Environmental Ethics and Biodiversity

Chapter 6: Ecosystem Services

  • Definition: Ecosystem services are the various benefits that humanity derives from ecosystems.

  • Categories of Ecosystem Services:

    • Provisioning Services: Products obtained from ecosystems, including:

    • Food: Essential nutrition obtained from various sources.

    • Medicine: Therapeutic substances derived from biological organisms.

    • Consumable goods: Products that can be used up, such as timber and fiber.

    • Non-consumable goods: Resources that provide benefits without being consumed.

    • Regulating Services: Natural regulatory processes provided by ecosystems to maintain environmental balance, including:

    • Climate Regulation: Ecosystems help stabilize or moderate climate extremes.

    • Soil Fertility: Ecosystems contribute to the health and nutrient availability of soil.

    • Water: Ecosystems filter and purify water, maintaining its quality.

    • Pollination: Essential for biodiversity and agricultural productivity.

    • Erosion Control: Prevention of soil loss due to water or wind.

    • Supporting Services: Underpinning processes essential for the maintenance of ecosystems, including:

    • Nutrient Recycling: Reuse of nutrients within ecosystems.

    • Air and Water Purification: Natural processes that cleanse the environment.

    • Pest Control: Natural regulation of pest populations through predator-prey dynamics.

    • Cultural Services: Non-material benefits obtained from ecosystems, including:

    • Recreation: Activities in nature that promote health and well-being.

    • Spiritual/Religious: Cultural practices and beliefs connected to nature.

    • Health/Well-being: Ecosystems enhance human resilience and mental health.

Niche Partitioning

  • Definition: The process whereby similar species exploit the limited resources in an ecosystem by dividing them temporally or spatially to increase efficiency.

    • Example of Niche Partitioning: Several species may have different hunting times or foraging areas, minimizing direct competition.

Lyme Disease and Biodiversity

  • Dilution Effect: A biological mechanism where the replacement of competent hosts (which can carry and transmit Lyme disease) by less competent hosts reduces Lyme disease prevalence.

Chapter 8: Extinction

  • Definition of Extinction: The loss of a species that occurs when its last individual dies.

  • IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature): Organization recognizing the extinction status of species across the globe.

    • Conservation Status: The IUCN Red List identifies species facing extinction risks, using well-defined biological criteria for evaluation.

    • Levels of Extinction:

    • Locally Extinct: Species no longer found in areas where they were once common.

    • Globally Extinct: Species that no longer exist anywhere on Earth.

    • Ecologically Extinct: Species that exist but are so rare that their ecological role is essentially eliminated.

  • Amphibians at Risk: Amphibian species are at highest risk for extinction due to habitat loss, which impacts them doubly because many amphibians have two habitats (aquatic and terrestrial).

    • Causes of Risk:

    • Drought

    • Sensitivity to pesticides

    • Chytrid fungus infection

    • Increased predation from invasive species.

Environmental Change: Major Threats to Species

  • Major Forms of Environmental Change:

    • Invasive Species: Non-native species that disrupt the ecosystems into which they are introduced.

    • Habitat Loss: The complete destruction of habitats, leading to loss of biological communities and ecological functions.

    • Overexploitation: Unsustainable harvesting of species or resources at rates faster than they can replenish.

    • Climate Change: Long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns affecting ecosystems and species.

Chapter 9: Habitat Loss

  • Definition of Habitat Loss: The complete elimination of a habitat, along with its biological communities and ecological functions.

  • Habitat Fragmentation: The subdivision of larger continuous habitats into smaller patches, often leading to increased biodiversity loss.

  • Degradation of Habitat: Human activities that make remaining habitats less conducive to life, such as pollution or unsustainable agriculture practices.

    • Drivers of Habitat Loss:

    • Urbanization

    • Agriculture (e.g., palm oil plantations)

    • Extractive industries (e.g., logging)

Chapter 10: Overexploitation

  • Definition of Overexploitation: The excessive harvesting of renewable resources, which leads to the depletion of those resources.

  • Types of Overexploitation:

    • Commercial Exploitation: Driven by economic incentives, leading to illegal wildlife trafficking.

    • Subsistence Exploitation: Unsustainable hunting practices for food.

    • Recreational Exploitation: Hunting for sport without consideration of ecological effects.

  • CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora): A treaty designed to protect endangered species by regulating international trade and promoting sustainable practices.

  • Bushmeats: Hunting wildlife for food, often leading to zoonotic diseases due to increased human-animal interactions and can sometimes help control wildlife populations.