Download Chapter 12 Biodiversity Biodiversity

4/20/2009
Chapter 12: Outline
Chapter 12
Biodiversity: Importance
and Threats
 Amphibians as
environmental indicators
 Importance of
biodiversity
 Risk to Canadian
biodiversity
 Species at risk
 Spaces at risk
Biodiversity
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Protecting Canada’s
Biodiversity
 International concerns
and initiatives
 IUCN categories of
f
protection
 Conservation strategies
 Canada’s National Park
System
 Protecting Canada’s
species
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Amphibians as Environmental Indicators
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environmental indicators
declining amphibian populations
implications
international trends
Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force
(DAPTF)
amphibian monitoring in Canada: CARCNET
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A Sample of Biodiversity Concerns in
Key Areas of Canada
1. Arctic: LRTAP contaminating food webs
2 Forests: habitat loss, fragmentation from product
harvesting
3. Grassland: agricultural use altered > 80% of native
grasslands
4. Wetland diversity: removal resulted in habitat loss
for water dependent species and loss of water
purification systems
5. Freshwater: pollution, watershed alteration
threatens aquatic habitats
6. Marine: habitat degradation, species risk and loss
from overfishing, pollution, temperature changes
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Measuring Biodiversity
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Importance of Biodiversity
Common ways to measure biodiversity:
1. counting numbers
2. assessing evenness
3. determining difference
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ecological role of biodiversity
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direct importance to humans
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intrinsic and extrinsic values
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habitat alteration and biodiversity
y
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Human Activity and Biodiversity
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The numbers of species in most “taxonomic”
groups decreased from equatorial to polar
latitudes
Est. 138,182 species in Canada
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Human Activity and Biodiversity
1. Habitat alteration due to physical
changes
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Forestry, agriculture, and other human
activities
Fragmentation
Chemical changes
Climate change
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Human Activity and Biodiversity
Species at Risk
2. Habitat alteration due to competition from nonnative biota
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3. Habitat alteration due to harvesting
4 H
4.
Habitat
bit t alteration
lt r ti n du
due tto ttoxic
xic c
contaminants
nt min nts
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5. Habitat alteration due to urbanization
6. Habitat alteration due to cumulative agents of
change
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Resource extraction:
impacts to native species
and people
Case study: 3 Canadian
Species at Risk: pink
coreopsis; aurora trout;
and Peary caribou
COSEWIC
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Species at Risk

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Spaces at Risk
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Indicators
- key statistics that represent
or summarize some aspect of
y
the state of ecosystems
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International Calls to Action

Loss of Biodiversity: an international concern

UN Convention on Biodiversity
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World Conservation Monitoring Center
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Convention on International Trade in Endangered
In situ conservation
 protected areas: IUCN
categories
 Canada’s protected areas
 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
 Canadian World Heritage Sites
 Ramsar Convention
 Canadian Ramsar sites
 restoration and rehabilitation
World Conservation Union
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Conservation Strategies
S
Species
i s of
f Wild Fl
Flora and
d Fauna
F
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Case study examples:
Grizzly bears and humans in Banff National Park
Trans-Canada highway and CPR
Double breasted cormorant
- national indicator species for
organochlorine levels in
wildlife
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Sustaining wild spaces occupied by wild
species
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Ex situ conservation
botanical gardens
 seed banks
 zoos - SSP- Species
Survival Programs
 aquariums

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Canada’s National Parks
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Protecting Canada’s Natural and Cultural
Heritage
Canada Parks Act: protecting ecological
integrity and ecological health
Extent: 2004 – 41 national parks and park
reserves
- vary in size (8.7 – 44,800 km sq)

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Parks Canada Ecosystem Management
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Canada’s Protected Areas
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Role of Parks Canada
- mandate
- Panel on Ecological Integrity
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National Parks
Marine Conservation Areas
World Heritage Sites
Ramsar Sites
Biosphere Reserves
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The Mont Saint-Hilaire Biosphere
Reserve
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Canada and the World:
Nitrogen Loading
Canadian Law, Policy and Practice
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Adopting sustainable policies
in all resource sectors
improving understanding
national legislation:
g
proposed
p p
SARA
- (Species at Risk Act)
Partnerships
other?
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Canada ranked 3rd in the
2006 EPI, with 13.2
milligrams per litre
(nitrogen
g load per
p average
g
flow unit of river basins
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Canada and the World:
Ecoregion Protection
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Canada ranked 7th with a
score of 0.76 on a scale of
0-1, with 1 meaning that
10% of each biome is
protected
d (focused
(f
d on
terrestrial areas)
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