BIO 363 midterm #1

cultural

Recreation: mental and physical health Ecotourism Aesthetic appreciation/inspiration for art/design/music Amenity value, education value, existence value.

Direct Use value

(commodity values and private goods): assigned to products harvested by people such as timber, seafood. Divided into consumption use value and productive use value.

3 emerging principles of conservation biology

- Romantic-transcendental Preservationist Ethic - Resource Conservation Ethic - Evolutionary-Ecological Land Ethic

Reasons for high levels of diversity in the tropics

- high amounts of structural complexity. Smaller geographic ranges of organisms near the equator, highly localized. Equator is warm...reefs and rainforests.

conservation bio as normative discipline

1. 1980's it was clear that the traditional applied disciplines of resource management alone were not comprehensive enough to address the critical threats to biodiversity 2. Expansion of applied disciplines to include a broader range of species and ecosystem processes, providing a more general theoretical approach 3. Goal of long-term preservation of biodiversity Ecosystem management: combines the ideas of Carson, Leopold, and Pinchot. Places the highest management priority on cooperation among stake-holders to provide for human needs while maintaining the health of wild species and ecosystems.

3 goals of conservation biology

1. Document biological diversity 2. Examine human impact on living systems 3. Prevent the extinction of species, maintain biological diversity and restore biological communities and ecosystem function.

Case Studies: Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle

2-3 feet, 100 lbs Most restricted range that has contributed to its rarity and risk of extinction Gathers in southern corners of Mexico, in highly synchronized gatherings called arribadas Highly concentrated nesting makes the turtles vulnerable to intensive harvesting Over 80% of kemp's ridley eggs were collected by locals and many turtles were tangled in fishing gear Government officials from mexico and the U.S. worked together in order to revive the population Nesting beaches were protected as nesting sites, beaches, and parks and nesting sites Periodic population dips since the oil spill raise concern for food availability and habitat quality Climate change affects the sex ratios of eggs and the high temperatures are leading to dessication Higher temperatures also indicate that turtles at higher latiutudes arent signaled to migrate south before the onset of late onset storms. Rare cold front from the arctic has led to 5000 dead sea turtles in south padre island, texas

EPI

20 environmental indicators to rank countries. Generally higher GDP countries have a higher EPI. sustainability is not linked to a countries competitiveness.

Biodiversity hotspots

36 regions considered biodiversity hotspots. 2.5% of earth's surface contains 50% of the earth's plant species and 43% of the world's mammal/bird species Many along the coast/equator areas.

Perverse subsidies

Activities appear profitable but are losing money Environmentally damaging Results in overexploitation Without subsidies these activities would be reduced.

nonuse value

Amenity value, scientific and educational value, intrinsic value of nature, cultural service, ecotourism, option value, existence value.

evolutionary species concept

An evolutionary species "is a single lineage of ancestor-descendant populations of organisms which maintains its identity from other such lineages [in space and time] and which has its own evolutionary tendencies and historical fate" based on the genome of the species.

Species Evenness

Considers how abundance data are distributed among species

Rapoport's Rule

As latitude decreases, the geographic ranges of individual species shrink Latitudinal ranges of plants and animals are generally smaller at lower latitudes than at higher latitudes. Species at higher latitudes tend to extend across greater geographic area. Species near the tropics tend to be more highly localized. Tropical biodiversity is highly diverse, but also highly localized.

How do taxonomists identify new species? Examples from textbook and lecture

Bioblitz: scientists and others perform an intense biological survey of a designated area in a short period of time in order to document all living species there Inaturalist: allows lay people to collect data. It is a joint initiative of the california academy of sciences and the national geographic society with partners around the world. Upload photos to crowdsource identification resource where they are georeferenced and tagged. Specialized exploration techniques have aided in the discovery of forest canopy and deep sea. Also drilling projects have resulted in diverse biological communities of bacteria.

Ecosystem interactions - *this topic should be review for many of you*

Biodiversity within an ecosystem Ecosystem diversity across a landscape or geographical area Not just the number and distribution of species, but the quantity and quality of relationships between them.

Conservation Biology's (Soule's) Ethical Principles

Biological diversity has intrinsic value The untimely extinction of species/populations should be prevented The diversity of species and complexity of biological communities should be preserved Biophilia: humans have genetic predisposition to love biodiversity Science plays a critical role in our understanding of ecosystems Collaboration among scientists, managers, policymakers, and the public is important and necessary.

Silent spring by rachel carson:

Brought attention to dangers of pesticides and spurred an intentional environmental movement. Creative and performing arts play a role in awareness. (hudson river school and photography by ansel adams)

Which US state has the most endemic species?

California, mountain range acts as a barrier and isolates

Highest species richness:

California, structural complexity and ecosystem diversity

Evolutionary-ecological land ethic:

Combination of conservation and preservation (conservation seeks the proper use of nature, while preservation seeks protection of nature from use) Land ethic: considering the ecosystems as a whole, including human populations; Use resources conservatively with a high regard for native diversity and ecological functions. Revise management based on new scientific knowledge Aldo Leopald: (1887-1948)

How to measure/sample species diversity

Describing or comparing the genetic structure (patterns of genotypes) of managed and wild populations Determining the capacity of a small or endangered population to respond to environmental change Observing population dynamics in the context of human impacts Detecting the presence of cryptic species by sampling the dna in the environment Identifying species and the origin of biological material as a means of controlling trade in endangered species.

Trends of human population growth

During the last two hundred years, the human population has exploded. Although it took over 160,000 years to reach 1billion in population in 1805, humans are currently at 7.8 billion Even slight increase in population growth leads to tens of millions of more people. Women using birth control and education has led to a slight decrease to the birth rates. Rise in human consumption corresponds to increased threats to biodiversity As countries develop and industrialize, consumption increases.

indirect use value pt. 2

Ecosystem productivity, water and soil protection, climate regulation, and species relationships and environmental monitors

Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Evolving knowledge acquired by indigenous and local peoples over hundreds and thousands of years through direct contact with the environment Evolving by adaptive process: community/culture can see something has changed. Cultural transmission: from elders/parents/science to children Encompasses the world view of indigenous people which includes ecology, spirituality, human, and animal relationships, and more.

GDP

Gross Domestic Product- the total market value of all final goods and services produced annually in an economy measures economic activity without accounting for the costs of unsustainable activities.

Habitat:

Habitats for species: maintenance of biodiversity genetic diversity-critical for cultivation of new crops. (option use value)

Lowest species richness:

Hawaii, island biogeography theory

conservation as recognized discipline

IUCN 1948, 1978 International Conference on conservation Biology (Soule), Interdisciplinary field: society for conservation biology 1985, Convention on biological diversity (178 countries) 1922.

Genetic diversity: why is it important? Examples

Important: evolutionary potential, loss of fitness, and utilitarian value Intrapopulation variation Polymorphism (genes with >1 allele) Higher frequency of heterozygotes (Rr) in large, connected populations Small, fragmented populations tend to trend towards homozygosity (RR, rr). Genetic diversity arises through: mutations, transposable elements that mova about the genome, recombination of genes during sexual reproduction.

Species Area Relationship and 10/50 rule

Model predicts that when 50% of an habitat is destroyed, then 10% of the species living there will be lost. If species are endemic to the island, then the species will be eliminated.

Beginnings of the Conservation movement:

In the late 19th century Loss of western frontier (giant sequoias and redwoods chopped down and paraded around. Overconsumption of natural resources Rise of the Romantic Transcendental conservationist ethic.

Theory of Island Biogeography

Islands further away form the mainland and smaller have less diversity than islands closer to the mainland and bigger.

Why do larger areas have more species?

Larger areas have more species than smaller areas The number of species in the area is proportional to the size of the area, but the relationship is not linear. Larger areas have habitats= more species Smaller areas have smaller populations =higher extinction Smaller areas are more impacted by abiotic disturbances. Larger areas have more "area sensitive" species

4 patterns that predict species richness - examples

Latitude, area, structural complexity, isolation

reasons to prioritize a site with less biodiversity

Native Endemic Localized Rare Threatened/declining Taxonomic unique Key ecological role Value to humans ness Key ecological role Value to humans

Rheindt et al 2020 paper

Northeastern coast of Sulawesi: present-day central indonesia Wallacea region: between the Oriental and Australian biogeographical realms. Island biogeography theory Suggests ocean depth has something to do with diversity. - 10 species found -

How many species exist worldwide? How many species are predicted to exist?

Over 2 million species have been described, but actual number remains unknown Scientists believe 8 million to 10 million species with about half of them being insects We estimate how many species are on earth by using the species accumulation curve. The number of species in samples vs. sampling effort

Option value

Potential of biodiversity to provide an economic benefit to human society at some point in the future. Bioprospecting: searching for new plants/animals /fungi for economic value Biopiracy: past and present unauthorized bioprospecting for commercial services. Nagoya protocol dictates that any company using genetic resources from another nation must ensure costs/benefits are shared.

simpson index

Simpson Index: takes into account number of species present as well as its abundance. n=number of individuals of one species. N=total number of individuals in a community D=n(n-1)/N(N-1) This scale goes from 0 to 1 with higher scores showing higher diversity

3 main types of biological diversity

Species biodiversity: the entire range of evolutionary and ecological adaptations of species to particular environments.(different animals) Genetic biodiversity: genetic variation within species; necessary for any species to maintain reproductive vitality, resistance to disease, and the ability to adapt to changing conditions (different lady bugs) Ecosystem biodiversity: Different biological communities communities and their associations; results from the collective response of species to different environmental conditions(different biological communities: marsh/woodland)

Existence value

The amount that people are willing to pay in order to prevent a species from going extinct, habitats from being destroyed, and genetic variation from being lost. People, governments, and organizations annually contribute large sums of money to ensure the continuing existence of certain species and ecosystems. Existence of pandas/whale/lions elicit a response in some humans which makes them want to protect them Can also be attributed to ecosystems

Endemism - what is it? Examples

They occur there and nowhere else, in danger of becoming extinct...

Why do we need to know how many species exist?

To prevent untimely extinctions To be able to protect them To understand extinction rates in the 6th mass extinction. It is difficult to write laws to protect species if they havent been identified as a new species yet. Species are going extinct before they can be described.

Species Richness

Total number of species in an area Can be measured by biomass, basal area, % cover

Species accumulation curve: what is it and how to make one from sampling data; examples

Using the rate of documented species to estimate how many species are present but not yet detected Number of species samples vs. sampling effort.

Normative discipline:

a field that embraces certain values and attempts to apply scientific methods of applying those values. Values the preservation of species and ecosystems as an ultimate good and its practitioners intervene in order to prevent human-caused losses of biodiversity.

GPI

accounts for natural resource depletion, pollution, and unequal income distribution. Indicates that many modern economies are achieving growth only through environmental degradation and unsustainable resource consumption.

area

all else being equal, larger areas have more species than smaller areas. The number of species in an area is proportional to the size of the area, but the relationship is not linear Larger areas have more habitats=more species Smaller areas have smaller populations =higher extinction Smaller areas are more impacted by abiotic disturbances. Larger areas have more area sensitive species

sibling species

appear very similar in morphology and physiology yet are very distinct. These are also known as cryptic species.

morphological species concept

based off of appearance. Two species could look the same but are different organisms. A group that is distinguished exclusively by such visible traits as form or structure may be referred to as a morphospecies Based off of convergent evolution: Ichthyosaur and dolphin.

Beta diversity

change in diversity of species from one community to another (gamma/alpha) High when individual sites have different species Low when individuals sites have the same species

biological species concept

defines a species as members of populations that actually or potentially interbreed in nature, not according to similarity of appearance. Two species that interbreed does not mean same species like neanderthals and humans.

Use value:

direct use value and indirect use value

Isolation:

endemic taxa restricted to a particular region Degree of endism of the biota of a region: if a region has high endism, then it has many taxa that are found nowhere else. Areas with high endism include oceanic islands, freshwater lakes in rift basins, and areas bounded by mountain ranges. Ex: Galapagos islands: marine iguana, galapagos penguin, galapagos tortoise, flightless cormorant, marine iguana, darwin's finches. Madagascar: lemurs and fossa. Russia's lake baikal: largest freshwater lake in the world (volume), deepest lake, 20% of world's unfrozen freshwater, nerpa (fat seal), omul, Golomyanka baikal oilfish African Rift Lakes: lake malawi: and lake Tanganyika were once connected, but now have different species and changing adaptations. Chichlids Vernal pools, CA: wetland habitat that only shows up during certain parts of the year. Biodiverse. Refuge for migrating birds and home opf fairy shrimp.

Consumption use value:

for goods that are consumed locally. Such as fuelwood and wild meat. These goods do not appear in the nation's GDP, because do not appear in the national or international marketplace. Consumptive use value can be assigned to a product by considering how much people would have to pay if they had to buy an equivalent product when their local source was no longer available. (called replacement cost approach) Although dependency on local natural products is primarily associated with the developing world, there are rural areas of the U.S., Canada, europe, where people are dependent on fuelwood for hesating, seafood for protein, and intact ecosystems for drinking water.

latitude

greatest diversity of species near the equator, rapoport's rule. More rain forests and coral reefs. Latitude low, richness high, range small.

Amenity value

hiking/photography/bird-watchng/hunting. Ecotourism: experience unusual biological communities, and employs many people. Tourists unwittingly damage the sites they visit Tourism funds to mitigate effects of their own industry

obrien paper

human footprint, read again...

Ecosystem productivity:

humans depend on plants and plants are primary producers. Ecosystems with reduced species are lessa able to adapt to climate change. Even when ecosystems are rebuilt sometimes arent as productive and do not contain the same species richness/evenness. When a species is lost, productivity declines, and less flexible in response to an abiotic factor.

Ecological economics:

integrates ecological and economic principles and use new valuation methods to design better public policy

Preservationist ethic:

intrinsic value of nature typified in the romantic-transcendental movement. Embodied the idea of preservation: leave the landscape untouched Established the Sierra club. (John Muir 1838-1914)

provisioning

material or energy outputs of an ecosystem: food/medicine/raw materials (direct/indirect use value)

hybridization

occurs when a few individuals of a rare species are surrounded by large numbers of a closely related species. Endangered california tiger salamander and the barred tiger salamander have mated to make a more fit hybrid.

Environmental economics:

places a value on components of the environment, studies economic impact of environmental policies, and environemntal impact assessments;

water and soil protection

plant foliage intercepts rain and reduces the impact on soil. Plants roots aerate the soil and increase its ability to absorb water. When the soil is disturbed: soil and erosion and mudslides occur. Erosion and flooding can also contaminate drinking water supplies. Soil erosion leads to sediment entering reservoirs and reducing the navigability of rivers and ports. Loss of wetland and floodplain ecosystems can lead to an increase in the amounts of flooding. Most aquatic ecosystems are capable of breaking down and immobilizing toxic pollutants.

indirect use value

provide current benefits to people such as recreation, scientific research, and scenic amenities, and include the benefits of ecosystem services, such as water quality, pollution control, natural pollination and pest control, ecosystem productivity, soil protection, and regulation of climate. Have non consumptive use value: provide economic benefits without being harvested or destroyed. Often called public goods: because they belong to society in general, without private ownership.

4 categories of ecosystem services

provisioning, regulating, habitat, cultural

Productive use value:

resources that are harvested from the wild and sold in national or international commercial markets. These products are valued at the price paid at the first point of sale minus the costs incurred up to that point (labor, energy, other materials, transportation, and marketing), whereas other methods value the resource at the final retail price of the products. A wide variety of natural resources are sold commercially and have enormous total market value. Their value can be considered the productive value of biodiversity. Includes: forest products, natural pharmacy

regulating

services by an ecosystem that regulate the quality of air/soil/water. Climate, air quality Carbon sequestration and storage Moderating extreme events Water purification Soil Pollination Biological control forests regulate local climate, remove pollutants from the atmosphere, hold soil

Alpha diversity

species diversity in a particular community. The mount of species in a given community. (species per mountain)

Structural complexity:

such as coral reefs or kelp or rainforest. More niches to fill. Mammal diversity is greater at places with mountains.

shannon index

take the relative abundance of species into account. A community dominated by a few species is less diverse than a community with a more even distribution of species, even with the same species richness.

Functional diversity:

the diversity of organisms categorized by their ecological roles or traits rather than their taxonomy. Increases ecosystem resistance against change. Important in habitat restoration.

Resource Conservation Ethic:

the first chief of the U.S. forest service (Gifford Pinchot: 1865-1946) Emphasized utilitarian approach to management ("for the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time"). Embodied the "resource conservation ethic""--- sustained yield-amount of harvestable yield of a natural resource without declines in the population and conservation.

Endangered species act: (1973)

the purpose of this act was to conserve ecosystems and endangered species

morphospecies

they call it a morphospecies until taxonomists can use evolutionary species concept to actually identify a species as distinct from another, but until then they must rely on morphological traits. Are probably a distinct species based on appearance, but do not currently have a scientific name.

Gamma Diversity

total diversity over geographic scales that include a number of ecosystems. Lowest when both alpha and beta are low Highest when both alpha and beta are high (species per region)

Traditional vs. Modern

traditional: Qualitative, deep historical context, communicated through cultural traditions, rooted in continuous resource use modern: Quantitative, short term data sets, recorded and published, and responds to overexploitation. - 1. indigenous hunting in australia: traditional hunting reduces burns in the area, removes invasive grasses, and increases biodiversity of the area. Eat iguanas. 2. Traditional boma constructed with thorns in order to protect livestock from predators vs. modern boma made of fence and sticks

Climate regulation:

trees provide shade and evaporate water from their leaf surfaces, which reduces the local temperature in hot weather. The loss of vegetation from large Amazon Basin, reduced average rainfall and greatly altered weather patterns. Important in absorbing CO2.

Romantic Transcendentalism: early to mid-1800's

viewed the natural world as a source of not simply material goods, but also aesthetic satisfaction, philosophical insight, and spiritual solace. (Emerson and thoreau: early to mid 1800's)

Species Relationships and environmental monitors:

wild game we catch depend on insects and plants for their food. Relationships between species are often essential for providing biodiversity and providing value to people. Redundancy of guilds of particular species-serve as a natural predator/pollinator/seed disperser. Fungi important for nutrients in soil.