1 / 27

Threats to Biodiversity

Threats to Biodiversity. Victoria Bone Stefanie Hoffer Kim Stauffer. Biodiversity. The variety of life, in genes and species, that inhabit the ecosystems of the earth Important because: Greater variety of crops Natural sustainability Recovery from disasters Ecosystem services

Antony
Download Presentation

Threats to Biodiversity

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Threats to Biodiversity Victoria Bone Stefanie Hoffer Kim Stauffer

  2. Biodiversity • The variety of life, in genes and species, that inhabit the ecosystems of the earth • Important because: • Greater variety of crops • Natural sustainability • Recovery from disasters • Ecosystem services • Biological resources • Social benefits

  3. Biodiversity • Threats: • Human Disreguard/Carelessness: Pollution, Overhunting, Invasive Species • Population Growth • Biggest threats to biodiversity within an ecosystem deal with the elimination of a keystone species

  4. Invasive Species • non-native to the ecosystem whose introduction causes economic or environmental harm or harm to human health • Second only to climate change in terms of ubiquity • Implicated in the extinction of many species • Introduced by human involvement primarily • (ex., soil with a population of native insects to another country) • Also introduced by nature • (ex., flood carries microbial to another ecosystem) http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/rural-life/2007/03/hop-to-it.html

  5. Invasive Species • Impact in many ways: • Direct mechanisms • (ex., competing for same food resource in the environment) • Indirect mechanisms • (ex., a new plant creates cover and enables prey to hide from predator, skewing the food pyramid) • Usually reach much higher densities in their new areas than they do in their native habitat http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=mcgee_ryan&id=3461697

  6. Impacts of Bufo marinus

  7. Impact of Bufo marinus • Since toxins do not leach in lethal quantities from B. marinus eggs into solution, and native tadpoles that die after consuming B. marinus eggs or larvae are not toxic to conspecifics that feed on their carcasses, the mortality of L. ornatus tadpoles observed in experiments 1 and 2 can be attributed to the consumption of Bufo eggs and hatchlings.

  8. Contributor to Success

  9. Spread of Cane Toads in Australia

  10. Invasive Species

  11. Pollution’s effect on Biodiversity

  12. Coral Reefs • Coral Reefs cover 1% of the world’s oceans • 25% of all marine species live in coral reefs • And even more species use coral reefs as well, mostly as a nursery for larvae or juvenile stages. • Most commercially fished species have a connection to coral reefs

  13. Coral Reefs • Coral Reefs can only survive in oceans with clear water and few nutrients at the ideal temperature and depth. • Backbone of coral reef is the coral polyp • The Coral is a small organism that lives symbiotically with Zooxanthelle • A photosynthetic dinoflagellate

  14. Coral Reefs and Pollution • Pollution mostly from fertilizers or sewage causes increase of nutrients • More nutrients cause increase of algae growth • This decreases the oxygen and turbidity • The photosynthetic Zooxanthelle cannot get enough light and coral dies

  15. Loss of Biodiversity • Loss of biodiversity come from death of coral. • Which reduces the number of fish nurseries and amount of food. • Many larval organisms die and adults are few. Commercial Importance • Reduced numbers of commercially fished fish • Loss of possibilities for research

  16. The biggest threat to biodiversity:Loss of Keystone Species A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionate effect on its environment relative to its abundance. Such species affect many other organisms in an ecosystem and help to determine the types and numbers of various others species in a community. The prairie dog has long been hated by farmers and ranchers, but it is vital to many prairie species. This gopher-tortoise is a an endangered keystone species, under protection in Mobile Country, AL.

  17. KRILL Keystone species in the Antarctic zoology.muohio.edu/oris/ZOO121/notes/Envs2003_07.htm

  18. Otters are a keystone species on the Western Coasts of the US because they maintain the kelp beds; their predators are whales, sharks, and humans. http://cbc.amnh.org/crisis/foodweb.html

  19. Mountain Tapirs Mountain tapirs, living in the cloud forests of the Andes, are near extinction due to destruction trends in their homes. Hunting, Habitat Destruction, and Encroachment by humans are the most serious threats. http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Perissodactyla/Tapirus_pinchaque.html

  20. Importance of Conservation of Tapirs • Long distance seed dispersal by tapirs increases seed survival and aggregates tropical trees; as tapirs disappear, so do certain plants like the majestic Quindean wax palm, Columbia’s national tree • Causes: • Coffee Plantations, Opium Fields • Forests converted to open grassland with slash and burn for high-altitude cattle farming • Overhunting: vulnerable to hunts by loggers, poor families • Population Growth

  21. Keystone Predator: Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf • Removed from Endangered Species List February 2008, after only having been reintroduced into Idaho and Wyoming in 1984 Currently there are 1500 wolves and 100 breeding pairs

  22. Conservation Success Story? • "The wolf population in the Northern Rockies has far exceeded its recovery goal and continues to expand its size and range. States, tribes, conservation groups, federal agencies and citizens of both regions can be proud of their roles in this remarkable conservation success story” -Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett • Republican governor of Idaho, C. L. "Butch" Otter: He hopes to be the first to legally shoot a wolf in Idaho, as soon as the animals lose ESA protection, and wants no more than the federal minimum recovery target of 100. There are 650 now. ( It is now legal, and the 2009 limit was 220 wolves.) A represents three populations of grey wolves. B represents the original populations. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=10&hid=15&sid=b8130dec-4eb4-42cb-bc31-2f1384f55ae9%40sessionmgr14&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=46987264

  23. Conclusion • The most major threats to biodiversity: • Human Disregard and Carelessness • Population Growth: Estimated based on expected human population growth forecast a 7% increase in number of threatened species by 2020, and a 14% increase by 2050!

  24. Hard thing to fix! • We must abate growth to conserve biodiversity on a global scale! • We must consider very carefully any species we eliminate or insert into an ecosystem!

  25. Cites • Fabriclus K, De'ath G, McCook L, Turak E, Williams D. Changes in algal, coralnext term and fish assemblages along water quality gradients on the inshore Great Barrier previous termReefnext term. Australian Institue of Marine Science 2005;51(1-4):384-398. • Moberg F, Folke C. Ecological goods and services of coral reefnext term ecosystems. Ecological Economics 1999 May;29(2):215-233. • Fabriclus K. Effects of terrestrial runoff on the ecology of corals and coral reefs:next term review and synthesis. Marine Pollution Bulletin 2005 Feb;50(2):125-146. • Edinger EN, Jompa J, Limmon GV, Widjatmoko W, Risk MJ. Reef degradation and coral biodiversity in indonesia: Effects of land-based pollution, destructive fishing practices and changes over time. Marine Pollution Bulletin 1998 Aug;36(8):617-630. • Reopanichkul P, Schlacher TA, R.W. Carter, Suchai Worachananant. Sewage impacts coral reefs next term at multiple levels of ecological organization. Marine Pollution Bulletin 2009 Sep;58(9):1356-1362. • Alderman, Derek H. "Channing Cope and the Making of a Miracle Vine." Geographical Review 94.2 (2004): 157-77. Web. Bryson, • Charles T., and Richard Carter. "Biology of Pathways for Invasive Weeds." Weed Technology 18 (2004): 1216-2220. Web. • Crossland, Michael R. "Direct and Indirect Effects of the Introduced Toad Bufo Marinus (Anura: Bufonidae) on Populations of Native Anuran Larvae in Australia." Ecogrpahy 23.3 (2000): 283-90. Web. • Estoup, Arnold. "Genetic Analysis of Complex Demographic Scenarios: Spatially Expanding Populations of the Cane Toad, Bufo Marinus." Evolution 58.9 (2004): 2021-036. Web. • Forseth, I. N., and A. H. Termura. "Field Photosynthesis, Microclimate and Water Relations of an Exotic Temperate Liana, Pueraria Lobata, Kudzu." Oecologia 71.2 (1987): 262-67. Web. • Harrington, Timothy B., Laura T. Rader-Dixon, and John W. Taylor. "Kudzu (Pueraria Montana) Community Responses to Herbicides, Burning, and High-Density Loblolly Pine." Weed Science 51.6 (2003): 965-74. Web. • Lampo, Margarita, and Giulio A. De Leo. "The Invasion Ecology of the Toad Bufo Marinus: From South America to Australia." Ecological Applications 8.2 (1998): 388-96. Web. • "National Invasive Species Information Center." National Invasive Species Information Center. USDA, 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 03 May 2010. <http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/index.shtml>. • Philips, Ben L., and Richard Shrine. "An Invasive Species Induces Rapid Adaptvie Change in a Native Predator: Cane Toads and Black Snakes in Australia." Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2006): 1545-550. Web. • Philips, Ben L., Richard Shine, and David B. Wake. "Adapting to an Invasive Species: Toxic Cane Toads Induce Morphological Change in Australian Snakes." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101.49 (2004): 17150-7155. Web. • Robbins, Paul. "Comparing Invasive Networks: Cultural and Political Biographies of Invasive Species." Geographical Review 94.2 (2004): 139-56. Web. • Shah, Anup. "Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares? Global Issues." Global Issues : Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues That Affect Us All � Global Issues. 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 10 May 2010. http://www.globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares. • Skelly, David K. "The Ailing Invader." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104.45 (2007): 17561-7562. Web. • Torchin, Mark E., and Charles E. Mitchell. "Parasites, Pathogens, and Invasions by Plants and Animals." Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2.4 (2004): 183-90. Web. • http://www.fws.gov/news/newsreleases/showNews.cfm?newsId=3CDF97D5-F405-0551-E357499D39440B2B • http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=27199038&site=ehost-live • http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=46987264&site=ehost-live • ttp://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=7287232&site=ehost-live

  26. Questions?

More Related