Lecture 34 biodiversity hot spots PDF

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Lecture 34 biodiversity hot spots 1. Lecture 33 review (clickers) 2. Biodiversity Hotspots 1. Based on what factors? 2. Locations on land and in oceans •

Global – – – – – – – – – – –

Temperature Area Extinction rates Regional Area (island size, forest area) Isolation (distance, colonization) Abiotic gradients (temperature, rainfall, altitude) Disturbance (Ch. 16) Species interactions (Ch. 17) Succession (Ch. 18) Primary production (Ch. 19)

Which areas should have priority for biodiversity conservation? Where are the peaks of diversity in different species groups? How is land biodiversity different from the ocean? •

ie. Areas of high richness may not always capture rare or threatened species

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Hotspot concept – Norman Myers (1988) His ideas: – Conserve areas with many spp. first – Among those, focus on areas with many endemic spp. (found nowhere else) – Among those, focus on those that are most threatened by development

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Researchers described 36 biodiversity hotspots: – 25 from Myers et al. (2000) – 36th on Feb 2016 (https://www.cepf.net/node/5472) Each holds at least 1500 endemic plant species Each lost at least 70% of its original habitat Original extent: 15.7% of land surface Now 86% of the hotspots’ habitat destroyed Intact remains now cover 2.3 % of land surface May hold 44% of all plant species, 35% of all land vertebrates

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Possibly the planet’s richest land biodiversity area At least 15 000 endemic plant species

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Original Extent: 1 542 644 km2 Remaining: 385 661 km2 (25%) Major threats: logging, mining, agriculture 16% of original hotspot is protected in some way, 8% well protected

1. Which marine areas are spp. rich? 2. Among these, which marine areas have high levels of endemism? 3. Among these, which marine areas have high levels of threat? • •

~15 000 spp. of mammals, fish, cephalopods, euphausiids, foraminifera, corals, seagrasses, mangroves Subtropics and tropics

 Places that are isolated by distance or oceanography: 1. Isolated islands: – Mauritius and La Reunion in the Indian Ocean – Hawaii and Easter Islands in the Pacific – St. Helena and Ascension Islands in the Atlantic 2. Non-reversing currents moving water from tropical to temperate latitudes: – East and west Australia, eastern South Africa, and southern Japan 3. Places highly interconnected with other regions: – Philippines, Sunda Islands, and New Caledonia Human impact • • • • • •

Exploitation Habitat alteration Pollution Disturbance Invasive species Climate change

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According to hotspot concept by Norman Myers, what 3 criteria (in order) should be used to decide where to focus our conservation efforts? What is an endemic species? Name at least 2 examples. Name at least 3 major human threats to land biodiversity. Name at least 3 major human threats to marine biodiversity. True or False. Biodiversity hotspots are important for guiding conservation efforts on a global scale. As of Feb 2016, there are ____ global land biodiversity hotspots. Each hold at least ______ endemic plant species and each have lost at least _____ of their original habitats. Together they may hold _____ of all plant species and ____ of all land vertebrates. Name at least 5 of our land biodiversity hotspots.

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_____________ is the land area with the richest biodiversity on the planet. Biodiversity hotspots tend to be located in ___________areas on land, __________ areas in the ocean. True or False. Our designated land and marine hotspots are all located in the tropics and subtropics. In addition to biodiversity hotspots, _____________ also need conservation consideration....