conservation bio MST

conservation biology

studies the decline of biodiversity and develops solutions for this decline

what are the three types of biodiversity?

1. species

2. genetic

3. ecosystem

what is the difference between conservation biology and environmentalism/ conservationism?

conservation biology is based on scientific knowledge and study. environmentalism is when someone advocates for nature/ conservation.

biodiversity

variety of life on Earth, diversity of life in all its forms/ levels

what is the view or “lens” that people have on conservation?

anthropocentric view

what are the three human-caused historical events that changed the environment the most?

1. agricultural revolution

2. industrial revolution

3. technological revolution

Fukushima Waste Plan

2011 tsunami flooded 3 nuclear reactors, unplanned release of nuclear waste and energy. later, the company wanted to release water that was tested to have a negligible effect on the environment, but people still protested because of their past experiences

what is the overarching driver for human impact on Earth?

rapid consumption

anthropocentric view

human-centered view of nature, has generally led to the overharvesting unsustainable exploitation and degradation of vast resources in regions colonised by European settlers

what is the Pacific Island Perspective on conservation?

the area is lacking local, accurate data for decision making. needs more well-trained conservation biologists to generate and make available required information

what is the world’s human growth rate?

0.88%

what is the connection between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning?

reducing biodiversity reduces ecosystem functioning

what are the 5 major value chains accountable for ~90% of pressure on biodiversity?

1. 50% food/ beverage production and packaging

2. 25% infrastructure and mobility

3. 10% energy

4. <10% fashion and luxury goods

5. 5-10% all other

what are the 3 levels of conservation frameworks/ plans?

1. global → Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

2. regional → Pacific Island Roundtable for Nature Conservation (PIRT)

3. national → National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP)

what are the 3 main goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity?

1. conservation of biological diversity

2. sustainable use of its components

3. fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources

what are the 3 areas of work the Convention on Biological Diversity is divided into?

1. documenting the extent of biodiversity

2. prevent species extinction and continuation of ecosystem processes

3. understanding the causes and consequences of loss of genes, species, populations, and habitats

what are the two supplementary agreements of the Convention on Biological Diversity?

1. Cartagena Protocol

2. Nagoya Protocol

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Jan 2000, international agreement which aims to ensure the safe handling, transport, and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology

Nagoya Protocol

Oct 2010, supplementary to Cartagena, provides legal framework for CBD 3 - the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources

What stage of the NBSAP is the USA currently at?

the USA is not at any stage because it has never ratified the UN CBD

ethnobiodiversity

study of dynamic relationships among people, biota, and environments

what is an example of how genetic biodiversity/ ecosystem oversimplication resulted in the spread of a disease that wiped out a species’ population?

Great Famine in Ireland (1845)

• potato population underwent ecosystem simplification when only the “Lumper” variety of potato was grown

• species became infected by potato blight, a fungal infection

• Ireland was reliant on potatoes. 1M people died of starvation and 1M left the country

Name the event during which the Vemööre Declaration was developed.

10th conference of PIRT in 2020

Vemoore Declaration

call to action to conserve “our ocean, our islands, our connection with nature”

what are 4 challenges to NBSAP implementation in PICTs?

1. finances

2. research

3. socioeconomics

4. population

how are human health systems supported by biodiversity?

trains your immune system, suppresses infectious disease, supports mental wellbeing, secures nutrition, and cleans the air and water you depend on

what are the 4 ecosystem services, in order of most important to the PICTs?

1. regulating - services essential to environmental stability (climate regulation, water storage, air purification, control of diseases)

2. cultural - spiritual, heritage, educational, recreation

3. habitat - space for plant, animal, and microorganism species to live, migrate, and procreate

4. provisioning - value of nature-based products like food, timber, medicinal inputs

give an example of youth activity in PIRT

law students based in Vanuatu helped make global decisions using the International Court of Justice to stop chemical dumping in Pacific waters

list a few examples of ecosystem function loss in the PICTs.

• mangrove deforestation leads to more intense weather events

• coral degredation leads to more intense weather events

• loss of native birds and fruit bats lead to lack of pollination for native forest trees, degrading entire rainforest ecosystems

what is the value of genetic diversity (3)?

1. high crop productivity and disease resistance, livestock health

2. input of “tough genes” to save commercial crops from pest outbreaks

3. cultural and aesthetic benefits

what are biological hotspots in the PICTs?

• tropical rainforests

• coral reefs

• ocean floor

what are the 10 main driver activities of biodiversity loss and the number of species lost to them?

1. overexploitation ~6241

2. agriculture ~5407

3. urban development ~3014

4. invasion and disease ~2298

5. pollution ~1901

6. system modification ~1865

7. climate change ~1688

8. human disturbance ~1223

9. transport ~1219

10. energy production ~913

habitat destruction

complete loss of a habitat

habitat degredation

reduction in functional ecosystem services because of biodiversity loss

what is one good way to take rapid flora and fauna inventories?

conservation International RAP Reports (Rapid Assessment Program)

perverse subsidies

• developing countries often inadvertently promote poor land use/ practice

• provision of subsidies for agriculture leads to land clearing

• these solutions are unsustainable environmentally and economically

• developing countries borrow huge sums of money to pay for development and consequently justify perverse subsidies as necessary to raise revenue to pay off foreign debt

what are the top active drivers of habitat loss in the tropics?

1. agriculture

2. timber removal (logging)

3. urban development/ expansion

what are the four scientific disciplines that contribute the most data to conservation biology?

• ecology

• population genetics

• zoology

• biogeography

how much forest is destroyed per year due to commercial logging?

50,000 km²

what are the 3 main drivers of forest degradation?

1. shifting agriculture

2. forestry products

3. wildfires

topsoil

medium in which higher plants need to grow

what percentage of annual forest loss is permanent deforestation?

20%

what percentage of global topsoil is projected to be at risk by 2050?

90%

what percentage of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture?

50%

desertification

grazing or disturbance by domestic and feral livestock

how is desertification affecting natural environments?

• major cause of forests failing to regenerate (compacted soil)

• arid lands are being degraded worldwide

• desertification is not functional deserts, but wastelands lacking macroorganisms adapted to natural deserts

• UNCCD (UN Convention on Combating Desertification) works to prevent this

what is the primary goal of the UNCCD (UN Convention on Combating Desertification)?

protect and restore our land and ensure a safer, more sustainable future

which of the 5 UNCCD regions are the Pacific Islands included?

Asia - Pacific region

In what year did the USA last report to the UNCCD?

2022

what is the primary goal for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands?

conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution throughout the world

what are the 3 pillars of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands?

1. work towards wise use of all wetlands

2. design suitable wetlands and ensure their effective management

3. cooperate internationally on shared wetland spaces

how many Ramsar sites are there worldwide?

2548

background extinction

natural ongoing process of extinction that occurs as a result of competition, adaptive evolution, and minor climatic/ environmental fluctuations

how many Ramsar sites are there in the USP countries?

8

“A situation where many people exploiting a resource or set of related resources for their own gains/benefits, end up overusing the resource(s).” What concept does this description refer to?

Tragedy of the Commons

in the Tragedy of the Commons simulation, does maximum total milk production from grazing cows on the shared field change when independent farmers increase or decrease number of cows they graze?

decrease

in the Tragedy of the Commons simulation, what happens to the milk share for all the farmers if one farmer increases the number of cows and economic gains are shared collectively?

increases

in the Tragedy of the Commons simulation, if the farmers put fences around their cows and one farmer increases the number of cows on his grazing field, will it affect the milk share for other farmers?

no

in the Fragmentation and Dispersal Corridors simulation, what percentage of the area is actually edge habitat when the forest block is not fragmented?

9.5%

in the Fragmentation and Dispersal Corridors simulation, what percentage of the habitat is interior when the forest block is 50% fragmented?

0.3%

in the Fragmentation and Dispersal Corridors simulation, is the amount of energy required for a frog to travel through unfragmented forest habitat greater than the amount of energy required by a frog to travel through forest that is 15 - 25% fragmented?

yes

in the Fragmentation and Dispersal Corridors simulation, what is the minimum percentage of forest habitat fragmentation to prevent frogs from dispersing through patchy forest habitat to get to ponds to breed?

50% to 55%

mass extinction

much larger event with much faster rate of extinction, has occurred 5 times in Earth’s history

K-T extinction

most recent mass extinction event, marks the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, end of the Mesozoic era, ~65 MYA, most groups or organisms survived (mammals, insects, fishes, corals), smaller species saw a significant loss

what are two theories of what caused the 5 mass extinctions?

1. increased volcanic activity (climate change, sea level change)

2. asteroid or comet impact (K/T extinction)

how many species currently go extinct per year?

~40,000

what are some groups of animals for which we have a reliable background extinction rate (extensive fossil record)?

mammals, reptiles, and birds

according to the fossil record, how long should a single species last before extinction?

1-10 M years

what is the 1st extinction risk factor?

species have very narrow geographic distributions

ex: plants/ animals on one or two small islands

what is the 2nd extinction risk factor?

species with small population size

ex: Fiji iguana, pink river dolphin

what is the 3rd extinction risk factor?

species that are relatively long lived

ex: whales, tortoises, iguanas

what is the 4th extinction risk factor?

species that live in declining habitats

ex: forest birds, bison, Asiatic lion

what is the 5th extinction risk factor?

animals with large body size

what is the 6th extinction risk factor?

species that are hunted by humans

ex: large cats and rhinoceros or fish (mahi-mahi in Fiji)

what is the 7th extinction risk factor?

species already rare or threatened

ex: long-legged warbler in Fiji

what is the 8th extinction risk factor?

species that need large home ranges

ex: shining parrots in Fiji

what is the 9th extinction risk factor?

species that need to use a variety of habitats and resources for meeting individual welfare, breeding, and population needs

ex: Asian elephants

what is the 10th extinction risk factor?

species that are food specific

ex: pandas → bamboo

what is the 11th extinction risk factor?

species with specialized niche requirements

ex: wetland plants or soil arthropods

what is the 12th extinction risk factor?

seasonal migrants

ex: salmon, some turtles, shorebirds

what is the 13th extinction risk factor?

species that are not effective dispersers

ex: partulid tree snails in Pacific

what is the 14th extinction risk factor?

species that depend upon keystone species

ex: orchids need shade, vine needs tree to grow on

what is the 15th extinction risk factor?

species with little genetic variability

ex: cheetas

what is the 16th extinction risk factor?

species that form permanent or temporary aggregations

ex: bats, birds, seals, turtles

what is the 17th extinction risk factor?

species found in stable, pristine environments

ex: isolated offshore coral reefs

what is the 18th extinction risk factor?

species that evolved in isolation and have not had prior contact with predators

ex: ground birds, lemurs

what big cats have the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity (low genetic diversity)?

cheetahs and snow leopards

allele effects

a form of density dependence, affects populations when abundance falls below critical minimum size

strong allele effect

population growth rate becomes negative when population density falls below critical point, destined for extinction if this happens

weak allele effect

no critical population size, population has reduced growth rate (but still positive) at lower population density

what insufficient cooperative interactions could individuals suffer reduced fitness from below a certain population density (4)?

• group defense against predators

• physical or chemical conditioning to the environment

• communal nesting

• efficiency of group foraging

what is the fragmentation process?

• first, gaps form in the canopy

• gap formation is followed by progressive increasing and widening

what are 3 ways a species can persist in fragmented habitats?

1. small home range (snails)

2. completely mobile, can integrate multiple habitat patches

3. highly adaptable, actually thrive in highly fragmented landscapes created by humans

indirect crowding

when a habitat gap is created, mobile species may move into remaining habitat, causing crowding with the species that were already in that fragment, often followed by environmental/ species collapse

edge zones

outer boundary of any habitat fragment, usually drier and less shady than an interior habitat core

edge zone effects (4)

• increase growth rates of invasive species

• elevate rates of mortality among threatened (core) species

• affect regeneration of plants

• forms “ecologicl trap” where rapid environmental change leads to organisms settling in poor quality habitats, easier prey for predators

population sinks

heavily fragmented landscapes

what are 5 strategies for countering fragmentation?

1. do not destroy or further fragment intact natural areas

2. minimize road construction, clearing of vegetation, and creation of barriers to dispersal

3. maintain or restore wide habitat corridors or functional connectivity among natural areas

4. minimize creation of artificial dispersal corridors that encourage proliferation of invasive species

5. actively manage habitat fragments to compensate for disrupted natural processes