The Impact of Biodiversity

1. The Impact of Biodiversity Cory Soltys and Warren Austin AP Biology September 16, 2014

2. What is Biodiversity? The variety of: • life and its processes • organisms • the genetic differences among them • the communities and ecosystems in which they occur • the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.

4. The Importance of Biodiversity • utilitarian values-medicinal use of plants, agricultural gene stocks, and fishing • indirect utilitarian values-ecosystem services such as air quality and climate amelioration • biogeochemical cycles • photosynthesis and cellular respiration (oxygen) • cleaning water • absorbing chemicals

5. Continued • ecosystems to adjust to disturbances • prevents diseases • helps adaptation of species • more than 90 percent of the calories consumed by people worldwide are produced from 80 plant species.

6. Humans Impacts I = PAT • impact= population x affluence x technology • increasing at a rate of 70 million a year (three more people are added to earth every second) • total near 7 billion • less than 20% of the world's population controls 80% of the world's wealth and resources-the major cause of pollution and environmental degradation

7. Chart of Economics

8. Aquatic System • Salt or fresh water • Diverse life: phytoplankton (cyanobacteria and algae), plankton, nekton, benthos, decomposers • No fixed boundaries; complex and larger food chains • Severely affected by abiotic factors • Huge eco services • Renewable if not overloaded or overfished

9. Aquatic damage • Destruction of land to build water ways, Flood control levees, inland wetlands used to as a filler for crops • Multiple threats to lake Erie • Pollution- plastic from every day visitors • Invasive Species- “Bait Fish” used for fishing are gradually becoming a problem • About 8% bait fish is estimated to be an invasive species • Asian Carp, Gold fish, • The fishers are unaware of what they are buying • Climate Change- toxic Blue-green algae can now comfortably grow in the lake Erie climate

10. Changes in Biodiversity • habit destruction (habitat fragmentation) • extinction • invasive alien species • overexploitation • nutrient loading (pollution) • 1/3 of all known species are threatened with extinction-29% of all amphibians, 21% of all mammals and 12% of all birds.

11. The Negative Effects of Changes Loss of: • life • energy (wood) • food supply • environmental buffers (coral reefs and wetlands) • medicines • pest control • pollination

12. Continued • erosion control • livelihoods • clean water • raw materials (fabrics and fibers)

13. What can be Done? • protecting areas • preventing species introductions • informing/educating • slowing climate change • promoting sustainability

15. Sources • http://esm.versar.com/PPRP/features/def.htm#definition • http://esm.versar.com/PPRP/features/def.htm#definition • http://www.pabiodiversity.org/whatisbiodiversity.html • http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Understanding-Wildlife-Conservation/Biodiversity.aspx • http://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/l-3/4-causes-desertification.htm • http://www.priweb.org/globalchange/bioloss/bl_06.html • WWW.ENVIRONMENT.GOV.AU • WWW.AQUAFIND.COM/ARTICLES/AQUATIC-BIODIVERSITY.PHP • WWW.LIVESCIENCE.COM

16. Aquatic Biodiversity

17. Factors • Temperature, sunlight, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, number of producers, consumers and aerobic decomposers to supply oxygen, and deep ocean circulation to bring in oxygen

18. Saltwater: Intertidal Zone • Low and high tides • Organisms must avoid being wept away or crushed by waves, immersed during high tide and left high and dry during low tides, and salinity levels when heavy rains dilute the saltwater • As a result, hold on, dig, or hide • Fluctuating tides cause a variety of niches and abiotic factors • Rocky: crab, mussel, kelp • Barrier or sandy: clams, sand dollars, flounder, birds, and hungry crustaceans • Sand dunes protect from predation; human development has destroyed

19. Human Impact on Marine • Biodiversity overall down by 40% • 13/19 megacities in world close to coastal area; 15 years, expect 6.3 billion people to be near coast • Salt marshes, mangroves, sea-grass meadows: destroyed by agriculture, urban development, and rising sea levels; 50% in the world destroyed • 70% eroding beaches, ocean bottoms degraded by dredging and trawler boats • In next 30 years, predicted 70% depleted coral reefs

20. Freshwater • Littoral: shore to depth where rooted plants end; high diversity; frog & turtle • Limnetic: water surface layer to depth penetrated by sun; photosynthesis region; beetles, plankton, perch • Profundal: open and dark; low oxygen; adaptations to cool and dark • Benthic: bottom: cool temperatures and low O2 levels; bloodworms Streams and rivers-moving down • Source: cold, clear water; as it flows, dissolves oxygen; algae on stone • Transition: wider and deeper; warm; producers; lower O2 levels; bass • Floodplain: widest and deeper; higher temps and low O2; cyanobacteria; muddy and high silt; carp, catfish; mix with the ocean

21. Human Impact on Freshwater • 60% of 237 world’s large rivers have been fragmented • Alter and destroy aquatic habitats, disconnection of rivers, and destroy wetlands for spawning • 53% of US wetlands have been drained • 80% of which has been used for crops • Most of chemicals in water come from atmosphere • Aquatic life is renewable however • Hydrologic processes purify water, nutrient cycles, populations are replenishing • Safe if no overloading pollutants and over fishing

22. Aquatic Issues • A broth of chemicals, animal waste and microbes from upstream; intense rain this year added to the drastic issue • More than a cubic mile of oxygen-depleted water • Hot summer weather and pollution combine to trigger algae blooms • Gulf of Mexico, algae covered area size of Connecticut • Toxic algae in Lake Erie contaminated drinking water supply • Florida observed, “red tide” algae blooms, 100 feet-deep • Climatic variation cause variation in occurrence • Sediments and basins are filled with pollutants • Regulations decreased and funding as well

23. Sources • http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/large-dead-zone-signals-continued-problems-for-the-chesapeake-bay/2014/08/31/1e0c2024-2fc2-11e4-9b98-848790384093_story.html • Living in the Environment Ecology book