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Biodiversity and Endangered Species Review Sheet
Courtesy of: Pamela J. Shlachtman, Miami Palmetto High School
Objectives:
The student will be able to:
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identify an endangered species
give the reasons for endangered species
Understand the CITES law
understand how species and habitat are intermeshed
understand the 3 types of biodiversity and why they are important to us
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is one of the most important concepts in Envr. Science. There are 3 different types of
biodiversity:
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Genetic - the match up of DNA allows those close to mate and become a species. Some are
considered 2 or more species because of their location. Most cats will produce offspring but
most are separated by deserts, mountains, oceans, etc and never meet.
Species Diversity - The # of species that are in an ecosystem. Of course this increases the
chance of survival everywhere
Ecological diversity - number of niches, trophic levels and processes that capture energy.
Species - Organisms of the same kind that breed in nature and produce live fertile offspring.
Red Wolf - The red wolf was all over the SE USA. By 1970, there were only 14 left in the USA. The
US Fish and Wildlife Service established a captive breeding program and have spent about
$1000000 on the red wolf for a few years. Recent DNA studies reveal that the red wolf is really a
hybrid of the coyote and timber wolf and not a separate species at all. Any time you need a red
wolf, just cross a coyote and a wolf. Red wolves are smaller than wolves, unable to bring down large
prey and slower than coyotes and not able to run down prey.
Number of Species
Somewhere between 2.1 and 2.5 million species have been classified. Estimates predict there are
30-50 million in the world. Most of them are in the tropics. 99% of all the organisms that have been
alive are extinct.
Benefits of Biodiversity
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Foods - A tropical ecologist, Norman Meyers estimated that as many as 80000 species are
edible by people. It has been said that the average American eats about 46 different foods
per month. Over 90 % of your foods come from natural plants.
Drugs, Medicine - Penicillin, bactracin, tetracycline, erythromycin, digitalis, Quinine,
cortisone, diosgenin, vinblastine and morphine from plants and bacteria. Anticancer drugs
that now cure leukemia and Hodgkin's disease are derived from the rosy periwinkle. Taxol is
derived from the bark of the Yew trees (cures breast cancer)
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Ecological benefits - Soil formation, waste disposal, cleansing of toxics, energy absorption,
management of cycles are all dependent on biodiversity. Pests are managed by other
species. It is estimated that about 95 % of the pests of the world are managed naturally.
Aesthetic - Millions hunt, fish, hike, camp, etc in outdoors because of diversity. Nature
appreciation is nice and monetarily rewarding. Americans spend about 23.5 BILLION on the
outdoors. It is a lot of money
Keystone Species
Keystone species are those that have important roles in the ecosystem. Elephants are keystones in
the savanna as they dig waterholes. Alligators too. Bats are also and they feed on crop damaging
insects, pests and are primary control agents of insects. They also pollinate plants and distribute
fruit seeds all over the rainforests.
What Causes Endangered Species
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Habitat Removal - the number 1 reason for extinction is habitat removal e.g.. American
Bison, California Condor, Florida Black Bear. 85-95% of our forests, reduced overall forests
by 33%, plowed in 98% of the tall grass and driven about 500 species to extinction in doing
so. Northern birds are experiencing a 25-45% drop in number, primarily due to loss of
forests in their winter South American homes.
Poor reproductive habits - Panda So difficult to breed and in the wild is still a problem
Whales have to be so old to reproduce and rarely have more than one per 3 years.
Toxins - we are introducing so many toxins that we are killing many organisms
Too few foods - Koala eats ONLY Eucalyptus tree leaves, nothing else. Panda, Bamboo
Hunting and fishing - Extermination of passenger pigeon Over Fishing has depleted the
stock of cod, salmon, haddock, grouper, anchovies and sardines are in sharp decline. In the
late 1800s, the passenger pigeon flocks were in the millions. They were good to eat, their
feathers made good pillows and beds, the were easy to kill. in 1858, one trapper made
$60000 by trapping 3 million birds.. By 1880 they were doomed with only a few left. In
1900, a young boy shot the last one in the wild and in 1914, Martha, the last one died. In
1953, Peru began fishing on the coast for anchovies. The size of the fleet increased from
100 boats to 1700 in 1969. In 1971, anchovies made up 20% of all fish catches. UN Food and
Agriculture Organization warned Peru that it was drastically over fishing and the anchovies
would not be able to sustain themselves. 1971 was a banner year.1972 was a disaster. Annual
yield plummeted. Peru lost a lot of jobs, a lot of money and a national debt problem. Those
farmers not able to buy anchovies for poultry and animal feed, turned to soybean meal.
Coffee growers, seeing the profit of soybeans, stopped growing coffee and the price went
from 59 cents/lb to $ 4.59 / lb. Soybean products soared, especially oils. Oleo ( margarine)
went from 10 Cents to over $1. Bread went from under 20 cents a loaf to over $ 1. Double
digit inflation hit the entire world. The cost of living almost doubled because of the 1972
anchovy over fishing. The Peruvian anchovies have not recovered.
Too little tolerance - organisms that have very little tolerance, such as corals with a small
range of salinity and temperature
Over Predation
Over competition
Value to man - International trade makes certain animals disappear. Bengal tiger coats can
bring $ 100,000 in Japan. Black Rhinos went from 100,000 in 1960 to about 3000 today.
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Powdered horn brings $ 28,000 / kg. Amazon birds can command $ 10,000 Albino pythons
can be $ 20,000. Elephants - 1980 1.3 million elephants in Africa 1990, only 625,000. The
others were poached. Teams of men in helicopters mow down the elephant herd from the
air, land, cut the tusks with chain saws and are out of there in literally minutes. Wholesale
prices were $100 per kg, so that a pair of tusks was equal to 3 years of wages to an African.
622 species of animals and plants face extinction because of value. Chimpanzees over $
50,000 Imperial Macaw is $ 30,000 but poaching is worse. A gyrfalcon sells for $ 120,000.
A bighorn sheep for $ 60,000 and a gall bladder of a black bear sells for $ 22000
Annoyance to Man - the wolf and coyote are annoying to man and therefore they are killed
them in large numbers.
Eat at too high trophic levels. Those that eat high such as eagles and hawks have problems
sustaining amounts of foods that are needed to produce a pound at the 5th trophic level.
Behavioral patterns - The Red Headed Woodpecker naturally flies though the meadows of
forests about 2 feet above ground. It has yet to discover that roads are not meadows. Cars
are killing thousands. Key deer love tobacco and search it out on the highways only to be hit
by motorists.
It is estimated that we kill off 10-200 species every day.
CITES (1989)
CITES (Conventional on International Trade in Endangered Species) prohibits trade in highly
endangered species and regulates trade in other species to prevent population decline that would
place the organism on the endangered list. It does not limit trade within a country's borders. There
are 2 lists, one called Appendix 1 which lists very endangered species. Trade involving these
organisms is forbidden. Appendix 11 includes species that are not yet threatened with extinction
but will be if trade is not regulated. Special permits must be obtained to trade these organisms.
135 nations are listed in CITES, regrettably China is not one of them. A lot of illegal trade goes
through China. This treaty was begun in response to the devastating elephant tusk ivory trade.
Poachers would fly in with a helicopter, machine gun the elephant herds, chain saw the tusks and be
gone in only minutes.
1997 CITES Animals/Plants
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Black Rhino - Killed for the horns that goes into Chinese medicines and into daggers usually
in Yemen
Tiger - less than 6000 left. Oriental medicines. One tiger skeleton will yield enough money
for a poor Asian to live for 8-10 years.
Beluga Sturgeon - Caspian Sea - Poaching for caviar ( $80 / ounce )
Goldenseall - Natural antibiotic in Hardwood forests. Many home remedies contain it
Giant Panda - Less than 1000 left. Zoo demands. China is removing pandas from the wild
Alligator Snapping turtle - high sales in pet stores, turtle meat sales
Hawksbill Sea Turtle - Tortoise shell souvenirs
Big Leaf Mahogany - Mexico to Amazon Basin. - Logging, 70% gone
Green Cheeked Parrot - Mexico - intense exporting , many smuggled across the border into
USA. Trapper gets $ 2, Market in Mexico $ 50 and in USA $ 500
Mako Shark - Heavy fishing, especially for fins for Japanese. Mature late, 7-12 yrs before
sexual maturity. Few young. They are being caught far faster then they can reproduce.
The Endangered Species Act (1973)
The Endangered Species act of 1973 said that endangered species and their habitat are protected.
Currently there are about 1350 on the roles in USA. Threatened species are those that have
decline significantly and vulnerable species are naturally rare and have been depleted by human
activities (Wolves, grizzly's, sea otters, etc.) The ESA has been challenged many times. Real estate,
business, agriculture, lumber and mineral interests hate the law and want to have it weakened or
totally removed. They mounted heavy campaigns under the names of "wise Use Movement", Farm
and Ranch Protection Act, Private Property Act, etc. but none of them could pass. The Republican
Party, in its Contract with America, offered over 70 bills to modify the ESA. Of the approximately
98000 reviews, only 1987 have been refused because of habitat control. The Logging interest sued
the government to the US Supreme Court on the ESA saying that habitat control was not part of
the ESA. The court ruled against them. Another bill, weakening the ESA in congress now. It may
pass President Clinton has said he will veto it. The Republicans put environmental weakening bills
onto the budget bill, hoping that Clinton would not veto it but he did repeatedly. The move
backfired on the Republican Party. People did not like the sneaky tactics nor were they fooled into
thinking those bills would pass by themselves. Between 60 and 72 % favor Very harsh environmental
laws.
Recovery Programs
20 years ago, only 800 bald eagles remained in USA. Now it is 8000. Falcons were so few that
sighting one was rare. Now they soar all over Eastern USA. Alligators have returned, the Spotted
owl is recovering, Columbia Salmon are recovering
Costs plus Estimates
Many times the costs need to be checked. Washington and Oregon planned 10-30% increase in
hydroelectric power with dams that would seriously harm the fisheries. The increase in profit and
jobs would be about $200 million. The commercial and sport fishing was over 1 billion and provided
over 60,000 jobs.
Zoos
Zoos can be important areas in which research is done. Many elaborate zoos are being created to
make the area of the animals as natural as possible. Miami Metrozoo and San Diego Zoo are
excellent. Europe has many such zoos. Over 110 million visit the zoos of USA.
Captive Breeding
This program has a lot of criticism. The loss of animals to wild capture, which many zoos depended
upon was about 80%. Today, most of the animals in zoos are bred in captivity. The problem is that
the organism became endangered in its natural habitat. Why reenter it into failure? The
biodiversity drastically reduces in inbreeding and new problems arise in doing so as well.
Aldo Leopold, The great Ecologist, said, " the first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the
pieces."