INTRODUCTION TO CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

Transcription

1 INTRODUCTION TO CONSERVATION BIOLOGY CHAPTER 1

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3 INTRODUCTION TO CONSERVATION BIOLOGY What is Conservation? What is Conservation Biology? What is Biodiversity?

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5 WHAT IS CONSERVATION? Since the beginning of humanity people have been concerned about their environment and especially its ability to provide them with food, water, and other resources. As our numbers have grown and our technology has developed, we have become increasingly concerned about the impact we are having on our environment.

6 THREE MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL CONSERVATION MOVEMENTS IN THE USA 1. Romantic-Transcendental Conservation Ethic Movement traced to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau in the Eastern US and John Muir in the West (legacy of the Sierra Club today) mid 1800 s Spoke of nature in a quasi-religious sense, a temple in which to commune with and appreciate the works of God; nature has other uses than for human economic gain; preserve nature; nature was seen as a place to cleanse and refresh the soul Referred to by Primack (2006) as including the preservation ethic

7 THREE MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL CONSERVATION MOVEMENTS IN THE USA 2. Resource Conservation Ethic Popularized by the forester Gifford Pinchot (founder of the USDA Forest Service) 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.

8 THREE MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL CONSERVATION MOVEMENTS IN THE USA 3. Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic It was with the publication of Aldo Leopold s A Sand County Almanac in 1949 that a third philosophy within conservation biology was born Leopold began to see the Pinchot perspective as inadequate and scientifically inaccurate; the emerging development of ecology and evolution as scholarly disciplines began to demonstrate that nature was not a simple collection of independent parts but rather a complicated and integrated system of interdependent processes and components

9 CONSERVATION VS. PRESERVATION A conservationist is someone who advocates or practices the sensible and careful use of natural resources. A preservationist advocates allowing some places and some creatures to exist without significant human interference.

10 WHAT IS CONSERVATION BIOLOGY The science of scarcity and diversity. M. Soule (1986) The applied science of maintaining the Earth s biological diversity or more simply biology as applied to conservation issues. M. Hunter (1996, 2002) Conservation biology is the new, multidisciplinary science that has developed to deal with the crisis confronting biological diversity. R. Primack (2006) Conservation biology should be considered a crisis discipline. R. Primack (2010)

11 The interdisciplinary of conservation biology

12 CONSERVATION IS NOT NEW People have been doing conservation for decades even centuries (Meffe and Carroll, 1994) What is new? Every natural ecosystem on the planet has been altered by humans Vast numbers of species on the planet have become prematurely extinct Natural hydrological and chemical cycles have been disrupted Billions of tons of topsoil have been lost Genetic diversity has been eroded Earth s climate has been altered

13 GOALS OF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY Based on Primack (2010, p. 7), the goals include: To document the full range of biological diversity on Earth taxonomy, natural history, ecology To investigate human impact on species, genetic variation, and ecosystems ecology, genetics, biogeography, etc. To develop practical approaches to prevent the extinction of species, maintain genetic diversity within species, and protect and restore biological communities and their associated ecosystem function conservation biology, communication, natural and social sciences, economics, politics, management, etc.

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15 HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY Humans may have been responsible for the extinction of most of the large mammal fauna of North America shortly after human colonization from Asia about 11,000 years ago Aristotle ( B.C.) commented on the widespread destruction of forests in the Baltic Region Barren landscapes of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran are unnatural deserts that resulted from massive exploitation of fragile woodlands

16 HISTORICAL CONTEXT India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan - it is hard to imagine the changes that have occurred in those areas over the past years Deforestation of most of Europe by the early 18th Century, forest areas maintained as private game management and royal preserves In Great Britain, many of the native forests were gone by the 12th Century Southeastern Minnesota and southern Wisconsin were largely deforested during the past 150 years

17 MALAYSIA HAS LOST MILLION HECTARES OF FOREST COVER IN 10 YEARS TIME

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20 ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY The diversity of species and biological communities should be preserved The ultimate extinction of populations and species should be prevented Ecological complexity should be maintained Evolution should continue (The Red Queen Hypothesis) Biological diversity has intrinsic value

21 THE RED QUEEN HYPOTHESIS Also known as the Red Queen Effect. It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. This evolutionary hypothesis proposes that organisms must constantly adapt, and evolve not only to reproduce, but also to survive against all opposing organisms that are evolving in an ever-changing environment.

22 GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY Principle 1:Evolution is the basic axiom that unites all of biology (The evolutionary play) Principle 2:The ecological world is dynamic and largely non-equilibrial (The ecological theater) Principle 3:The human presence must be included in conservation planning (Humans are part of the play)

23 GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF CONSERVATION BIOLOGY Conservation biology, which seeks to preserve life, integrates several fields Ecology Physiology Molecular biology Genetics Evolutionary biology

24 HUMAN ACTIVITIES THREATEN EARTH S BIODIVERSITY Rates of species extinction are difficult to determine under natural conditions The high rate of species extinction is largely a result of ecosystem degradation by humans Humans are threatening Earth s biodiversity

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28 WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY? The wealth of life on earth (all plants, animals and microorganisms), the genes they contain, and the intricate ecosystems they help build

29 THREE LEVELS OF BIODIVERSITY Genetic diversity is the combination of different genes found within a population of a single species, and the pattern of variation found within different populations of the same species. Species diversity is the variety and abundance of different types of organisms which inhabit an area. Ecosystem diversity encompasses the variety of habitats that occur within a region, or the mosaic of patches found within a landscape.

30 BIODIVERSITY LOSS Globally, 12% of birds, 20% of mammals, and 32% of amphibians are threatened with extinction (Pearson, 2011) Extinction may be local or global The main causes of biodiversity loss include: human population growth habitat loss / habitat destruction overexploitation invasive species pollution climate change

31 RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES is published every two years by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) evaluates the extinction risk of thousands of species since 2011: includes about 61,000 species

32 THREAT CATEGORIES

33 WHAT DO CONSERVATION BIOLOGISTS DO?

34 SUMMARY Conservation Biology uses the knowledge from most biological disciplines to create effective conservation measures... looks for practical solutions to protect biodiversity... tries to make the public aware of their environmental responsibility

35 Many of us feel discouraged by the avalanche of species extinctions and the wholesale habitat destruction occurring in the world today. But it is possible and indeed necessary -- to feel challenged in order to find ways to stop the destruction. Actions taken or bypassed during the next few decades will determine how many of the world s species and natural areas will survive. Richard B. Primack

36 [Conservation Biology] is a discipline focused on finding ways to make humanity more compatible with wildlife and wild ecosystems, using the best available science Michael P. Marchetti & Peter B. Moyle

37 CONSERVATION BIOLOGIST IN THE MAKING