Preserving Earth’s Biological

Diversity

Chapter 17

Delisted - On August 8, 2007

Biological Diversity

Species Richness

Genetic Diversity

Ecosystem Diversity

Extinction Types

• Local Extinction

• Ecological Extinction - functionally extinct

• Biological Extinction - extinct

• Commercial Extinction

Some Stats About Species

• 1.4-1.8 catalogued organisms

• 5-100 million thought to exist - we don’t know!

• 99.9% of all that existed are now extinct

Extinction-Level Events (ELE),

• 5 recognized mass extinctions

• Most famous being the dinosaurs

Endangered and Extinct Species

• Background Extinction vs. Mass Extinction

Continuous, slow rate of extinction over millions of years 1 every 200 years

Numerous species disappear over geologically short time frame.

Endangered Species

• Endangered Species Act

IUCN - The Red List International Union for Conservation of Nature and

Natural Resources

Red List Categories

Why Biological Diversity

Ecosystem Services and Species Richness

Maintains smaller fish populations by eating gar

Digs underwater holes used by other aquatic organisms

Gator trails clear out aquatic vegetation

Nests eventually become small islands of trees

Endangered and Extinct Species

• Earth’s Biodiversity Hotspots

Small area - rich in diversity

• Most wide reaching act passed by the U.S.

• National Marine Fisheries Services monitors ocean species.

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services monitors all other wildlife species.

• Act forbids federal agencies to carry out, fund or authorize projects that would endanger species or their habitat.

• Forbids Americans to purchase endangered species

• There are 1,260 species currently on the list.

Efforts to Weaken the ESA

• Make protection of endangered species on private land voluntary.

• Have governments compensate landowners for their land.

• Make it harder to list newly endangered species.

Efforts to Strengthen the ESA

• Find out what species and ecosystem the country has.

• Locate and protect the most endangered ecosystems and species within such systems.

• Put more emphasis on preventing species from becoming threatened and ecosystems from becoming degraded.

• Provide private landowners who agree to help protect endangered ecosystems with significant financial incentives.

Delisted Species

CITES

CITES was drafted as a result of a resolution adopted in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The World Conservation Union).

172 countries signed

CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to a permit process.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES)1973

Roughly 5,000 species of animals and 28,000 species of plants are protected by CITES against over-exploitation through international trade.

Conservation Biology• Scientific study of how humans impact

organisms and development of strategies to protect diversity

• Wildlife management differs from conservation biology in that wildlife managers focus on game species

Conservation Biology• Protecting Habitats

Wildlife Management

Example of artic snow geese impact

Benefits & Problems with Zoos

• human domination over equal creatures

• Some criticize their educational value as being superficial and useless.

• Point to the often unnatural and controversial conditions of keeping animals in captivity

• behavioral patterns such as pacing, rocking and swaying indicate suffering of animals in unsuitable enclosures.

Arabian Oryx

Between October 1996 and March 1999, the numbers of Arabian Oryx in the wild in Oman fell from 400 to 100. In 3 years, poachers have removed or killed at least 200 oryx. The situation has become so precarious that 39 wild oryx have been moved to enclosures to protect them from poaching.

Kiawa Island – Gopher Tortoise