Lecture Notes, Chapter 1-4 : Introduction to Conservation Biology PDF

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Lecture notes for Chapter 1: Introduction to Conservation Biology. - Lecture notes for Chapter 2-3: Biological Diversity - Lecture notes for Chapter 3: Ecological Economics - Lecture notes for Chapter 4: Non-consumptive Economic Values of Biodiversity merged files: Chapter 1.doc - Chapter 2.doc - Ch...

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Chapter 1: Conservation Biology -

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protection of biodiversity is central to conservation biology biodiversity = biological diversity threats to biodiversity increase because of increased human population, increased material consumption, increased countries develop and industrialize human population growth -> huge impact on environment o reduced mortality rate due to improved medical facilities and treatments o only major reducing agent is health concerns/diseases that are easily transferable (ex. H1N1)  vaccines and treatments must be created resource consumption and waste o average American/Canadian consumes 5x the average global citizen o rate of Canadian reproduction is below replacement level but resource use is much too high global biodiversity o rates of extinction are higher than ever due to human activities  includes inconspicuous (plants and invertebrates) and conspicuous species -> many species haven’t even been discovered yet but are going extinct due to habitat loss and destruction o toxic chemicals  disrupt natural hydrologic and chemical cycles o introduced/invasive species o harvesting and fishing methods  modern technology is used to over harvest animals and plants for markets -> alters environment on global and regional scales o small isolated populations and genetic variability o climate change o affects human population too because people depend on environment for raw materials -> poorest people are affected the most conservation biology: integrated, multidisciplinary science field developed in response to the challenge of preserving species and ecosystems o document earth’s biodiversity o investigate human impact on species, genetic diversity, ecosystems o develop practical approaches to prevent extinction of species, maintain genetic diversity within species, protect and restore biological communities and their associated ecosystems o intervene to prevent human enhanced loss of biodiversity

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conservation biology arose in 1980s because traditionally applied disciplines of resource management alone were not enough to address critical threats to diversity o merges applied and theoretical biology and incorporates ideas and expertise from a broad range of fields outside natural science towards the goal of preserving biodiversity closely associated with environmentalism (political and educational activism with goal of protecting the natural environment from destruction and pollution) conservation biology is a crisis discipline o time constraints and pressure o thorough investigations conservation biology uses multidisciplinary approach o ecosystem ecologists: monitor environment and look at how human disturbances upset natural habitats o environmental law and policy -> provides protect for habitats of threatened and endangered species  sufficient laws? are they enforced and supported? o ecological economists: determine economic value for biodiversity and ecosystems they occupy  how do you put a dollar value on these things?  revenue produced vs cost to restore  ecological services (water purification, trees remove toxic chemicals from air)  aesthetic value  both present and future values o social sciences: documenting attitudes and philosophies of societies (natives) o conservation education: the means to which info that is derived by scientists is conveyed to general public  radio, television, newspaper  create awareness of value of natural ecosystem how are decision made? o scientific research is an essential component of conservation biology o level of certainties -> gives rise to problems because there can never be 100% certainty so if a scientist is standing up for a cause and there is sufficient evidence to back it up they will go against the scientific philosophy and say that they are confident

Ethical Principles -

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diversity of species and ecosystems should be preserved o biophilia: humans may have genetic predisposition to like biodiversity untimely extinctions of populations and species should be prevented

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o natural extinction tended to be balanced by evolution of new species ecological complexity should be maintained o ecological complexity in natural communities would be largely lost without preservation of wild lands and aquatic environments evolution should continue o leads to new species and increased biodiversity o species cant always survive when released from captivity biodiversity has intrinsic value o evolutionary history, unique ecological role, existence

History and Origins -

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religious and spiritual beliefs of human societies o see people as being connected physically and spiritually to natural world hunter-gatherer societies: small groups that moved along with resources o seemed to have an awareness that you shouldn’t over exploit resources because it would effect future generations -> sustainable use industrial societies, urbanization, resource consumption and depletion o industrialization has led to depletion of resources and degradation of habitats

European Origins -

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biblical views and anthropocentrism o biblical readings weren’t written in English and have been translated over hundreds of years so the meaning can change o exploitation and habitat degradation colonialism beginning of conservative philosophy species extinction

American Origins -

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Ralph Waldo Emerson o viewed nature as temple in which people commune with spiritual world and achieve spiritual enlightenment Henry David Theoreau o advocate for nature and opponent of materialistic society o people need fewer possessions o lived in cabin writing ideas and experiences -> Walden o experience of nature was necessary counterweight to weakening civilization John Muir

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o preservationist ethic: natural areas have spiritual values that are generally superior to tangible material gain obtained by exploitation o intrinsic value of nature: value in and of itself, apart from value to humanity Gifford Pinchott o resource conservation ethic: world consists of two components: human beings and natural resources -> proper use of natural resources is whatever will further greatest good of greatest number of people for longest time  resources should be fairly distributed among individuals and between present and future generations o profitable use of resources Aldo Leopold o land ethic: human use of natural resources was compatible with and even enhanced biological diversity -> humans should be involved in land management seeking middle ground between overexploitation and total control over nature and complete preservation of land with no human presence or activity

Conservation Biology: The New Science -

loss of biodiversity increased rapidly by 1970s no central forum/organization for conservation emergence of conservation biology combined practical knowledge with theoretical concepts Society for Conservation Biology (1988)

Positive Indicators (Primack) -

government action, nationally and internationally funding for conservation programs and activities o Global Environment Facility conservation biology’s goals being adopted by traditional conservation organizations, incorporated into international scientific activities, reaching broader audience through increased media coverage

Chapter 2 & 3: Biological Diversity -

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protection of biodiversity is central to conservation biology united nations convention on biological diversity: “the variability among living organisms from all sources” biodiversity/biological diversity: complete range of species and biological communities as well as genetic variation with species and all ecosystem processes 1. species diversity: all species on earth including singled celled bacteria, protists, multicultural kingdoms - reflects entire range of evolutionary and ecological adaptations of species to particular environment - provides resources and alternative resources 2. genetic diversity: variation within species both geographically separated populations and individuals within single populations - necessary to maintain reproductive vitality, resistance to disease, ability to adapt to changing conditions - particular value to sustain and improve modern agriculture breeding programs 3. ecosystem diversity: different biological communities and their associations with chemical and physical environment - results from collective response of species to different environmental conditions which support proper ecosystem functioning that provides services to people biodiversity is complex and interdependent humans are dependent on biodiversity because it provides necessary resources, genetic diversity, and ecological services biodiversity is located in the biosphere (collection of all areas in which living things are found) o tropical rainforests  only cover 7% of land but are home to over half of terrestrial species including invertebrates and vascular plants  40% of vascular plant species live in the rain forest, 30% of bird species live the entire year in the tropics o coral reefs  rate of primary productivity/photosynthesis per unit of volume water in coral reef is 20% more than the open ocean o deep oceanic vents o species abundance varies between different areas

Patterns of Diversity -

factors affecting local/regional biodiversity o amount and annual pattern of solar radiation o amount and annual distribution of precipitation o average annual temperature and seasonality

elevation and other topographic variability soil conditions and heterogeneity latitude geographical age -> refers to major types of disturbance that occur over long periods of time (ice ages) o historical circumstances (continental drift) in general, number of species increase with increased solar radiation, increased precipitation, decreased latitude and decrease with increasing elevation biodiversity is greatest at tropical latitudes o high solar radiation that is consistent throughout the year -> important for photosynthesis that forms basis of food web to support a greater number of species at higher trophic levels o high temperatures that are consistent throughout the year -> supports growth and reproduction which increases genetic diversity o environmental stability means consistent conditions throughout the year with no extreme conditions -> environment is the natural part of natural selection so if selecting variables change over the year it affects the traits that are favorable so there can be greater specialization o vertical stratification -> particularly the canopy in the rain forests where plants grow on plants that grow on plants in which insects live on o patterns of continental drift -> around the equator such as tropical zones, species aren’t really lost with continental drift as they are in polar zones o Ecuador’s Proposal  there is oil under the rain forest in the Yasuni reserve where oil rights have been leased out and development is occurring even though the land is supposed to be preserved  proposal for world to create a 3.6 billion dollar fund for Ecuador to not drill and develop clean energy instead -> half of what is the estimated worth of the oil  time limit of 10 years  would be controlled by the UN  Canada’s response is that they are already providing world aid elsewhere so they can’t contribute  3.6 billion dollars isn’t a lot on an international scale -> politics are involved o o o o

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Species Diversity -

recognizing and classifying species is one of the major goals of conservation biology

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origins of new species is a slow process that takes hundreds of years and thousands of generations -> destroyed by human activities new species include vertebrates (10 new species of primates discovered in the last 85 years in Brazil, 500-600 new species of amphibians discovered worldwide), insects, invertebrates, “living fossils” (species thought to be extinct for millions of years but are actually still around) o only about a third of the world’s taxonomists are working on insects and invertebrates o fogging: emit a smoke into canopy that contains chemicals that kills insects in order to collect them in tents/blankets in 2002, in Africa, a new order was discovered, Mantophasmatodea in which many more species from Africa were added to technology has aided in the discovery of many new species like the ones found in deep sea vents or deep underground estimated 10 million plus species o includes inconspicuous species -> bacteria, small invertebrates, parasitic and mutualistic species o there is a need for field ecologists and taxonomists molecular systematic: now used to identify new speices o assumption that the result is in reproductive isolation o critical thing is that it represents the many levels of genetic variability species (morphological): group of individuals that is morphologically, physiologically, or biochemically distinct from other groups in some importation characteristic o commonly used by taxonomists (biologists who specialize in identification of unknown specimens and classification of species) species (biological): group of individuals that can potentially breed among themselves in wild and that do not breed with individuals of other groups o difficult to use because requires knowledge of which individuals actually have the potentials to breed with one another and their relationships to each other – info that is rarely available o biologists learn to recognize one or more individuals that look different from other individuals and might represent different species (morpho-species) until scientific name difficult to distinguish variation within a single species from variation between closely related species DNA barcoding: method to identify species of a living organism based on DNA from any tissue sample cryptic biodiversity: widespread existence of undescribed species that have been wrongly classified and grouped with a similar species hybrids: intermediate forms of individuals of related but distinct species -> blur distinction between species taxonomists have only named one third of worlds species

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difficulties in distinguishing species slows down efforts at species protection because its difficult to have effective laws if it is not certain what name should be used species are going extinct before they are even described there is a direct value for humans o medicinal value of tropical plants o mutualistic fungi o metabolic pathways of bacteris

Origin of New Species -

speciation: process of new species formation where one original species evolves into one or more new and distinct species process of evolution: o populations genetically adapt to changes in environment which may be biological as well as environmental o phyletic evolution: gradual transformation of one species into another because genetic change is so much that it is no longer able to interbreed with original species it’s derived from o adaptive radiation: process of local adaptation and subsequent speciation  for two or more new species to evolves from one original ancestor there is usually geographical barrier that prevents movement of individuals between various populations o polyploids: unusual and unequal divisions of chromosome sets during reproduction may results in offspring with extra set of chromosomes  new species can arise in just one generation without geographical separation  particularly common in plants o rate of speciation is slowing down due to increased human use of earth’s surface -> habitats decline, fewer populations exist, fewer opportunities for evolution

Measuring Species Diversity -

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species diversity is the number of different species in a place assumption that increased levels of diversity lead to increased community stability and biomass production species richness: number of species found in a community alpha diversity: number of species in a certain community of designation area o used to compare number of species in particular place or ecosystem types gamma diversity: number of species in large region or continent

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beta diversity: rate of change of species composition along environmental/geographical gradient o links alpha and gamma patterns of species distributions, comparing regions of world, highlighting areas that require conservation protection

Genetic Diversity -

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genetic diversity within a species is often affected by reproductive behavior of individuals within populations population: group of individuals that mate with one another and produce offspring o species may include one or more separate populations o may consist of only a few or millions of individuals (must produce offspring) o individuals in population are genetically different because of different forms of genes (loci) natural selection: individuals with certain alleles are better able to survive and produce offspring -> gene frequencies change in subsequent generations genetic variation within species affects abundance and distribution of other species populations may differ genetically in relative frequency of alleles and in types of allele forms -> result from adaptation to local environment or random chance gene flow: genetic transfer of new alleles and genetic combinations due to mating between populations o natural flow interrupted by human activities cause reduced genetic variation artificial selection: preservation of new plant forms that were high yielding, reliable, adapted to local conditions of soil, climate, prop pests o traditional agriculture -> modern agriculture

Ecosystem Diversity -

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biological community: species that occupy a particular locality and interactions among those species ecosystem: biological community together with associated physical and chemical environment o result from ongoing processes (water and nutrient cycles, energy capture) occurring at varying geographical scales physical environment affects structure and characteristics of biological community o biological community can alter physical characteristics of environment

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each species has its own requirements for food, temperature, water and other resources within a community o limiting resource: restricts population size and distribution o extreme environmental conditions when one or several resources become limited -> vulnerable species are eliminated from site  predicted to become more common due to global climate change succession: gradual process of change in species composition, community structure, soil chemistry, microclimatic characteristics that occurs following natural and human caused disturbance in an ecosystem o human management patterns often upset natural pattern of succession o successional processes in modern landscapes might represent combination of natural and human caused disturbances o largest number of species occurs in landscapes with intermediate levels of disturbance and mixture of stages of succession composition affected by competition and predation o predators may indirectly increase number of prey species by keeping density so low that severe competition doesn’t occur disease causing organisms influence community structure by reducing certain ecologically important species to low densities carrying capacity: the number of species that the resources of an ecosystem can support ecologically functional: population is sufficiently large enough to have impact on other species in an ecosystem

Chapter 3: Ecological Economics -

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