire suppression • Global climate change • Mountain pine beetle

42. Situation • Whitebark pine is likely to disappear. • What are our choices? • Do nothing (its “natural”) • Remove the Ribes • Breed for resistance • Introduce resistant European/Russian species • Selection and genetic engineering of the endophyte. 2. Ensure a function!

43. Manage for Carbon Dioxide Uptake Two goals: • Understand where the hidden sink for carbon dioxide is • Use forest systems to take up CO2. Approach taken by Canada - Kyoto Protocol • Difficulties • Issues of scale (quality of info vs. extent of info) • • Monitoring • • Unknowns (soil carbon)

44. Lessons from first 2 approaches • Managing single components or processes: Hard • Determination of what to measure, at what scale, how often, etc. • Techniques to measure (e.g., what is there now & how is it changing) are expensive • Monitoring - expensive, takes time • Understanding of interactions (e.g., cascading effects) • Regulatory environment may define • Nature changes (e.g., forest fire)

45. Third Approach Work on maintaining “properly” functioning ecosystems Key: Remember all the functions?

46. Two examples • • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Program (MEA) • National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry (NCSSF)

47. Ecosystem Goods and Services Definition of Ecosystem Goods and Services Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Program Example

48. MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT • 4 years • 1300 researchers • 4 volumes and 7 synthesis reports • “powerful, complex linkages between ecosystem change and human well-being”

49. Global Regional Local Indirect Drivers of Change • Demographic • Economic • Sociopolitical • Science & technology • Cultural & religious Human well-being & poverty reduction Direct Drivers of Change • Changes in land use & land cover • Species removal or introductions • Technology • Climate change • Natural physical & biological drivers • External inputs Ecosystem Services Life on Earth: Biodiversity MEA Conceptual Framework

50. MEA Goals • Identify options that can better achieve core human development and sustainability goals. • Recognize & meet growing demands for food, clean water, health, and employment. • Balance economic growth and social development with environmental conservation. • Better understand trade-offs involved—across stakeholders—in decisions concerning the environment. • Rather than issue by issue, use a multi-sectoral approach • Match response options with appropriate level of governance